A Feminist Analysis Of Corinne Olympios

Corinne Olympios is easily the most polarizing contestant on season 21 of The Bachelor. She's stolen some people's hearts, while others think she's literally ruining the show. Still more think that she's the best contestant to be on the show in years. Whatever she is, she's definitely controversial--and deserves to be scrutinized through a feminist lens.

Let me preface this all by saying that The Bachelor, on the whole, is pretty anti-feminist. It reduces women to sellable tidbits, pins them all against each other, and perpetuates the idea that the love of a man is more important than anything else. It's a terrible institution. But it's great reality TV, and I am more than willing to sacrifice some of my feminist cred in exchange for catty drama and deplorable whitewashing. I'll donate to Planned Parenthood on Tuesday morning to ease my guilt.

Back to Corinne.

It's been obvious since the second episode that Corinne is very in touch with her sexuality. After knowing Nick for about two weeks, she takes her bikini top off and forces Nick to hold her boobs despite him being obviously uncomfortable. This raises a plethora of consent issues, demonstrated most obviously by saying: what if Corinne had been a guy, and Nick had been a woman? What if a man on The Bachelorette had forced the woman to hold his testicles in a photoshoot? Gross, right? That means it's gross when Corinne does it, too. A woman violating consent is not "cute" or "quirky" simply because she's a woman, and judging by his face, Nick was obviously uncomfortable.

Later, Corinne tried to seduce Nick using whipped cream and lingerie, and it was just as awkward as you'd expect. Nick repeatedly tried to defuse the situation and discourage Corinne, but she didn't stop. Sure, the producers were probably egging her on, but still--she could have said no. She could have respected Nick's boundaries and the basic rules of consent. But no. This was only one of the first times that Corinne resorted to sex in order to get ahead of the other girls--and if my analysis is correct, it won't be the last.

Some people have argued that Corinne's ownership of her sexuality is "inspiring". I want to agree, but I don't think Corinne is using her sexuality because she is passionate about sex positivity or wants to end slut-shaming. At best, Corinne doesn't know what she's worth besides sex appeal; and at worst, she sees sex as a weapon and other women as the enemy (disregarding the fact that this show is literally a competition. I'm willing to believe that she subscribed to these beliefs before the show as well). It's sad, really--despite her speech about being luxury corn, Corinne's obsession with being sexual with Nick shows that she honestly does not see any other redeeming values in herself. When confronted about being immature, she implies that her nice boobs are what make her mature???

Corinne isn't self-sufficient. She's twenty-four years old and has a nanny, for god's sake. She's never become self-sufficient because she's never been told that she has to be. She is the product of patriarchal attitudes that dictate women's worth is determined by how they can please men--and that's upsetting. Sure, she's relatable; she naps too much, she literally can't even, and she doesn't want to scoop cow poop. But relatable at what cost?

Corinne: women are more than just sex. Come over, let's have some wine. Read some Adichie. You're worth so much more than this.