The Bachelor. What a phenomenon, no? If you had told anyone that a dating show could have become the successful franchise it is today, he probably would have called you crazy. Chris Harrison sure hit the host jackpot, right? Jetting off to exotic locations every few months so he can utter his key phrases like, “This is the final rose tonight,” or “Ladies, (insert lead guy name here), when you are ready…” Rough, huh? ButOhMyGosh this is totally my guilty pleasure show 😉 Girls’ Night, Mondays, it’s awesome. Anywho…
So what about the Bachelor is so appealing, so intriguing to enough of us that it remains a popular prime-time show after 20+ seasons?
- It pits women against women, all vying for the affection or attention of one man. But people in real life don’t fall in love with a guy who is also knowingly falling for several other women at the same time! Can you say CHEATER?! Yet we love to see people subjecting themselves to such an unnatural mating process. You also don’t typically get engaged after a couple dates. I think Elsa and Kristoff would agree with me here…
- It produces so. much. emotion! I’ve never seen more women cry over knowing a dude for so short a time. Like, even after the first night! Fairy tale over. That, and the mind games…
- It makes people doubt their self-worth. Nothing makes confidence crumble faster than getting a group of similar ladies together and feeling judged, like they won’t measure up.
So what in the world does this have to do with you?
Well, do you want to be the one in the end with the rose, or the blubbery mess in the limo sobbing, “I can’t believe it’s over!”?
Pageantry/Bachelor Parallels
- It is an unnatural process. We look to judges to define and reward us based on a couple interactions, knowing they could be making connections with many other contestants at the same time.
- Oh, the emotion of pageantry. Sometimes knowing the process, the preparation, the fairytale ending is over can be more devastating than actually losing the job or title you were vying for. Or, the fact that SHE ended up with him…er, the title….just rubs salt into the open wound of rejection.
- When you aren’t “the one,” doesn’t it just make you wonder what in the world you did wrong? What they saw in her that the judges didn’t see in you? Confidence and self-worth, zero. Doubt and self-loathing, 10.
So why stick with it?
Because in the end, regardless of who gets the final rose, if you played the game right you can look back at the journey a better person. You will have grown and matured, learned more about yourself than you ever had before, taken valuable lessons and skills forward with you, and maybe, just maybe, someday you will end up being “the one.”
And that, ladies, is worth sticking around for!
Make Your Mark 