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Why “The Bachelor” Contests Need to Stop Crying

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Western chapter.

Let me start this by saying I am in no way a fan of The Bachelor. In fact, I despise the entire premise of the show—why on earth are 30 girls competing for the affection of one guy? The design of the show pits girls against each other and forces them to “fall in love” with a guy they just met. I use the term “fall in love” loosely because there is no way someone actually can fall in love with someone that quickly and under those circumstances. Love is supposed to be something natural and surprising—not under the gaze of a dozen cameras and seen as a prize.

Now onto last week’s episode of The Bachelor. The entire episode was full of tears—even Nick himself broke down, multiple times. Many of the girls expressed how difficult the competition was, how they weren’t getting enough attention from Nick, etc. Essentially, they were struggling with how much they despise group dates and want more time with Nick. Sorry, but did everyone forget that THEY SIGNED UP FOR THIS?

The contestants cannot possibly get mad at Nick for not getting enough attention. There is one man, 30 women. The odds that you will get more than five minutes alone with him on a group date are slim, and he can only do so many one-on-one dates. This week’s episode showed Jasmine having a complete breakdown about how frustrated she is that she still hasn’t gotten her one-on-one, but sorry honey, someone has to be the last one! Her solution of berating Nick after the group date and literally saying to his face how much she wanted to strangle him definitely didn’t help—did she honestly think that that was the right way to get a date?

How about this solution: don’t sign up for a show like The Bachelor. I can’t quite understand how anyone thinks that the best way to get into a relationship is by competing for one guy with 30 other girls. If you want to find a happy, healthy relationship, meet new people from your hometown. Get your friends to set you up on a blind date or maybe just try Tinder. There are so many more avenues that don’t involve degrading yourself in front of millions of people. Seriously though, good luck to Jasmine to finding a real relationship after expressing the desire to wrap her hands around Nick’s throat. Not a good move.

This is the contributor account for Her Campus Western.