tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/the-bachelor-20300/articlesThe Bachelor – The Conversation2023-12-13T01:02:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194942023-12-13T01:02:55Z2023-12-13T01:02:55ZHe’s the romantic lead but has never had sex: what The Bachelors has to say about virginity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565085/original/file-20231212-21-m904rz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C2556%2C1299&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Network 10 </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“I’ve actually never had a girlfriend,” 32-year-old Bachelor Wesley Senna Cortes told contestant Brea Marshall in the second episode of the most recent season of The Bachelors Australia. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Obviously, I grew up with Christian values and trying to do the right thing and not be another reason for girls not to trust men […] I never saw myself as being a one-night-stand guy and, matter of fact, I’ve actually never had sex.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These twin disclosures – of Cortes’ lack of relationships and sexual experience – have formed the foundation of his narrative as one of the three leads in this season of Australia’s longest-running reality romance format. </p>
<p>He is an unusual figure not just in comparison to his fellow leads, Ben Waddell and Luke Bateman, but in reality television more broadly, where adult male virgins – particularly adult male virgins cast as romantic leads – are not commonly seen.</p>
<h2>Male virgins in reality romance shows</h2>
<p>This is not to say Cortes is a unicorn. There have been other male virgins on Australian reality romance shows and in The Bachelor franchise.</p>
<p>In 2019, then 29-year-old Matthew Bennett was one of the grooms on the sixth season of Married At First Sight. He <a href="https://www.who.com.au/mafs-virgin-matthew-bennett-today">disclosed to his TV wife</a>, Lauren Huntriss, he was still a virgin, and later <a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/reality-tv/married-at-first-sight/married-at-first-sight-matthew-virginity-tv-54010">lost his virginity</a> to her on their honeymoon. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/18k46l6E9dI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://people.com/tv/colton-underwood-channels-40-year-old-virgin-bachelor-promo/">poster for</a> the 23rd season of The Bachelor US (also 2019) closely mirrored that of the 2005 film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and included the tagline, “What does he have to lose?”</p>
<p>Later, in his pointedly titled book The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV, star Colton Underwood <a href="https://pagesix.com/2020/04/01/colton-underwood-writes-about-losing-his-virginity/">disclosed</a> he lost his virginity, like Bennett, under the auspices of the show, sleeping with his eventual partner, Cassie Randolph. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jMUl5qX2gRE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It seems unlikely Cortes’ narrative in The Bachelors Australia will follow the same path. </p>
<p>For one, unlike Married at First Sight and the US iteration of The Bachelor, the Australian Bachelor franchise does not include sex as a narrative milestone (in the US, this is referred to as the “fantasy suite”). Secondly, he appears to embody “virgin” as an identity in a different way.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-bachelor-to-the-bachelors-why-australias-longest-running-dating-show-has-updated-the-old-formula-197414">From Bachelor to The Bachelors – why Australia's longest running dating show has updated the old formula</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Ways of being a virgin</h2>
<p>Broadly speaking, sociological literature on virginity has identified two key virgin identity types: adamant virgins and potential non-virgins.</p>
<p>Adamant virgins have made an active decision not to have sex (often until marriage). Potential non-virgins, by contrast, have not made this decision, but have not found themselves in an appropriate situation. </p>
<p>Virgins in the first category often make their choice for religious or moral reasons. Those in the second category are often waiting for the right partner.</p>
<p>While their narratives of virginity are not as clear-cut as these two tidy identity categories, arguably both Bennett and Underwood were potential non-virgins. </p>
<p>“It was never a conscious choice to still be a virgin at 29,” Bennett said in <a href="https://au.sports.yahoo.com/unfortunate-side-effect-mafs-matt-still-virgin-203354960.html">his Married at First Sight audition tape</a>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was just an unfortunate side effect of walling myself off from any sort of vulnerability, being social and dating.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BtYTrn2B5xT","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Underwood, unlike Bennett, is openly Christian, and this was often assumed to be the reason for his maintained virginity. However, he <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22384066/colton-underwood-gma-interview-gay">offered a different one</a> after breaking up with Randolph and coming out as gay in 2021: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I could never give anybody a good answer of why I was a virgin. The truth is I was a virgin Bachelor because I was gay, and I didn’t know how to handle it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cortes, however, seems to occupy the first category. He is a devout Christian and these religious convictions seem to have underpinned an active choice. </p>
<p>This makes him an adamant virgin – something of a problem for many of the women paired with him on the show.</p>
<h2>Virginity loss narratives</h2>
<p>Sociologist Laura Carpenter <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Virginity_Lost.html?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC&redir_esc=y">outlines</a> three key ways in which people tend to think about virginity loss: as a gift (something to be valued), as a stigma (something to be disposed of as soon as possible), and as part of a process (a rite of passage in a broader process of sexual maturation).</p>
<p>Many more men than women, she notes, tend to view their virginity in terms of stigma – as something “abnormal and in need of explanation”. This, paired with a widespread toxic assumption that virginity loss can make a boy a man, means male virginity in particular can be pathologised.</p>
<p>Unlike Underwood’s season of The Bachelor US, The Bachelors Australia has not sought to fetishise nor especially belabour Cortes’ virgin identity (unlike the way it approached the narrative of polyamorous contestant Jessica Navin <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-bachelor-to-the-bachelors-why-australias-longest-running-dating-show-has-updated-the-old-formula-197414">in the previous season</a>). Instead, his lack of relationship and sexual experience has been treated as a problem of compatibility with many of the female contestants. </p>
<p>Both Marshall, to whom he initially disclosed his virginity, and fellow contestant Jade Wilden have asked Cortes how comfortable he would be sexually progressing with a partner. </p>
<p>“I was nervous […] that he might progress too quickly, and […] now I’m nervous he won’t progress at all,” Marshall said. Wilden appeared to share that fear, especially when Cortes stated he would not want to move in with a partner before marriage.</p>
<p>If we think of virginity loss as a step in a process, this compatibility concern arises from a worry from these potential partners that they and Cortes might be at very different – possibly irreconcilable – steps in that process.</p>
<p>In the season premiere, the show teased the strong possibility one of the three Bachelors might end the show heartbroken. It will be interesting to see, given these narratives of potential mismatch developing around Cortes, whether that man will be him. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-bachelor-anti-feminist-or-is-conventional-heterosexual-romance-the-real-problem-81748">Is The Bachelor anti-feminist, or is conventional heterosexual romance the real problem?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi is the author of Here For The Right Reasons, Can I Steal You For A Second? and Not Here To Make Friends, three novels set on a reality romance show. </span></em></p>The twist in this season of The Bachelors? One is a virgin. What does this say about how society – and reality television – frames virginity?Jodi McAlister, Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1974142023-01-12T19:16:22Z2023-01-12T19:16:22ZFrom Bachelor to The Bachelors – why Australia’s longest running dating show has updated the old formula<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504143/original/file-20230112-52660-mub602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1078%2C606&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">10 Play</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week marks the beginning of the tenth season of The Bachelor Australia, Australia’s longest running reality romance franchise. </p>
<p>Often, anniversaries like this provoke nostalgia, a desire to look back at what’s gone before, and to return to a format’s roots. But despite a montage of Bachelor history at the beginning of Monday’s premiere, this is not the approach this new season has taken. </p>
<p>Rather, as it is at pains to remind us repeatedly, it has thrown most of its conventional structures and trappings away. The French-chateau-inspired Sydney mansion is out, replaced by a modern one on the Gold Coast. The fairy lights and candles are conspicuously absent. </p>
