Bachelor/Bachelorette Musings

First, a confession. I'm a fan of The Bachelor/Bachelorette reality show. Ever since the girls in my dorm freshmen year asked me if I wanted to watch The Bachelor and I responded with "the Chris O'Donnell movie?" I've been hooked. After last night's season premiere, I was on a bit of a cyber-hunt for any and all Bachelor gossip. In a moment of pure curiosity, I checked out abc.com to see exactly what it took to apply to be either a bachelor or bachelorette on the show. There were two applications, one for guys and one for girls. I found this interesting so I decided to compare the two side by side to see if there were any differences. And, lo and behold, there was a pretty significant difference between the two applications.

First, only the girl's application asks why you want to find your spouse on a TV show. Second, the guy's application asks "Why would you be a great husband?" and "Why are America's Most Eligible Bachelor?" while the girl's application leaves out any similar questions and merely asks "Why haven't you found the man of your dreams?".

It might just be my latent feminist tendencies coming out, but I couldn't help reading a sharp tonal difference between the questions on the guy's application and those on the girl's. To me, the guy's questions are self-promotional. They seek answers that could begin with "I am awesome because..." and they avoid asking why going on TV is a solution for finding a mate. The girl's questions on the other hand are more degrading. The appropriate answers would fall under the "Well, the reason I can't find a man and want to go on TV to do so is..." category. Girls are not asked why she thinks she is desirable and if she would make a good spouse.

Does this seem off to any one else out there? I understand that the show is just that-a show. And that they are casting different people in different roles. They might be looking for guys who think they are awesome and girls who are desperate because they know that those characters make for good TV. But, something I've always appreciated about this show versus other matchmaking shows is that it seemed like an even playing field for girls looking for guys and guys looking for girls to engage in the craziest version of speed dating and hopefully find the person of their dreams. But now, my view is a little jaded.

I have to wonder what the producer's intentions of the show are when they seem to intentionally seek such varying qualities from men and women. And, being the English/Psychology major/law student that I am, I can't help but wonder if this distinction is merely symbolic of a general trend in our society. Do we really look at single men as "America's most eligible bachelor" who is only one random hookup away from finding his wife and single women as lonely, desperate people who will take what they can get? I don't really think it is all as simple as that, but the evidence is worrisome. Thoughts?

After reading this post to the BF before publishing, he posed an interesting question. He asked me why I watch the show. Honestly, I like seeing where they go on dates and I like seeing them make asses out of themselves. Then the BF asks if I relate to anyone on the show. And, honestly again, I don't. Perhaps the producers aren't seeking out people who are representative of society to fill the role of the bachelor or bachelorette, maybe they are just looking for people that ordinary people, like me, want to see gallivanting in exotic places and acting like fools in the process.