I am very proud to say that I do not partake in watching the ABC reality-TV charade...I mean seriesknown as 'The Bachelor'. However, since the finale episode on season 14 aired I can't turn on the TV or read a tabloid magazine without being forced to see that Jake, the 32 yr old Christian 'pilot' (aka small business owner that happens to have a pilots license) chose 23 yr old hard-partying, bikini-contest-winning, ex Hooters waitress Vienna. Sounds like a real match made in Heaven!
The theme of the Bachelor is as follows; a handsome sucessful man that hasn't had any luck in love chooses from 25 different women in hopes of finding a wife. The winning 'fiancee' is the last-woman-standing after everyone else has been individually eliminated through a rose ceremony (ceremony at the end of each episode in which the bachelor hands roses to each woman that is invited to continue to partake in the contest, the unlucky woman who couldn't quite "woo" the bachelor during the casts group/semi private dates does not recieve a rose and is asked to pack her bags and leave immediately).
The Bachelor portrays women as desperate creatures that will do just about anything to marry a man that they know very little about just because he's handsome, perhaps is wealthy, and is on a television series. These women fight, cry, get caught in embarrassing lies, and pretty much anything else you could imagine that would bring the thought "where is your dignity??!!" to mind. The series genders women by always choosing the same 'Barbie-like' type girls that wear hair extensions, fake eyelashes, love cocktail parties, and would give up everything to marry their Prince Charming. Not once has their ever been a female contestant on the show that weighs over 130 lbs, plays sports, or god forbid has short hair!! How can ABC pride themself in being a 'Family Network' when they air a show that reflects so negatively on women?!! For example, I've seen many clips on entertainment shows of Jake giving one of the final contestants the 'heave-ho' by telling her (while stuck on a boat with 4 camera-men in her face) that he can't choose her because although they have an "emotional, and physical connection...their is no sexual connection". O-M-G! He basically just told the world that she: A) Had sex with a man that 25 other women were in a relationship with at the same time, and B) She wasn't very good in bed! Could it be that The Bachelor is so incredibly popularized because we live in a society that enjoys viewing women as desperate and weak beings? Or is it just the fantasy idealized version of a romantic fairy-tale ending? A sort-of 60min "escape" from the boredom/drudgery of peoples real life not-so-happy endings like we talked about in class yesterday towards romantic novels. I think it's a probably a combination of both, however shame on the women who allow themselves to represent their gender in this manner after everything femininists of our past and present have fought for.
*Silver
Silver,
ReplyDeleteYou raise a lot of very good points on how these type of reality shows are depicted within our society. These reality shows are a play off of how "real" our society is right now. I believe that reality shows are popular because of exactly what you said--it is what people want to see. I personally do not watch the series either, it is disgusting. All of the females are white, plastic, under a certain age and are literally depicted as "bimbos" (no education past the 10th grade). I always wonder why a female would want to see a series like this one. The whole cast is white and so perfectly porportioned--by accident? I think not. I love to watch television shows, because I love to step outside of my own reality, but this is nowhere near reality....they are all the same type of females, and I do not have to watch it to guess this. The theme underlying this series, I would assume, is that a man can date as many females at one time as he chooses and can use the process of elimination. This means he is able to do what he pleases with each of them and then can bullshit and say he does not actually wnat them because of an emotional, physical, mental or aspect issue that they are lacking. This is bullshit and I completely see where you are coming from Silver. The worst part about this show is that this "romantic fairy-tale ending" is widely promoted. This ending is not attainable for each individual nor is it realistic, how many couples from The Bachelor have lasted? And I have heard one couple divorcing, so this show needs to definitely be a step outside of reality, because too many young girls are internalizing this and it is not real!
Aaliyah Jasmine
Here is a good link to answer your question Aaliyah.
ReplyDeletehttp://reality-tv.lovetoknow.com/What_Couples_are_Still_Together_from_The_Bachelor
I'll sum it up right here though.
Season One: Didn't last.
Season Two: Nope.
Season Three: Splitsville.
Season Four: Happily.... apart.
Season Five: Broken up.
Season Six: Bachelor punched Bachlorette in the face and was arrested for domestic battery.
Season Seven: Went separate ways.
Season Eight: Lasted less than a week. Blamed the network for keeping them apart for four months.
Season Nine: Broke up and then went after the runner up.
Season Ten: Nope. Didn't last.
Season Eleven: Didn't choose EITHER of the two finalists.
Season Twelve: Moved in together. Then moved into own apartments. Oh well.
...
So. After 12 years of this, not ONE of the couple stayed together. WHY do people watch this stuff again?
Man, I expected at least ONE "happy couple" out of that. I guess my expectations were too high.
--The N3rd
one of the critiques i have, is that not every bachelor show is about the 'barbies'.
ReplyDelete"more to love" is a bachelor show where love is "in all shapes and sizes" where the 'skinny plastic barbies' are not displayed.
Here is a quote from the website: "But instead of the dashingly brawny hunks and the slender women, the program features an average single guy with a big waist and an even bigger heart as he tries to find love among confident and secure plus-size women"(http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-bachelor/bachelor-producer-brings-fox-m-27513.aspx)
and sidenote: the women on the show are educated and many have university degrees as one of the 'prefernces' from the man is that he has educated women...they like smart girls. I have watched 10 of 12 seasons and this has more often than not been the case.
i agree with N3rd, that it is rediculous that none of the couples have stayed together, and yes it is a bit psychotic to believe that if you randomly pick 25 women than lose one each week, that you'll be left with THE ONE! however i do watch these shows and it is more for entertainment than anything...but the men that are on the show are men that have A) had no luck with women and are willing to try again with randoms B)are work-a-holics who dont have time to date, so its like online dating...only in person..
and the comment about "no sexual attraction"...im sure there's the possibility of her being 'bad in bed' but i have left boyfriends because there was no sexual attraction/connection without ever having sex with them. And there is no shame in leaving someone because of that...you cannot fake or create sexual conenctions, and if that isnt there, than the relationship will not last long anyways.
~beautiful bombshell~
I think one thing to consider when watching reality tv shows is the fact that they are edited and arranged in a certain way. There is always an agenda. So when the woman is deemed "not good enough" for the bachelor, maybe its necessary to frame her that way so that man looks justified. Why are the hysterics and drama so important? Are the women really like that in real life?
ReplyDeleteI guess I just don't buy the whole "reality" part in reality tv.
Just sayin
Macho Muffin
@ The N3rd,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot! lmao that made me laugh, because these "reality" shows prove me right everytime as the Bachelor just did. Very, very sad and to make it worst one couple had some domestic violence issues....is this what we are condoning now, in our society?
Aaliyah Jasmine
@Beautiful Bombshell
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that not every reality show based around the idea of a bachelor finding his bride has only the stereotypical 'Barbie' type of women as contestants. However, in my post I was only critiquing "The Bachelor" franchise I wasn't including other shows of the same genre-type.If we're on the subject though, I think that even shows like "More to Love" are actually portraying women in a bad way just in their title and description. Basically saying if your overweight your put into a whole different category of women, you MUST be educated and rather than fighting for a rich successful "hunk" you only have chances with a "average single guy with a big waist". Maybe I looked too far down the rabbit hole or something..lol but I think that "More to Love" basically just made there fortune off of choosing women that have the exact opposite characteristics than the women of "The Bachelor" therefore they are still categorizing women.
@ Macho Muffin
Even if these women are really like that in real life they still sign a waiver stating that the show is allowed to portray them in that way. Which in my opinion is even worse than actually being that way.
*Silver