Monday January 4th, 2016 marked a big day for women everywhere. Viewing parties were held, pajamas were worn, and wine was guzzled across the globe as people sat around to indulge in the premiere of Ben Higgins’s season of The Bachelor.
Growing up with a sister who is twelve years older than me, I began watching The Bachelor (and it’s spin offs The Bachelorette, Bachelor Pad, and Bachelor in Paradise) at a far younger age than most girls, and my mother absolutely hated it. She deemed it “such a trashy show,” however when I finally got her to sit through an episode, even she secretly began tuning in for bits and pieces for the rest of that season. She was hooked! So why is it that self-respecting, sensible women everywhere, even ones who know that a large portion of the show is complete garbage, are so hooked?
Watching has turned into a big event.
Watching the show has turned into huge social events. If you type “The Bachelor viewing parties” into Google hundreds of different parties and gathering come up. Events range from women in pajamas with huge glasses of wine, to elaborate Bachelor themed parties including puny dessert tables entitled “The Fantasy Sweets” filled to the brim with “Stud Muffins” and “Heart Popping Corn.” No matter how fancy or casual the party is one theme remains constant, tons and tons of women. With The Bachelor airing on Monday nights, what better way to begin a long weekend than with an excuse to eat, drink, and be merry with all of your best girlfriends?
It’s a real life romantic comedy.
The Bachelor has all of the aspects that women love about romantic comedies… the romance, and the humor. While the show includes moments of one-on-one romance between the chosen bachelor and the competing contestants, it’s often times a hilarious show too. Many of the contestants on the show are so outrageous that it’s funny, especially on the premiere episode (see last week’s episode where women got out of the limo wearing a unicorn mask, on a hover board, and with a miniature pony). On top of the romance and the humor, the show isn’t scripted (at least we tell ourselves that for the most part it isn’t) so the humor and the romance are that much more intriguing.
It oversimplifies the idea and process of finding and maintaining love.
As cheesy as it sounds and as much as those who consider themselves level headed when it comes to men may hate to admit it, there is definitely an appeal to The Bachelor’s oversimplification of love. The process of falling in love and finding a husband or wife is definitely not a matter of following a straight line, however The Bachelor portrays the process as something can be accomplished in just a few weeks, with just a few dates, and there’s a definite appeal to the idea that love could actually be that simple.
Selfishly, it’s an excuse to talk about other women.
The Bachelor, allows, if not encourages, its audience to sit around the television and talk about other people. From what they are wearing and how they look, to their personalities and how good of a wife they would be, the show encourages judging, and as terrible as it sounds, we are all human, and this definitely factors into why it can be so addicting to sit around the TV and watch.
It legitimizes our love lives and makes our love life problems seem few and far between.
Finally, if there’s one thing The Bachelor does, it makes you feel good about your love life. No matter your relationship status you don’t have to worry about being a beautiful woman in your twenties, so desperate to find love that you’ve joined a television show. You also likely don’t have to worry about the fact that you have a boyfriend who is dating 25 stunning women at the very same time that he is dating you, and for that you can be forever grateful.
So maybe it's natural and being a Bachelor addict isn't so bad after all. That being said, you know where to find me the next dozen Mondays from eight to ten. Get ready ladies, once again Chris Harrison is promising “the most dramatic season yet.”