<p>And in the most obvious change, instead of having only one man at its centre, there are three: Jed McIntosh, Felix Van Hofe, and Thomas Malucelli. The Bachelor has become The Bachelors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504142/original/file-20230112-32622-gdowx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The three bachelors of The Bachelors: Jed McIntosh, Thomas Malucelli, and Felix Van Hofe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">10 Play</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Commitment and choice: innovating with the format</h2>
<p>While the parent Bachelor franchise in the US has remained relatively consistent over the 20 years it has been running, the Australian franchise has been far more open to experimentation. (One might even speculate that it is used to trial innovations that might then be adopted in the extremely popular American version.)</p>
<p>Brooke Blurton’s groundbreaking 2021 season of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-bisexual-bachelorette-and-the-messy-history-of-bisexual-representation-on-reality-tv-170362">The Bachelorette Australia</a>, which featured both male and female contestants, was an excellent example of this. Blurton was both the first First Nations and the first openly queer person to ever lead a Bachelor/ette season anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>In Blurton’s season, innovation was based on inclusion. This is not the case in The Bachelors Australia, in which the vast majority of the cast appear to be heterosexual and white (a step backwards, in a franchise which has enormous problems around diversity, nationally and internationally). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-bisexual-bachelorette-and-the-messy-history-of-bisexual-representation-on-reality-tv-170362">The first bisexual Bachelorette and the messy history of bisexual representation on reality TV</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the latest season, the innovation is with the underlying structures and mechanics of the franchise, creating new opportunities for the people participating in the show – and new storytelling possibilities for the people making it. </p>
<p>Rather than meeting their contestants upon their entrance to the Bachelor mansion like usual, the three Bachelors travelled around Australia, going on short blind dates with numerous women and inviting only the ten they liked best onto the show. While each of the thirty women is nominally dating the Bachelor who brought them, they are openly encouraged to explore the possibility of a relationship with any of the three men: as host Osher Günsberg tells them, they should “go on all the rides at the theme park before they find the one they’re going to stay on all day”.</p>
<p>This ties into a new rhetoric of choice. While contestants have always been able to refuse a Bachelor’s rose, the multiple-Bachelor format allows them options beyond leaving, giving them more power within the show’s structure.</p>
<p>The other major shift is in the show’s new approach to its endgame. While season-ending proposals are de rigueur in the American franchise, they have historically been rare in the Australian one (with the exception of Blake Garvey’s proposal to Sam Frost in 2014, which ultimately led to one of the franchise’s shortest-lived relationships). </p>
<p>In The Bachelors, this is not the case. All three Bachelors have been given engagement rings – with the expectation, one imagines, that they will use them. </p>
<p>Within the show, the rings are used as a visible symbol of the Bachelors’ commitment <em>to</em> commitment. The world of modern dating is presented as an environment where it is impossible to find a partner who will commit it to you. The show, then, becomes the solution.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1612803972779184129"}"></div></p>
<h2>A naked ratings grab?</h2>
<p>These changes have clearly been made in response to viewer fatigue, and in an attempt to revive the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/the-bachelor/the-bachelors-premiere-struggles-in-the-ratings-after-format-reboot/news-story/f6198a11830a632e792f2110c3e7c0da">show’s ratings</a>, which have been in decline for some years (although it is worth noting that this has perhaps been overstated: overnight Nielsen ratings do not include streaming, where, for example, Blurton’s season performed quite well, especially for a younger demographic).</p>
<p>The Bachelor is a remarkably long-running reality romance format, both in Australia (where it has run since 2013) and overseas (the US version has run since 2002). For a long time, it was the only format to run for more than a few consecutive years.</p>
<p>However, in the 2010s, this began to change, with the local and global rise of formats like Love Island and Married at First Sight. </p>
<p>The influence of both is plain to see in this new iteration. The emphasis on contestant choice is reminiscent of Love Island, where participants are frequently encouraged to “recouple”. So too, arguably, is the new fluorescent lighting and bright colour palette.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1612396274648551424"}"></div></p>
<p>And the emphasis on commitment, and on the show as the supposed solution to the toils of modern dating, is clearly drawn from <a href="https://theconversation.com/married-at-first-sight-a-social-experiment-all-but-guaranteeing-relationship-failure-114070">Married at First Sight</a>, in which the titular “expert”-arranged marriages are positioned as a way to guarantee a dedicated and compatible partner willing to work on a relationship, rather than one who will simply ghost or give up.</p>
<p>Similarly, this new iteration seems designed to encourage conflict – something in which Married at First Sight notoriously specialises.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/married-at-first-sight-a-social-experiment-all-but-guaranteeing-relationship-failure-114070">Married at First Sight - a 'social experiment' all but guaranteeing relationship failure</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Whether or not this new version of The Bachelor Australia saves it from cancellation remains to be seen. The fact that it is being aired in January over a much shorter period than normal seems to suggest that the network does not have much faith in it. </p>
<p>However, it offers something new for old viewers who might have been experiencing fatigue; and something familiar for new viewers, who might be better acquainted with some of these other reality romance formats. </p>
<p>While The Bachelors has its flaws, its first week of episodes certainly did not lack entertainment value.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197414/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodi is the author of Here For The Right Reasons and Can I Steal You For A Second?, two novels set on a reality romance show. </span></em></p>The new season of the Bachelor franchise has changed the formula, in a bid to combat audience fatigue and dropping ratings.Jodi McAlister, Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1213122019-08-02T04:51:13Z2019-08-02T04:51:13ZAn astronomy expert explains how The Bachelor’s research will help us discover new planets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286664/original/file-20190801-169676-x3w059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1256%2C2559%2C1651&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astrophysicist Matt Agnew is looking for love on the Bachelor Australia. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Network 10</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As an astronomer, I’m used to talking about the stars - the ones above, the distant suns and the worlds that orbit them. But this week, I’ve been swept along in discussions of an entirely different kind of star - and it’s all thanks to a reality TV show called <a href="https://10play.com.au/the-bachelor">The Bachelor Australia</a>.</p>
<p>The reason? This year’s Bachelor is <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/magnew.html">Matt Agnew</a>, who just finished his PhD at Swinburne University. I had the great privilege of helping to supervise Matt’s studies, so it’s been really bizarre to see him in a whole new light, handing out roses rather than prospecting for alien worlds. </p>
<p>While he’s <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/the-bachelor/the-bachelor-matt-agnew-spills-on-secret-romance-with-winner/news-story/2f40bae9a94694a136f34ab0a3619e49">reportedly already chosen</a> one of the 28 candidates on the show, I know Matt is also passionate about the search for alien worlds, with TESS (as I’ll explain in a moment).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-can-earth-be-affected-by-a-black-hole-in-the-future-118181">Curious Kids: can Earth be affected by a black hole in the future?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our latest Bachelor did some amazing work for his PhD - and if his very public search for true love helps to also spread the word of his amazing research, then that’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned!</p>
<p>So what did Matt do, before he became a heart-throb? And who, or what, is TESS?</p>
<h2>Helping to prospect for alien worlds</h2>
<p>Astronomers searching for planets around other stars <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/science/space/as-ranks-of-goldilocks-planets-grow-astronomers-consider-whats-next.html">face a big problem</a>. Simply put, we are finding planets around huge numbers of stars, at an ever-accelerating rate. </p>
<p>But there are far too few facilities available on the ground to follow up on all those planetary systems and learn more about them. As a result, we have to find ways to work smarter, not longer - to make our searches ever more efficient and effective.</p>
