I have a confession to make. ABC's reality dating show, The Bachelor, and it's female counterpart, The Bachelorette, are a guilty pleasure of mine. I belong to a Bachelor fantasy league (BFL) with some fantastic individuals who share in this guilty pleasure, but are otherwise amazing scholars. I'll speak for myself here, but I'm sure this also applies to many of my BFL colleagues... this television series is riddled with things to be critical of in the name of social justice, and while I savor those Monday night moments watching 30 women fight over one man, I also think it's a useful exercise to consider the implications of how ABC portrays the individuals on the show.
As I said, there are many issues that I could discuss with respect to The Bachelor. To name a couple, the lack of contestants of color (maybe one or two per season, out of a pool of 30), or the overwhelming sexism (for those of you that watched last night's episode, girls being forced to walk down a busy LA street in their bikinis... what was that?!). This isn't to negate any moments of "brilliance" that the show has also demonstrated, namely during Juan Pablo's season when women like Andi and Claire spoke out against Juan Pablo's treatment of women, Claire bringing to light the slut shaming that had occurred at her expense.
These issues aside, last night's episode was shocking to me for more than the bikini-clad street walking... the show's portrayal of Ashley S. If you're familiar with the show, you know that there is always that one woman who every viewer suspects is allowed to stay in order to bring the drama for ratings. From the first two episodes of the season, it appears as though Ashley S. is going to be that woman. However, her "drama" seems different than that of past women who have filled this role on the show (e.g., Michelle Money from season 15). During the season premiere, Ashley S. is shown picking a pomegranate she has confused with an onion during a monologue comparing another girl on the show to an onion that you would cut to see the different layers. During the second episode, paint gun-wielding Ashley S. is shown barely coherent, having a conversation with Chris that even he admits he couldn't follow. This is all done at her expense as the other girls laugh and joke about how Ashley S. shouldn't be trusted with the paint gun.
At this point it's uncertain what is causing Ashley S.'s lack of coherence. It's also uncertain whether this is scripted, put on, or if it is, in fact, real. If it's scripted, ABC needs to learn how to make jokes that don't involve calling someone crazy. If it's a persona that Ashley S. is putting on (in my opinion, the least likely of these three scenarios, but I'll entertain it for a moment nonetheless), ABC, as the network responsible for putting these scenes on television, should know better than to allow it. However, if it's real, ABC ought to be getting her some help rather than making her the butt of the joke on national television. No matter which scenario rings true, The Bachelor is treading on some pretty shaky grounds in terms of engaging in ableism. The fact that guns were involved on the group date adds major insult to injury given the countless instances mental illness overlapping with gun violence in our nation's recent history. As the rest of the season unfolds, we will hopefully get some answers and maybe, just maybe, Ashley S. will get the help she needs. Stay tuned!
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