About two months ago, I watched my first episode of “The Bachelor.” For those of you who don’t know what “The Bachelor” is (a small minority I presume), it’s essentially a reality show in which one male bachelor is provided with a pool of single women who vie for his affection and ultimate marriage proposal. Episodes consist of the various women going on dates with said bachelor so that he can gradually eliminate the contestants in pursuit of his dream girl; roses are also used as a token of affection towards the female contestants that the bachelor is in favor of. That’s basically all you need to know.
As I began watching the show, the episode introduced the female contestants along with why they felt they were worthy of marrying the bachelor. Then came behind-the-scenes drama among the contestants along with shocking reveals about the bachelor himself. I was enticed into the meaningless drama ensuing among the contestants as my friends and I enjoyed discussing which contestants should be eliminated. I’ll admit, while I disproved of the message being sent, I can’t guarantee that I won’t ever watch another episode of the show again. *sigh*
On to the need-to-know information. These female contestants are composed of women in their 20s who fulfill a stereotypical ideal of the perfect woman. In other words, they’re all skinny with minimal “imperfections,” what with the exception of one or two contestants of other races who are intended to represent the vast diversity present in this world. The contestants’ extreme similarities in external appearances made it difficult to tell them apart, which makes it surprising that the bachelor himself was able to do so. The immense objectification of women on this show only perpetuates societal stereotypes of females along with reinforcing an unattainable body image that every female is expected to achieve.
More so, the show constantly pits the females against one another all in competition for the affection of a MAN. I mean, this may have been cute in 2002 when the show first aired, but this type of rhetoric has no place in such an advanced society full of empowered women striving to uplift one another (which is what we SHOULD be doing). All this show seems to care about is forcing young girls to ditch their morality and self-respect by sparking drama with other women and practically throw themselves shamelessly at a guy who will probably reject them in the end.
The utter shame and disgust I felt while watching this show made me realize that perhaps the world has not advanced nearly as much as I once thought. Where is the female empowerment? By telling these female contestants that they need to act petty towards the other contestants and overly sexualize themselves, what kind of message is being sent to the viewers? That their only chance at love is through degrading their identity and transforming into an airhead?
While the show may bring groups of girls together for two hours on a Monday night and allow for a nice distraction from the stresses of school, I, for one, think there must be an alternative way to unite groups of such smart, independent women that doesn’t involve the humiliation of their own gender.