<p>That problem will only become more pronounced in the coming years, with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (that’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/tess-transiting-exoplanet-survey-satellite">TESS</a>) expected to discover thousands of new alien worlds.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-planet-hunting-spacecraft-tess-is-now-on-its-mission-to-search-for-new-worlds-94291">Launched in April last year</a>, TESS has already found <a href="https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/">28 confirmed planets</a>, but a further 993 remain as “candidates” that need urgent ground-based follow-up.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7LLyFFsY7ZY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>That’s where Matt’s PhD research comes into play. My colleagues and I have, for the past decade or so, used computer modelling of proposed planetary systems to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/55/4/4.30/246316" title="Testing proposed planetary systems – to destruction">separate the wheat from the chaff</a> - to identify planetary systems that are not all they seem to be.</p>
<p>By studying how the proposed planets in a given system would interact with each other over millions of years, we can show that some of those systems simply don’t work. The planets we thought were there just don’t exist.</p>
<h2>From a certain point of view</h2>
<p>Matt turned this idea on its head. If you turn this technique around, you can predict the best places to search for new alien worlds. </p>
<p>Imagine that we find a new planetary system, with a huge planet, maybe as big as Jupiter, moving on an orbit that takes 100 days to complete around its host star. That planet will exert a strong gravitational pull on other objects in the same system, stirring them up, and clearing the space around it.</p>
<p>Now imagine you want to search for other planets in that system. Where should you look?</p>
<p>One approach would be just to study the star continuously, watching day-in, day-out, for any sign that it hosts additional planets. That allows you to find planets on a wide variety of orbits, from those close to their host to those that lurk in the icy depths, far from the star.</p>
<p>But that method is really resource-intensive and inefficient.</p>
<h2>Imaginary planets</h2>
<p>That’s where Matt’s work came in. We can simulate the effect of the first planet we discover on imaginary planets moving on a wide variety of orbits around their host star. With modern computers, we can run simulations that cover millions of virtual years in just a few hours, or a few days at most.</p>
<p>That allows us to discover which of those imaginary planets could actually exist. Those that aren’t feasible might crash into their host star, or collide with the known planet (in the simulation).</p>
<p>In other words, they aren’t physically feasible. So there’s no point spending huge amounts of <a href="http://ast.noao.edu/system/tsip/more-info/time-calc-keck">precious resources (telescope time)</a> searching for planets that can’t be there in the first place.</p>
<p>Matt published his work in four peer-reviewed papers, which are freely available online (<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.05805" title="Stable habitable zones of single Jovian planet systems">here</a>, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.06547" title="Properties of the single Jovian planet population and the pursuit of Solar system analogues">here</a>, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.03730" title="Prospecting for exo-Earths in multiple planet systems with a gas giant">here</a> and <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.11297" title="Predicting multiple planet stability and habitable zone companions in the TESS era">here</a>). </p>
<p>They’re well worth a read, and tell a fantastic story of how we can use theoretical methods, and fast computers, to help make the search for alien worlds an easier and more productive game.</p>
<h2>The future - planets and roses</h2>
<p>Matt did fantastic work during his PhD - and I’m confident his work will be important in the years to come. We’re implementing his results into our work with the new <a href="https://www.usq.edu.au/news/2019/07/minerva-australis-launch">Minerva-Australis observatory</a>, our very own planet-finding facility.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-does-the-sun-spin-as-well-as-the-planets-119877">Curious Kids: does the Sun spin as well as the planets?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By making sure we only search for planets that could realistically exist, we’ll be able to scour the sky more efficiently, helping us to find and characterise as many alien worlds as possible. </p>
<p>Hopefully, his time on The Bachelor will be as productive. While I’ve seen and heard conflicting views among scientists as to the value of having an astrophysicist front and centre on that kind of show, I’m personally really positive about it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286673/original/file-20190802-169692-69gphp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Matt Agnew has reportedly already made his choice of the 28 candidates: who will it be?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Network 10</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’d like to think Matt will be a fantastic advocate for science and astronomy. He’s an eloquent communicator, and passionate about our search for new worlds <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-makes-one-earth-like-planet-more-habitable-than-another-33479">and for life elsewhere</a>. </p>
<p>In much the same way the particle physicist <a href="https://twitter.com/profbriancox">Brian Cox</a> (who also happens to be a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/bbd2242b-1e2c-49e6-9572-652fee7f8ed0">famous rock star</a>) has been able to engage huge numbers of people in science who might previously have had little interest, it might well be that Matt’s stint as The Bachelor will encourage his audience to learn more about the universe around them. </p>
<p>Even if it just helps people to learn the <a href="https://10daily.com.au/entertainment/tv/a190627whknb/im-a-gemini-introducing-the-ladies-vying-for-this-years-bachelor-20190627">difference between astronomy and astrology</a>, I’d consider that a win.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonti Horner was the external supervisor for Matt Agnew's PhD work, which was undertaken at Swinburne University of Technology.</span></em></p>Matt Agnew is on the hunt for love as star of the new Bachelor Australia series. But whoever he picks (and he already has, apparently) will have to compete with TESS. So who, or what, is TESS?Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1090682018-12-26T19:28:42Z2018-12-26T19:28:42ZHannah Gadsby, a royal wedding and a female doctor: in 2018, TV got a shake up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251429/original/file-20181219-27758-2i45ay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hannah Gadsby's Nanette received critical acclaim around the world. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">WENN</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From ground-breaking to game-changing, rule-breaking to near parliament-breaking – 2018 has been a big year for TV makers and audiences. Here are some of the most memorable moments.</p>
<h2>Doctor Who is finally a woman</h2>
<p>What would the 1963 makers of the BBC’s Dr Who have made of television in 2018? They imagined aliens, other worlds and alternate realities, but it took 55 years to imagine a woman in the show’s title role.</p>
<p>Despite some hesitation from a select group of <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/tv-reboots-are-having-a-great-awokening-it-sucks/">die hards</a> , the 13th Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, took the TARDIS to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-receives-praise-as-first-female-star-1150054">great effect</a> this year. With a fantastic mix of innovation and respect for the show’s legacy, Whittaker and new showrunner Chris Chibnall have allowed Dr Who to explore known worlds from a new perspective. </p>
<p>Standout episodes included Rosa, in which The Doctor and her companions returned to civil rights era USA to meet Rosa Parks, and The Witchfinders, where The Doctor was caught up in the witch hunting season in Lancashire in the era of King James.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_C2Jmg82_1g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Hannah Gadsby shakes up stand up</h2>
<p>Comedy specials have been niche television events for decades, especially championed by US cable outlets like HBO and Comedy Channel. With Netflix now in the mix, the scope for comedy has expanded, and through this global “post-television” network, alternative voices like Hannah Gadsby have found their people. </p>
<p>In Nanette, Gadsby rails against self-deprecating jokes, announces she’s quitting comedy, takes on the canon of Art History and exposes her own traumatic sexual abuse. All done while being funny as.</p>
<p>Praised by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/arts/hannah-gadsby-comedy-nanette.html">New York Times</a>, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The Guardian and <a href="https://junkee.com/nanette-reviews/166225">many others</a>, Gadsby’s impact can be measured by the feathers she’s ruffled, too. Comedians like Jerry Seinfeld have had to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/arts/television/jerry-seinfeld-interview.html">take note</a> of Gadsby’s ability to go beyond “have you ever wondered why” jokes, and her boldness has also earned her a reputation as a strong voice amid whatever comes after #MeToo. A game changer for comedy, for international on-demand television, and for those who hold power generally. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5aE29fiatQ0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>A Honey Badger breaks The Bachelor</h2>
