I’m sure we’re all familiar with the ABC hit show “The Bachelor.” Premiering in 2002, the show features typically 25 women competing for the love affections of The Bachelor himself. The show has garnered millions of viewers throughout its 10 years of airtime, despite the fact that as of the end of Season 15, none of the bachelors had married the women they presented the final rose to.
So, with a losing streak of 15 seasons, why is “The Bachelor” so popular? In short, because women are still enamored with the idea of the fairytale ending of finding the perfect man and becoming his wife. Just as how princess culture sets unrealistic standards of beauty for women and girls, reality shows like “The Bachelor” set unrealistic standards for relationships. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the dates I go on usually don’t involve helicopter rides, shopping sprees and private planes.
I won’t blame the actual bachelors for this unrealistic representation, however. ABC is the one who decides where the bachelors and their ladies will go on the dates, and in the past few seasons, it seems as if they have gotten more and more elaborate. Watching this on TV only increases thoughts of “Why can’t I find a man like that?” in single women viewers everywhere. But, the main question is, does a man like that even exist?
Sure, some of the Bachelor contestants have been attractive, smart, successful men who in many ways could be classified as a “catch.” But even “nice guy” bachelors such as Jake Pavelka of Season 14 have been de-glamorized after their seasons aired, and nasty breakups ensued. The bachelors, despite their good qualities, are placed in a situation that no “average” man would ever be in—the object of affection for 25 women at once. They are encouraged to pursue relationships with all of these women, which in the world outside of “The Bachelor,” would be highly controversial and frowned upon.
And let’s talk about the women. In every season, there are women that are portrayed as desperate, crazy, emotionally unstable, catty, childish and vindictive. Of course, there are so-called “normal” women contestants, but it seems that the majority of the TV show is focused on the mean girls of the house—the ones that stir up drama, thus increasing viewership of the show. While editing is probably a main part of this representation of the women, it’s a shame in the first place that in 2012, we are still at a point where women on TV are widely being portrayed with these characteristics. That in itself is degrading to all “The Bachelor” contestants and women as a whole.
So while “The Bachelor” sets unrealistic dating expectations and degrades single women as a whole, it still remains one of the most popular dating shows on TV. I suppose that women are looking past these things, either by turning a blind eye or by naively hoping for “the fairytale” that “The Bachelor” presents.
I completely agree that shows like the Bachelor are very unrealistic. Many people become enamored with this show and think that it is a realistic representation of typical dating. This can definitely be directly related to the princess culture and how it promotes impractical representation of beauty. The Bachelor makes it seem normal to travel across the world to go on dates with the man that all the woman are competing over. To begin, it is very unlikely that there would be 25 different woman all fighting over the same man at one time. It is also very improbable that the Bachelor can have feelings for all of these woman at the same time like he claims he does. The show represents a very false representations of true romance. The network makes it seem like the Bachelor is the one that picks out the places and the activities that take place on the show, when in fact it is actually ABC that plans it all out. Tare made a very good point when she said it leaves the audience wondering why they can’t find a man like that. The people who watch this show think that the over the top dates are planned by the Bachelor and leaves them wondering why they can’t find a man like this. The Bachelor and many other reality TV shows will continue to represent an innacurate depiction of dating to their large audiences as long as they are on television.
Great post and I completely agree with you Christine!! That’s exactly where I was going to continue this argument. The worst part of the show is that the bachelor makes out with and has sex with almost all of these women. It’s disgusting. However, since they are competing for “his love”, it’s not ok for them to sleep around. It repulses me that this is acceptable in our culture. But with the opposite side of this argument in regards to the Bachelorette, I feel the standards are so different. If the Bachelorette sleeps with all of them she receives much more scrutiny for it. The double standard comes into play here so much.