Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Love Is Blind Season 10 follow. Is it just me, or is this season of Love Is Blind wildly conservative-coded? ICYMI, the Ohio season of the Netflix dating show has touched on a lot, from navigating the dating world as a parent to discussions about (typically conservative-leaning) politics. And in Episode 8, Ashley and Alex’s discussion about period tracking has the internet’s eyebrows raised.
Ashley and Alex are one of the more prominent couples of Season 10. They were solid in the pods, but their relationship started to crumble shortly after they met IRL, despite their initial chemistry. In Mexico, Alex told another cast member, Brittany, that he was more attracted to her than to Ashley, his literal fiancée. The two also clashed over their differing lifestyles once they got back to Ohio — with Alex wanting to travel and not be “stuck” in Cleveland, and Ashley being apprehensive to leave her family and career in Ohio. (Oh, and he claimed that Ashley made him feel like he was “failing” at home because she moved his water bottle in the fridge. )
Perhaps their biggest point of tension, though, was when Alex and Ashley got into an argument about period tracking. After Ashley told Alex that she was sexually frustrated due to their lack of intimacy, Alex said they weren’t having sex because she hadn’t communicated her desires, and also because he was “being aware of her period.”
The conversation got 10 times worse when Alex claimed that Ashley’s period had passed, and he expected her to tell him that. He then reiterated that he doesn’t want a child, and that the days after her period were the days when it’s more likely for Ashley to get pregnant. Ashley told Alex that she “won’t get pregnant on her period” (which is not true — you can still get pregnant on your period), and said that she tracks her cycle “very seriously,” to which Alex said that he would like to know when her period ends in an effort to monitor her cycle. He even said he was happy to have a “shared tracker,” so he can see when her period starts and ends, as well as when she may be ovulating.
Yes, I’m serious.
The two eventually made up, and Ashley said that she would be “more open” about her cycle with Alex. And while Alex and Ashley seemed to move on, the internet definitely has some thoughts.
IMO, the internet has a right to be waving the red flags. First and foremost, what goes on inside a woman’s body is nobody’s business other than hers and her doctor’s. Period. Sharing the details of your body with your partner is a decision that a woman chooses to make, not something that comes as a result of a man wanting to monitor it. That’s not being open about your timeline, and communicating with your partner about it; that’s control.
Also, the fact that Alex, a man, is trying to mansplain the uterus to a 34-year-old woman with a uterus is baffling. Although she said that she can’t get pregnant during her period (which, again, isn’t true), Ashley knows more about her cycle, and her body, than anyone else. The fact that Alex tried to tell her when she would be ovulating, and citing that as a reason not be intimate with her, just shows how truly out of touch he is: the ovulation phase is different for everyone, commonly occurring anywhere between days 11 and 21 of the menstrual cycle.
While Alex and Ashley are still going strong by the end of Episode 9, only time will tell if these two make it to the altar. IDK about you, but I’m rooting for Ashley to get the hell away from this man, and find someone who respects her body and boundaries.