<p>Reality television is, of course, never real, but it’s amazing how many real feelings these shows can evoke. Who knew that a quest for true love, staged in front of a national commercial TV audience, made up of a casting call of pretty young things with little in common might be doomed to fail? </p>
<p>This year’s Australian season of the American franchise The Bachelor added some extra spice with footballer Nick “The Honey Badger” Cummins, who dropped as many ocker sayings as possible while taking his shirt off. After all that, he broke the rules of the game by refusing to choose one of the show’s potential mates – leaving it a case of all sizzle, no steak; and making the show’s producers look like they couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery. Cue outrage. Cue surprise. Cue discussions about the spin off series.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GPB4u7QUmN4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Parliament House – the soap opera</h2>
<p>Backstabbing! Affairs! Denials of knowledge about constitutional citizenship requirements! While politicians all over the world have made for extreme television watching this year, Canberra has been particularly spicy in 2018. </p>
<p>There was Barnaby Joyce airing his dirty laundry in the first half of the year for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-29/australians-disgusted-barnaby-joyce-sold-his-story/9810418">a reported $150,000</a>. Meanwhile the dual citizenship saga, first sparked by Greens senator Scott Ludlam’s resignation in July 2017, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dual-citizenship-the-constitutional-crisis-that-won-t-go-away-rolls-into-2018">continued</a>. It ate up public funds and airtime.</p>
<p>The show that keeps spinning sequels, “Leadership spill”, continued in August, with Scott Morrison snatching the top job from Malcolm Turnbull. A program that the Australian people are increasingly getting sick of - and it was a shame to see Julie Bishop <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/26/julie-bishop-resigns-as-foreign-minister-after-failed-leadership-bid">leave the show</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sb6cmLDMEQg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>A royal wedding that’s actually interesting</h2>
<p>The marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was a guilty TV pleasure for many, but also an important historical moment. Television has been a fundamental part of how the British Royal Family is understood (and tolerated) since 1957 when The Queen made her <a href="https://www.royal.uk/christmas-broadcast-1957">first televised Christmas address</a>. The 2018 showstopper was not the bride’s dress or groom’s nod to his still beloved mother, but rather the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdIZpos-ME4&list=PLn2RjxYNpcazW9TJEigBdWrBJHBandSZi&index=6">sermon by Bishop Michael Curry</a> and The Kingdom Choir’s version of Stand By Me.</p>
<p>Here the former oppressed and oppressors met and were brought together by what was an undeniably very sweet event. While there was some <a href="https://www.who.com.au/royal-family-facial-expressions-at-royal-wedding">apparent uncomfortableness</a> from certain members of the Royal Family, it was captivating viewing for those watching at home in tiaras and pyjamas.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7t7TfPwk5y4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Honourable mentions include the resignation of SBS newsreader and style icon <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-26/lee-lin-chin-career-memorable-moments/10041026">Lee Lin Chin</a>; American actor Roseanne fired from her own sitcom in a show of <a href="https://theconversation.com/commercial-tvs-rare-leadership-on-roseanne-is-a-breath-of-fresh-air-97447">zero racism tolerance</a>; ABC sketch show <a href="https://tendaily.com.au/entertainment/tv/a180903wpv/high-profile-aussies-come-out-in-support-of-axed-abc-comedy-tonightly-20180903">Tonightly</a> coming, growing, then getting cut; (men’s) cricket being “ruined” by a ball tampering scandal and subsequent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-29/steve-smith-apologises-for-ball-tampering-scandal/9603670">weepy press conferences</a>; and NBC/Netflix’s The Good Place continuing to show that network sitcoms can be clever, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/30/the-good-place-how-a-sitcom-made-philosophy-seem-cool">philosophical</a>, and still wonderfully funny.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Giuffre does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From ground-breaking to game-changing, rule-breaking to near parliament-breaking, 2018 was a hell of a year for TV.Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1022462018-09-18T00:52:04Z2018-09-18T00:52:04ZWhy it’s time to end the culture of bullying on reality TV<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236605/original/file-20180917-158240-ard48b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Contestants Sonya Mefaddi and Hadil Faiza were asked to leave My Kitchen Rules after threatening another team. Sonya later spoke of how she had been bullied as a child.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Australians have embraced reality television. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (I watch it myself) but there’s an unhealthy appetite for seeing people psychologically tearing one another apart both on and off the screen.</p>
<p>On Ten’s The Bachelor, contestants’ Cat and Romy’s merciless name-calling and bullying behaviour became so vicious that they were dubbed the “<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6068985/Bachelor-mean-girls-Romy-Poulier-Cat-Henesy-flash-plenty-cleavage.html">mean girls</a>”. </p>
<p>On Seven’s My Kitchen Rules, meanwhile, competitors Sonya and Hadil’s slurs, which included likening one contestant to a “blowfish gasping for air”, eventually led to Seven asking them to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/manu-feildel-reveals-why-he-excused-mkr-contestants-from-competition-20180418-p4zabp.html">leave the show</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8AmMKUHxQ7I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Seven said the pair were dismissed because their bullying antics were not consistent with their <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/tv/2018/04/19/my-kitchen-rules-sonya-hadil-seven-bullying/">“workplace values</a>”. But Sonya and Hadil said they were <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/tv/2018/04/19/my-kitchen-rules-sonya-hadil-seven-bullying/">misrepresented </a>on the show through strategic editing to create misleading sound bites. </p>
<p>On Nine’s The Block, recently contestants <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGbl4fFlnY">Sara and Hayden</a> <a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/reality-tv/the-block/sara-hayden-quit-the-block-2018-50840">walked off the show</a> after being heavily criticised by the judges. “<a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/amp/reality-tv/the-block/hayden-sara-leave-the-block-50685">It got to the point where there was no constructive criticism</a>,” said Sara. “It just became pure insults.”</p>
<p>Clearly reality TV gains ratings through pitting contestants against one another. And of course, there is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_(TV_series)">little “real”</a> about this form of TV, which is heavily scripted and showcases stereotyped characters. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teenagers-who-are-both-bully-and-victim-are-more-likely-to-have-suicidal-thoughts-76306">Teenagers who are both bully and victim are more likely to have suicidal thoughts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But there’s a dark irony at play here. Morning TV shows on the commercial networks that air reality TV shows can be found promoting messages such as <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/sunrise-launch-anti-cyber-bullying-campaign-beat-the-bullies-38830617.html">“anti-bullying” in the schoolyard</a>, yet at night, a bullying mentality can prevail. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2_253FaRBG8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Bullying is widely recognised as a serious issue in schools, workplaces and online.
A survey by <a href="http://about.au.reachout.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Bullying-Research-Summary_FINAL.pdf">ReachOut</a>, an online mental health organisation for young people and their parents, found that of 1,000 14-25 year olds surveyed, 23% had experienced bullying in the last 12 months. Over half (52%) were bullied at school, with a quarter at the workplace and online. Youth mental health expert <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/12/bullying-as-damaging-as-child-abuse-and-needs-same-resources-expert-says">Professor Patrick McGorry</a> has warned that bullying can be just as damaging as child abuse and needs similar resources directed at it to tackle the problem. </p>
<p>In the UK recently, school principal Dr Helen Wright singled out reality TV shows for encouraging “<a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/is-reality-tv-turning-children-into-bullies-845213">an ethos of nastiness and negativity in schoolyards</a>”. While Dr Wright admitted, “children have long resorted to hurtful playground chants”, she believes the fights between reality TV contestants are creating a culture of mean girls. </p>
<p>This culture of on-air bullying does seem to be spilling into off air behaviour.
