The Bachelor franchise has been going on for nearly 18 years as the first season premiered in the spring of 2002. Since then, there have been multiple seasons and other series in the franchise with the addition of The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. Given how long the show has gone on, it’s surprising that the basic premise of the show has changed very little. While there are some differences over time, the set up is still the same.
There’s no denying that the franchise has had many controversies over the years, and there are definitely things that haven’t aged well and that are still problematic.
The show shows how someone could love multiple people but then promotes a status quo of monogamy
One thing about The Bachelor franchise that some critics have pointed out is weird is how the series shows polyamory but promotes monogamy. The series seems to drive the point home that one person can have strong feelings of love for more than one person, yet, in the end, each bachelor or bachelorette must choose only one person and break the hearts of others.
It seems strange that the show continues to promote heterosexual monogamy as the only valid kind of relationship while also illustrating people can be more complex than this.
The constants, especially the women, continue to get younger and more conventionally attractive
One difference fans might notice when they go back to re-watch older seasons compared to current ones is how the contestants keep getting younger. While in earlier seasons it wasn’t completely abnormal to see some women in their 30s, this is rare now. Most of the contestants, but especially the women, tend to be quite young, mostly in their early 20s.
There also seems to be more of a push to make every contestant conventionally attractive and to fit a certain mold.
Very few couples from the franchise actually stay together
Given how long the show has been going on and that there are about 35 seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, one might expect the franchise to have a decent success rate.
However, there are less than ten couples that have stayed together. This definitely shows that the show isn’t great at finding matches for people. So, the truth is that it’s mostly about entertainment and about giving fame opportunities for contestants.
It promotes the stereotype that women are catty and dramatic
While reality television shows have changed somewhat from the early 2000s, there are still some things that are the same. The Bachelor was definitely one of the main series that really capitalized on showing women fighting.
It has in the past, and continues to this day, to engineer and edit the series in a way that portrays women as emotional, dramatic, and catty. It seems like it’s time to end this stereotype.
There is a lack of LGBT+ people
Given how many seasons of the show there have been and that the LGBT+ rights and visibility have increased greatly during those years, it’s shocking how little representation there has been. There has really been only one instance of LGBT characters in a relationship on the show, and this only happened last summer with Demi Burnette on Bachelor in Paradise.
This is definitely an aspect of the show that seems outdated and needs to change.
There still isn’t nearly enough racial diversity
One of the biggest controversies the franchise ever faced was backlash and criticism over the lack of diversity on the show. While there is slightly more diversity now, there is still a long way to go.
Rachel Lindsay was the first black contestant of either show, and she remains the last still. There has never been a black bachelor. And, there is very little racial diversity amongst contestants still.
The producers manipulate so much of what happens
It’s no secret that much of reality television isn’t always that real. The levels of fakeness, however, can vary based on each series. But, as far as The Bachelor franchise is concerned, the producers are notorious for manipulating scenarios.
Whether it’s bringing back old flames or encouraging drama among the contestants, it’s clear that entertainment is important no matter how that might emotionally harm the contestants.
There is very little variance of body types
There are so many ways in which the franchise lacks diversity. It has been terrible at having racial diversity and LGBT representation, and another way it’s been problematic is related to body types. Almost everyone on the show has to be very thin or in shape. The men tend to be quite muscular while the women are usually skinny.
While it makes sense that the series wants to include attractive people, there are many attractive people with a variety of body types yet only one narrow view of beauty is ever shown.
The show let Luke P. continue to harass Hannah B.
One recent controversy with The Bachelorette franchise is how it handled the contestant Luke P. on Hannah Brown’s season. It was clear that he was an aggressive and manipulative person who showed signs of being emotionally abusive. However, the show continued to bring him back even after Hannah kicked him off the first time.
They clearly didn’t have Hannah’s safety at heart but instead wanted the drama.
Overall the franchise promotes a rather narrow-minded view of relationships
The main thing about the franchise that hasn’t aged well, and that still needs to be updated, is that it continually promotes a narrow-minded view of love and relationships. It supports a heteronormative monogamous, and often white, view of what marriage and relationships should look like.
Given that the world is much more diverse than this, it’s a shame the series doesn’t change things up to have a more representative view of relationships.
