It’s easy to think of The Bachelor as this alternative world where politics and current events don’t exist and you measure your life in the glasses of wine you’ve had. As escapist TV, this is sometimes great, but then things like this week’s wrestling group date happen. Even if you’re a WWE fan (and I guess Bekah M. is?), the show’s attempts to seemingly create an empowering GLOW-like atmosphere fell flat in the worst way possible.
I’m all for being a powerful female athlete, but from the beginning, this date was not about showing the women positive, strong role models in sports. After being told that they would compete against each other in the wrestling ring, the ladies met two professional female wrestlers from the actual GLOW organization that began in the 1980s. I hope that these pros were told to play up the intensity for the cameras because they were not very inspirational.
Their tough, often rude talks with Arie’s women felt like one of those America’s Next Top Model challenges when Tyra wants to see how the girls take criticism from industry moguls. This is The Bachelor, where physical fitness and willingness to literally knock another girl out shouldn’t matter. What happened to the old-school group dates where they talked to kids about the birds and the bees or painted an orphanage in Thailand? (Okay, these were both Bachelorette dates. Notice a pattern in how they differ from Bachelor dates?)
The wrestlers’ intensity particularly affected Bibiana, who didn’t take criticism about her name lightly, and Tia, who was in tears after one of the wrestlers began yanking at her hair. Their emotional distress reminded us that, given both this date and last week’s demolition derby, The Bachelor is trying to be too oblivious of the greatest issues the country is currently facing.
I freaking love the show, GLOW, and I think @alisonbrie would be upset at the way girls were treated on this date. This was not female empowerment, just mean girls. #TheBachelor
— Ashley Spivey (@AshleySpivey) January 16, 2018
Arie’s season feels different than its predecessors because it comes in the middle of the Time’s Up movement and the widespread national focus on sexual abuse and misconduct. Women of various backgrounds and industries have united in the name of #MeToo, and Hollywood has especially been vocal about igniting change in the conversation on gender equality. Last week, Oprah delivered a truly inspirational speech at the Golden Globes about men and women coming together to begin a new era in treatment of each other. The next day, The Bachelor aired its demolition derby date, which seems to have kicked off an unflattering pattern of the women being pitted against each other in unusually violent, occasionally degrading ways.
This wrestling date might be the most anti-feminist date ever on #TheBachelor
— Kiwi Kristi (@Snarkylady26) January 16, 2018
So uncomfortable to watch. There’s a big difference between being viewed as uptight / not having a sense of humor and tolerating bullying and intimidation. Line was crossed Glow Girls. Cheers to the girls who took themselves out of that situation #thebachelor
— Lisa Marino Bates (@lisab8s) January 16, 2018
It’s not like The Bachelor is an ideal watch if you want something that always preaches feminist values. Producers can run and edit this show however they please, and sometimes the women don’t end up in scenarios that make them look the greatest. But when dates are becoming this tone deaf about the United States’ current social climate, it’s definitely concerning. It wasn’t necessarily the idea of wrestling that bothered Bibiana and Tia — it was the wrestlers’ rude, intimidating comments. Such critique made the atmosphere toxic, and these two were right to point out that such extremity between women was unneeded. I’m already hoping for them to teach guys a thing or two about feminism in Paradise this summer!
#TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/zatXiCOHwX
— The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) January 16, 2018
Am I expecting The Bachelor to suddenly produce dates that promote empowerment? No. But what I am hoping for is more focus on realistic, fun dates that allow women to showcase their personalities in a natural way. Is that too much to ask?