Cat from The Bachelor says she has since received <a href="https://www.mamamia.com.au/the-bachelor-2018-cat-henesey/">hundreds of abusive messages</a> including death threats. My Kitchen Rules’ Sonya and Hadil have also spoken of <a href="https://www.nova969.com.au/entertainment/mkr-villains-sonya-and-hadil-name-and-shame-trolls-who-sent-them-death-threats">vile abuse and death threats</a> sent by social media trolls. Sonya also spoke of how, as a child, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/where-my-kitchen-rules-sonya-meffadi-and-hadil-faiza-are-now/news-story/d6509b5e53cf2864ee4f2707a895b442">she had been bullied</a> over her race and weight.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5FL4XHxHSog?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It’s hard to know who is responsible for it. While Sonya and Hadil later apologised for their behaviour and accepted the public opprobrium, they <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/tv/2018/04/19/my-kitchen-rules-sonya-hadil-seven-bullying/">said in April</a>: “We fell right into the hands of producers and the manipulated drama. We will both be happy when we’re off air because MKR have bullied us enough.” (Seven <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/tv/2018/04/19/my-kitchen-rules-sonya-hadil-seven-bullying/">denied its role</a> in the bullying, citing “an unprecedented level of continued personal attacks and threats by one team against other teams”.)</p>
<p>Similarly, Cat <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6138763/Bachelor-mean-girls-Cat-Romy-Alisha-blame-producers-editing-look-bad.html">has noted of The Bachelor</a>, “it is very manipulative. You are told to do things, and if you don’t, you might go home”. She <a href="https://www.mamamia.com.au/the-bachelor-2018-cat-henesey/">claims</a> she “was pigeon-holed into a villain role”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-we-claim-bullying-too-often-80443">Do we claim 'bullying' too often?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I am among the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/reality-tv-is-dying-tell-that-to-the-10-million-watching-these-aussie-shows-20160520-gp06bo.html">ten million Australians</a> who have fallen under the spell of reality TV because for the most part, it is amusing. We watch as everyday Australians are put into constructed scenarios – usually harmless – where they must overcome challenges to win. And as audience members, we also know the rules. We watch with some scepticism, laugh through the awkward bits and gasp at the surprises. Then, when needed, we’ll pick up our phones and redeem our pitiful actions by voting for the underdog.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-love-reality-tv-psychology-2016-11?IR=T">psychologist Tomasz Witkowski</a>, has noted, viewers of reality TV shows may feel both “empathy and sympathy when watching participants we like, while at the same time finding enjoyment in seeing those we do not like in their most humiliating and embarrassing moments”. And I get this. There is, after all, a long history of public forms of humiliating crowd punishments.</p>
<p>But given that bullying is a real-life issue with real-world consequences, it’s time TV producers reconsidered the culture of conflict they are promoting on these shows – and their own role in it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102246/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Soseh Yekanians does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bullying is a serious public health problem. Yet too often, reality TV shows trade in insults and name calling.Dr Soseh Yekanians, Senior Lecturer in Theatre/Media, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/817482017-08-16T03:32:42Z2017-08-16T03:32:42ZIs The Bachelor anti-feminist, or is conventional heterosexual romance the real problem?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181501/original/file-20170809-26064-830wxp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Matty J, the current Bachelor in the Australian version of the franchise, prepares to reward one of his suitors with a rose.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Network 10/Warner Bros. International Television Production</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Bachelor attracts widespread criticism for being old-fashioned, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-bachelor-turns-women-into-misogynists-62423">anti-feminist</a>, and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ill-be-tuning-in-to-the-bachelor-but-im-not-proud-of-it-20170725-gxi4s7.html">humiliating to women</a>.</p>
<p>The show involves a group of women competing for the attention of “the bachelor” — the single male star. He offers a rose to those who win his affections, enabling them to stay in the competition.</p>
<p>Is this courtship ritual old-fashioned and outdated? Or does it accurately reflect modern, mainstream norms around heterosexual romance? </p>
<h2>Will you accept this rose?</h2>
<p>Everyday norms surrounding heterosexual dating and relationships dictate clear gender roles, with distinct expectations <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-women-take-their-husbands-surname-after-marriage-because-of-biology-56991">for men and women</a>. </p>
<p>On the dating scene, men are generally expected to approach women, and to invite women on a date. When a man “takes” a woman out to dinner he will typically offer to pay for the meal. </p>
<p>In relationships, when the man decides the time is right for marriage, he presents the woman with a ring and asks her to marry him. If he is especially true to tradition, the bride-to-be’s father is asked for permission before she is. Conventional weddings are <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1469540514521076">as fashionable as ever</a>, and there is no shortage of ostentatious marriage proposals by men that are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVVnLnhZbO8">shared online</a>.</p>
<p>This pattern of male leadership and female passivity in heterosexual romance is woven into the formula on The Bachelor. He makes the first moves, while the women wait passively for attention, dates, and a rose. </p>
<p>The show is criticised on feminist grounds. But is waiting for a rose appreciably different to waiting for a marriage proposal? </p>
<p>However, unlike any typical real-life situation, The Bachelor pits multiple women against one another to win the approval of just one man. But even when you subtract this competitive group element, the man is still in control if it is up to him to decide when to make a move – whether that means giving a rose, asking for a date, or asking for a hand in marriage. </p>
<p>The core problem of male decision-making and power remains even when there aren’t multiple women competing for him. Ordinary heterosexual dating is really just a rose ceremony for one. </p>
<h2>Girls behaving badly</h2>
<p>Despite norms dictating female passivity in heterosexual romance, we do sometimes see behaviour that violates these expectations on The Bachelor. Occasionally, a female contestant assertively approaches the bachelor and pulls him away for one-on-one time. Sometimes the women behave competitively with one another through direct and indirect verbal attacks.</p>
<p>Such competitive behaviour is sometimes construed as women being “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/18/women-own-worst-enemies-study">their own worst enemies</a>”. An alarmingly common inference from such assessments is that women are somehow to blame for the discrimination and disadvantages they experience because of patriarchy.</p>
<p>If anything, this competitiveness is counter-stereotypical behaviour for women, given that men are typically seen as being in competition for women, who are considered the “choosier” sex. And yet, it is the violation of such feminine norms that is often viewed with the most derision. </p>
<p>Men, on the other hand, are rarely accused of being “their own worst enemies” when they compete for women. Nor are their conflicts so frequently and readily condemned as a flaw of their gender.</p>
<h2>What about The Bachelorette?</h2>
<p>The gender-reversed scenario on The Bachelorette demonstrates that the rules of the game can go either way, as far as gender is concerned. But does this role-reversal disempower men in the same way that The Bachelor supposedly disempowers women?</p>
<p>First, the unconventional situation in The Bachelorette is unlikely to elicit conventional behaviour from the male contestants, since the situation is so unlike reality. Forcing males into a more passive role is always recognised as simply a brief suspension of conventional norms.</p>
<p>In fact, The Bachelorette is recognised as a subversion of traditional gender roles. This temporary role-reversal has an inherently different meaning, given that it occurs in a broader social context that is far more consistent to the situation in The Bachelor. </p>
<p>In this sense, we never truly reverse the roles, because it occurs within a context where conventional gender roles remain. </p>
<p>Once the show is over, the contestants return to ordinary norms, where men take the lead. Knowing this, any passivity or powerlessness that men might experience as contestants on The Bachelorette isn’t going to have the same impact, nor continue once they leave the house. </p>
<p>If anything, this reversal perhaps highlights the differences in the qualities that men and women tend to prefer in a partner. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.947">Research suggests</a> that, among heterosexuals, women are more likely to prefer male partners with status and resources. Men, however, place much higher value on physical attractiveness in their female partners.</p>
<p>If women feel that The Bachelor trivialises them and overemphasises their appearance, it’s probably because that’s what the bachelor is looking for. The Bachelor and The Bachelorette might just reflect differences in men’s and women’s mate preferences, and why these reverse scenarios aren’t really the same.</p>
<h2>What reality TV teaches us</h2>
<p>While the rules of The Bachelor can easily be reversed to be The Bachelorette, we don’t see the same consequences for men and women in this role-reversal.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is for the same reason that real-life dating and marriage norms seem so resistant to change. It’s easy to be critical of traditional gender norms when they play out in an artificial setting, but in real life, traditions are held sacred. </p>
