Reality television is a misnomer. While it is not as strictly scripted as traditional fictional television programs, what the audience sees on the screen is not 100% authentic reality.
The Bachelor and it’s spin-off The Bachelorette has been on the air since 2002. The premise of the both shows is as follows: a single man or woman lives in a house with a group of single men or women for a period of time. The goal of the show is for one of the contestants to win the hand and heart of the single man and woman. Each week, one man or woman is eliminated until one remains and the couple hopefully gets engaged.
Today is International Women’s Day. Since nearly the dawn of time, a woman’s only option in life was marriage. Thankfully, over the past few decades, that idea is slowly becoming a thing of the past. The problem is that shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are still reinforcing that marriage should be a woman’s only priority.
I am not a fan of the Bachelor or The Bachelorette, for a multitude of reasons. Then the finale of the recent season aired. While I understand that everyone needs a guilty pleasure (I have several of my own), I think there needs to be a disclaimer about this show. Not only because it’s not real, but also that it reinforces a false narrative about a woman’s life that we should be phasing out, not retelling.
Writergurlny 