<p>If we are serious about gender equality then we need to be more critical of the norms and institutions that <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-the-toy-aisles-that-teach-children-about-gender-stereotypes-59005">encourage female passivity</a> in the first place. The Bachelor simply highlights the problematic ways that women might be disadvantaged by conventional gender norms around romance and relationships.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s not the rules of this reality TV show that’s the problem, but rather the gender rules of reality that play out within it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beatrice Alba does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A pattern of male leadership and female passivity in heterosexual romance is woven into the formula on the popular TV show The Bachelor.Beatrice Alba, Assistant Lecturer, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/624232016-08-17T20:27:43Z2016-08-17T20:27:43ZHow The Bachelor turns women into misogynists<p>Channel Ten is currently screening Australia’s fourth series of the reality TV program <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4158012/">The Bachelor</a> (2013-), a franchise imported and adapted from the US. The show seems a guilty pleasure for its mostly female audience, who live vicariously through contestants vying for the attention of Bachelor Richie Strahan.</p>
<p>Audiences are encouraged to embrace “traditional” romance narratives (overlooking same sex or bisexual relationships). But what’s most disturbing about The Bachelor is the way it drives women to undermine one another. </p>
<p>Unlike a Cinderella or a Snow White fairy tale, the romance isn’t limited to two lovers of the opposite sex, but manifests in a bevy of perfectly sculpted women battling for the affections of a single man. This is heterosexual love as virtual blood sport.</p>
<p>Housing numerous women within a mansion, plying them extensively with alcohol and asking them to fight over one man does not bode well for female friendship. The math alone equals trouble. This female rivalry illustrates a challenging fact: sexism is not determined by one’s gender. Women can be just as sexist as men. And under certain conditions, they can be worse.</p>
<p>The designated “villain” of the series, 29-year-old account manager Kiera Maguire, provides what producers are looking for as she gushes forth disparaging comments about her fellow contestants. Unfortunately, in providing this kind of entertainment she enacts a form of sexism that might be termed “<a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/04/08/the_mystery_of_republican_women_backing_sexist_trump_theyre_female_misogynists_whove_grown_to_accept_oppression/">female misogyny</a>”. </p>
<p>However, perhaps her antics reveal more about the show’s creators, who engineer confrontation, prompt contestants for soundbites and edit together artificial conflict.</p>
<p>Maguire has reportedly said that The Bachelor has <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3740537/Keira-Maguire-reveals-deep-regret-appearing-Bachelor-cult-upbringing-revealed.html">ruined her life</a>, with the leaking to the media of information about her childhood in a polygamous cult. This kind of exposure isn’t accidental – it’s the job of producers to drum up as much publicity as possible.</p>
<p>Producers have extraordinary power. This is vividly examined in the American drama <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3314218/">UnReal</a> (2015), based on Sarah Gertrude Shapiro’s <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/20/sarah-gertrude-shapiro-the-savagely-clever-feminist-behind-unreal">experience of being a US Bachelor producer</a>. The program follows producer Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby) as shes goes to astonishing (and unethical) lengths in manipulating contestants to manufacture drama. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134236/original/image-20160816-13007-1o9lvtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">B.J. Britt and Kim Matula in UnReal (2015)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lifetime</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Narratives like The Bachelor give prominence to women, but push them to devalue one another on the basis of their looks, or lack of acceptably “feminine” behaviour. </p>
<p>This dynamic of women enacting patriarchal values has powered some classic films: Mike Nichol’s <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096463/">Working Girl</a> (1988) with ruthless business woman (played by Sigourney Weaver) cruelly undermining her underling (Melanie Griffith), or cult movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097493/">Heathers</a> (1988), whose lethal characterisation of bitchiness influenced <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/">Mean Girls</a> (2004).</p>
<p>Variations on this theme of catty female rivalry has inspired many television programs, such as the popular <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578873/">Pretty Little Liars</a> series (2010-present).</p>
<p>The current series of the Bachelor dramatises far more aggressive conflicts than previous seasons. Provoking competitive nastiness amongst women is a <a href="http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2016/08/bachelor-tops-demos-nine-wins-primary-channel.html">winning ratings strategy</a>. </p>
<p>Tellingly, in the first episode of this year’s Bachelor (aired on July 27) 24 year old Melbourne-based artist Georgia Tripos likens her fellow contestants to a “pack of hyenas”, asserting that she’s “seen this behaviour before, but in primary school.” </p>
<p>Illustrating this point is 31 year old support worker Rachael Gouvignon, who undercut Maguire’s moment of triumph by describing her as a “wicked witch” after she won a date with the Bachelor and was gifted a beautiful Cinderalla-like gown to wear on the occasion. </p>
<p>The insult “witch” has long been a criticism of powerful women – Bronwyn Bishop and Sophie Mirabella famously standing in front of “ditch the witch” placards during Gillard’s time as PM indicate that Tony Abbott was not alone in his “alleged” misogyny. </p>
<p>The Bachelor’s meticulously organised group dates are designed to pit each woman against the other. In a more recent episode (aired on August 11) the conflict did not disappoint. </p>
<p>Even good-natured contestants can produce insulting sounds bites, such as 26 year old hairdresser Faith Williams, who described Maguire as a “duck dressed up as a kangaroo” when the latter pouted about being coerced into wearing an absurd kangaroo outfit. </p>
<p>Judging women by their looks alone buys into a sexist and reductive value system. Ariel Levy’s important book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18745.Female_Chauvinist_Pigs">Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture</a> (2005) considers how women’s objectification of one another <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/books/review/female-chauvinist-pigs-girls-gone-wild.html?_r=0">enacts sexist behaviour</a>. The competitive desire to be the sexiest woman in the room (or in the case of The Bachelor, the mansion) might win the admiration of the single man, but women undermine themselves by trying to fulfil chauvinistic fantasies. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, men can be just as competitive and this was made abundantly clear in last year’s Australian premiere of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5068750/">The Bachelorette</a> (where the gender ratio is reversed). However the rivalry was diffused by the program’s focus on its heroine’s emotions, Sam Frost. (The year before Frost won the 2014 season of the Bachelor, but was subsequently <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/ls-celebrity-news/the-bachelors-sam-frost-reveals-exactly-how-she-was-dumped-by-blake-garvey-20141222-12cm9r.html">publicly dumped by Bachelor Blake Garvey</a>. She then went on to star in her own season of the Bachelorette.)</p>
<p>The tone of the conflict in The Bachelorette is very different from The Bachelor and in part this is because much of the screen time was devoted to Frost’s feelings. But more disturbingly, the nature of the competition was far less demeaning. The heady cocktail of spite that is onscreen right now sharply contrasts with that sense of camaraderie developed by the men in The Bachelorette.</p>
<p>The unedifying spectacle of women psychologically tearing each other apart indicates that misogyny is not an exclusively masculine domain. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Suzie Gibson will be online for an Author Q&A between 2 and 3pm on Thursday, 18 August, 2016. Post any questions you have in the comments below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzie Gibson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Bachelor, like most reality TV, thrives on drama. But its particular style of conflict illustrates an uncomfortable point: women can easily be sexist against other women.Suzie Gibson, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/577022016-06-06T01:21:19Z2016-06-06T01:21:19ZObsessed with reality TV? You may be a narcissist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124670/original/image-20160531-1943-ote2h8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Donald Trump in the boardroom during an episode of 'The Apprentice.'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Lehr/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early May, with Donald Trump on the verge of solidifying the Republican nomination, his opponent Ted Cruz ranted to the press: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m going to tell you what I really think of Donald Trump. This man is a pathological liar. He cannot tell the truth, but he combines it with being a narcissist… A narcissist at a level I don’t think this country has ever seen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Journalists and psychiatrists have agreed with his characterization of Trump. He’s been called “<a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/11/donald-trump-narcissism-therapists">remarkably narcissistic</a>,” “<a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/11/donald-trump-narcissism-therapists">a textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder</a>” and even “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/15/donald-trump-friends-family-staff-inner-circle-whos-who">a total narcissist … who will be the destruction of the United States</a>.”</p>
<p>The rise of Trump has surprised many. But it shouldn’t surprise those who are familiar with personality trends over the last several decades. </p>
<p>When we think someone’s a narcissist, there’s a chance they have <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-dark-side-work/201409/healthy-self-esteem-versus-healthy-narcissism">subclinical narcissism</a> – the technical term for a personality trait characterized by grandiosity, entitlement, envy, a tendency to exploit others and a preoccupation with fame and success. It’s not considered pathological, like the more serious and clinically diagnosable <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder">Narcissistic Personality Disorder</a> (NPD). But it’s disconcerting nonetheless. (People who do develop NPD almost always have the subclinical narcissism trait.) </p>
<p>In 2008, psychologists were able to show that scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, which measures subclinical narcissism, have been <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00507.x/full">steadily increasing</a> in the United States since the 1970s.</p>
<p>A year later, two popular books, “<a href="http://www.narcissismepidemic.com/">The Narcissism Epidemic</a>” and “<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780061582332/the-mirror-effect">The Mirror Effect</a>,” analyzed the phenomenon, floating potential reasons for the rise of narcissism in America. They both concluded that the rapid growth and reach of entertainment media and celebrity culture shared much of the blame.</p>
<p>However, neither of those books tested this claim, so we recently <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycarticles/2016-07841-001.pdf">conducted a study on television viewing habits</a> that was designed to do just that.</p>
<h2>How college students responded</h2>
<p>We were interested in three particular questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Is narcissism related to television exposure?</li>
<li>Are preferences for specific television genres related to narcissism?</li>
<li>Are narcissism trends continuing?</li>
</ul>
<p>For the study, we administered a survey to 565 college students. We asked them to complete several questionnaires, with questions that included how much television they watch and their preferred genres, in addition to the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). Participants selected which of a pair of statements best describes them. Each pair contained one narcissistic and one non-narcissistic answer, with an individual’s score determined by the total number of narcissistic options selected.</p>
<p>By comparing results from our sample, taken in 2012, with a hypothetical 2006 sample constructed from a <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/4330/npitimeupdatespps.pdf">prior meta-analysis of narcissism research</a>, we found that our sample of college students had an average NPI score approximately 1.5 points higher. This evidence suggests that narcissism among college students is continuing to increase. </p>
<p>We also found that people who watched more television were more likely to score higher on the NPI. However, once we accounted for genre, this correlation diminished and a different one emerged. </p>
<p>Regardless of how <em>much</em> TV they watched, people who liked political talk shows, reality shows, sporting events and horror shows tended to score higher on the NPI. But those who preferred news broadcasts – even if they watched a lot of TV – usually had lower scores on the NPI. </p>
<p>Taken together, these results suggest that there is a relationship between television exposure and narcissism. Furthermore, the type of show one prefers is more influential than the amount of TV watched. </p>
<h2>A model to mimic</h2>
<p>On the surface, these results make sense. Take horror shows: the villains often exhibit narcissistic personality traits as they profess their grand plans for destruction or domination. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, political talk shows (“The O'Reilly Factor,” “Real Time with Bill Maher”), sporting events and, in particular, <a href="https://www.csub.edu/%7Ecgavin/GST153/CelebrityStudy.pdf">reality shows</a> (Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice,” “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”) all feature plenty of narcissistic personalities who <a href="http://www.esludwig.com/uploads/2/6/1/0/26105457/bandura_sociallearningtheory.pdf">viewers might then mimic in their everyday behavior</a>. Contestants and stars typically brag of their accomplishments, insult their opponents and demand special treatment during and after filming. Meanwhile, a baseball star, after hitting a game-winning home run, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/fashion/blessed-becomes-popular-word-hashtag-social-media.html">might claim he’s been “blessed</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125045/original/image-20160602-23293-828bu8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bill Maher.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Lehr/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, the results for those who prefer news broadcasts corroborate <a href="http://crx.sagepub.com/content/33/3/115.short">previous studies</a> showing that news consumers are more civicly engaged and less individualistic.</p>
<p>Our findings come as reality TV series and partisan political shows have proliferated in recent years. In 2000, there were four reality television shows. By 2010, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=iEuXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT252&lpg=PT252&dq=2000+4+reality+TV+shows+2010+320+reality+TV+shows&source=bl&ots=3Kom62YGup&sig=LT6Vyzh-urHDnJVM9CunkXz-Thw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGzsel8onNAhWj6IMKHffFB7gQ6AEIOzAE#v=onepage&q=2000%204%20reality%20TV%20shows%202010%20320%20reality%20TV%20shows&f=false">that number had ballooned to 320</a>. Meanwhile, some cable news networks today, like Fox News and MSNBC, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2015/02/26/bill-reilly-and-growth-partisan-media/SiTny61lsaOFav0QV7szwK/story.html">feature “wall-to-wall” opinion shows</a>. </p>
<p>When viewers are exposed to so many characters and personalities exhibiting narcissistic behavior and being rewarded, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inspired-by-kim-kardashian-a-feverish-legion-of-followers-struggle-to-achieve-online-fame-51534">they have reason to model such behaviors themselves</a>.</p>
<p>The Kardashians receive lucrative television contracts, while golfer Tiger Woods <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/tiger-woods-earns-83-times-more-money-endorsing-things-playing-golf-165649">nets massive endorsement deals</a>. In Donald Trump, we’re now seeing a reality star being rewarded with the Republican presidential nomination. </p>
<h2>While correlation doesn’t mean causation…</h2>
<p>Of course, it’s important to remember that this was a survey rather than a controlled experiment. Therefore, we cannot infer whether television exposure and genre preferences actually make people more narcissistic, or whether people who are more narcissistic are simply more likely to watch certain types of shows. We think that the first explanation is more compelling, but future research will be able to better determine the direction of these relationships.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125035/original/image-20160602-23298-1me7tmu.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lacy and Marcus from Season 1 of ‘Bachelor in Paradise.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Lehr/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We doubt many people consider these results a surprise. Estimates of average television exposure <a href="http://www.bls.gov/tus/tables/a1_2014.pdf">now range from three to five hours per day</a>, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2016/the-total-audience-report-q4-2015.html">Nielsen</a>. It’s a reasonable assumption that any leisure activity that occupies about 20-30 percent of the average person’s waking hours will have some influence on someone’s personality. And that’s just “traditional” viewing in front of a television. The average person <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/02/25/we-are-hopelessly-hooked/">will spend even more time</a> consuming television shows on portable devices like laptops and smartphones. </p>
<p>This level of media exposure becomes concerning when the shows feature individuals who model rampant self-interest, disregard of others’ well-being and a focus on the individual above all else. </p>
<p>We think it partially explains the rise in narcissism since the 1970s. And perhaps in that, there is an explanation for the attraction to a candidate like Donald Trump.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Studies have shown that since the 1970s, people’s scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory are rising. Could there be a connection to television consumption?Robert Lull, Vartan Gregorian Post-doctoral Fellow in Science Communication, University of PennsylvaniaTed Dickinson, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/490532015-10-16T01:37:55Z2015-10-16T01:37:55ZIf You Are The One and The Bachelor know how to get to us: we all fear dying alone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98472/original/image-20151015-15120-15vz72b.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite criticism from the Chinese government, which claims it espouses "the wrong values", the popularity of dating show If You Are The One continues unabated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS Television</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We all know plenty about Channel TEN’S <a href="http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-bachelor">The Bachelor</a> and its new spin-off <a href="http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-bachelorette">The Bachelorette</a>, whether through watching the shows – as 1.5 million Australians do – or the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/why-i-dont-want-my-daughter-to-watch-the-bachelor/story-fn8yvfst-1227534961324">media and social media circus</a> that surrounds every twist and turn. </p>
<p>We can take from this that dating, and how it’s done, matters. The Bachelor’s mushy, imported-from-America format is a winner, and reflects back to us certain “realities” about dating in the modern age. But there are other dating formats, with other “realities” that are worth keeping an eye on too. </p>
<p>The Chinese dating show <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/if-you-are-the-one">If You Are the One</a> (IYATO) has a reported domestic audience of 50 million. In Australia, currently airing on SBS, it has an audience of 82,000. That’s a “huge cult following”, says SBS Communications Manager, Michael Morcos. </p>
<p>At present, SBS is calling for <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/popasia/if-you-are-the-one-australia">applications</a> from wannabe Australian contestants. In December, 28 successful applicants, who must be fluent in Mandarin, will be flown to Nanjing to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/sep/07/chinese-dating-show-if-you-are-the-one">appear</a> in a series of Australian specials. </p>
<p>For those yet to have the pleasure, IYATO – which started broadcasting in 2010 – looks like a job interview, of sorts. A male romantic hopeful is presented as a “candidate” to a panel of 24 women every week, who are asked for their impressions. “He’s OK,” one woman might say. “You look very cute,” another might say. “I like fatties,” another might add. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5Hg04cth9c?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">If You Are The One segment.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The questions come fast. What’s your job? What do you do? Do you love your mother? The women look sweet, but the questions are tough. Indeed: this dating game looks almost like a blood sport, a million miles away – on the face of it – from the soppy, breathless, slow-paced Bachelor approach to dating. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98474/original/image-20151015-19357-t0idei.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If You Are The One.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS Television</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>IYATO seems ruthless in its emphasis on realities such as: what friends think of the male contestant, what he thinks of his parents, and vice versa, his job and social standing. There are blunt dismissals of male candidates (by means of lights switched off, sometimes in quick succession, signalling the end of the female contestants’ interest). </p>
<p>The men are described as “too fat”, “too muscly”, or “too needy”. They leave the set, dejected, to the sad strains of O Fortuna, and tell their often-sad tale to the camera. At times, there are tears.</p>
<p>Five years ago, the Chinese government opined that the show had the “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/world/asia/19chinatv.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">wrong values</a>”, and apparently asked the producers to put less emphasis on contestants’ economic standing. But behind the drama there are some hard realities.</p>
<p>The Chinese term <em>shengnu</em> (leftover women) is used in state-controlled media and on internet message boards to describe women who are smart, successful and moneyed, but still not married by the age of 28. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DfG9DYdTN9k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Leftover women’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Preference in China for having boys produces a marriage squeeze when those boys become men and search desperately for a suitable wife. According to <a href="http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/news/boys-without-girls">census data</a>, there are 20 million more men than women in China. </p>
<p>So the dating game becomes more like a piranha tank. Desperation lurks behind the smiles.</p>
<p>To Western eyes, the men in IYATO may seem vulnerable and the women hard and judgmental. My Asian friends respond that that’s just an impression given by the format. The women are trying to assess the substance behind the surface impressions. The seemingly huge cultural gap may be more apparent than real. </p>
<p>Friends also warn that the translations – in the form of subtitles – are always approximate, never accurate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98475/original/image-20151015-19370-1rk6nae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If You Are The One.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS Television.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And, of course, “reality” is as subjective in the context of Chinese dating
shows as it is in Australian shows. </p>
<p>But the impulse driving such shows is the same, it would seem, regardless of the cultural backdrop. Sociologists such as Peter Berger <a href="http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Berger.html">argue that</a> choosing a partner is a tough choice, fraught with serious consequences, such as “sharing the boredom of a thousand bleary-eyed breakfasts”.</p>
<p>And psychologists talk of a powerful need to belong. Rejection has been known to produce actual physical pain. Repeated rejection leads to emotions such as anxiety, depression, and sadness. </p>
<p>Hence the cunning appeal of the promo for IYATO:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Are you terrified you’re going to die alone? Do you worry that no one will love you – ever? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We all fear being alone. And the drive towards finding the right partner is a key determinant in our happiness. That’s why programs like IYATO and the Bachelor are so popular and, ultimately, the same.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49053/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter West does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Chinese dating show If You Are the One has a domestic audience of 50 million, and a cult following in Australia. It seems harsher than shows such as The Bachelor – but is it really all that different?Peter West, Casual Academic, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/474172015-09-16T20:17:50Z2015-09-16T20:17:50ZScarcity and sexism: does watching The Bachelor make you a bad feminist?<p>Until about two years ago, I’d been living in a bubble of oblivious bliss where the (not so) fine art of pick-up artistry was far from my radar.</p>
<p>And then I was introduced to the dark arts of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Strauss">Neil Strauss</a>. Strauss wrote <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game:_Penetrating_the_Secret_Society_of_Pickup_Artists">The Game</a>, a book which, alongside Bret Easton Ellis’ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho">American Psycho</a>, is among the most disturbing I’ve ever read.</p>
<p>The “genius” behind pick-up artistry is the crude-but-nevertheless-logical application of some of the most basic tenets of psychology, sociobiology and anthropology to the dating game. According to Strauss, most mating is initiated in nightclubs, a space where humans act not unlike impala on the Serengeti. Think <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peacocking">peacocking</a>, unwanted physical contact and … um … magic tricks.</p>
<p>One of the themes consistent in works like The Game is scarcity – a principle as relevant to psychology as it is to economics. Scarcity spotlights our desperation for those things that seem in short supply. </p>
<p>Whack a “limited edition” sticker on a car, a bottle of perfume or a tub of icecream and our yearn for it increases manifold. Get told that the dress is the last one in stock, that the manufacturer has stopped making those shoes, and suddenly our want is insatiable. </p>
<p>Seat a man in a bar, have women poised around him to laugh at his jokes and gawk wide-eyed at his sleight of hand and his value to a lady passerby suddenly skyrockets.</p>
<p>I don’t subscribe to a doctrinaire branch of feminism and thus don’t feel even slightly comfortable with to-do, to-be or to-think lists. It’s thus, no surprise, that I don’t think taking righteous stances against TV shows is necessary. </p>
<p>I’ve no interest in shaming the <a href="https://theconversation.com/guilt-pleasure-and-dirty-pop-culture-secrets-9474">guilty pleasure</a> of reality TV. Nevertheless, the gender politics of The Bachelor – which concludes its current Australian season on Thursday night – are certainly worth considering.</p>
<p>The premise of the show is a world where wealth and a well-cut suit is at the heart of sex appeal. And a man boasting such attributes is, apparently, more than enough to coerce a harem of ladies to sign up to win his affections. </p>
<p>They may not love him yet, hell, they may not even <em>know</em> him yet. But if there’s only one of him and every other woman wants a piece, <em>surely</em> he’s worth throwing one’s panties into the ring for.</p>
<p>And thus, we have women – gorgeous, neurotic, insufficiently self-reflective – plotting and scheming and grooming-within-an-inch-of-their-life in the hope of being <em>chosen</em>. To have one’s existence validated by a chap whose worth has become alarmingly inflated based purely on each contestant’s willingness to grovel for his table scraps. Curiously, the why of this “catch” needing Channel Ten to provide him a social life goes unquestioned.</p>
<p>The presence of the catfight in media is nothing new. Any sporting/political/corporate contest involving two women, any commentary involving one women daring to criticise another, and news reports will either explicitly use the term, or at the very least, decorously tapdance around it. Because the catfight frame is one we all know well. </p>
<p>In the <em>girls will be girls</em> mythology of media, women are seemingly only ever biding their time – waiting for their nails to dry – before seizing an opportunity to tear out their rival’s hair.</p>
<p>Claims of sexism in the media will inevitably be met with the obvious oh but men are sexualised/objectified/made a mockery of too. And thus the counter to any criticism of The Bachelor always takes the form of <a href="http://www.bandt.com.au/media/ten-announces-australias-first-bachelorette">The Bachelorette</a>. </p>
<p>However, slotting a woman into a role traditionally occupied by a man <a href="https://theconversation.com/trainwreck-and-popping-the-cultural-bubble-45558">does not a feminist triumph make</a> and those men wanting to woo a bachelorette need to be considered – and critiqued – as a completely different beast than women wanting desperately to be validated, made <em>whole</em>, made worthy by the bachelor. </p>
<p>Men on TV don’t engage in bitchin’ and back-stabbin’ in the hope of getting “picked”. Men don’t take life breaks to go on a TV show in the hope of being anointed as the very best/prettiest/sweetest. Men don’t grow up with the all importance of coupling-up-before-their-expiry-date rammed down their gullets. </p>
<p>The Bachelor is just a television show and it’s only one of a deluge of cultural messages we receive. So there’s no need to exaggerate its influence on our collective sexual politics. </p>
<p>But equally, it would be naive nonetheless to pretend it isn’t the perfect screen depiction of the male masturbatory fantasy of scantily clad women pillow-fighting for his affections. And a poignant encapsulation of the lingering sexism in pop culture to boot.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Rosewarne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Bachelor is the perfect screen depiction of the male fantasy of scantily clad women pillow-fighting for his affections.Lauren Rosewarne, Senior Lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.