Nielson Show Analysis

Each Monday night, January through March, roughly 8.2 million viewers tune into ABC’s The Bachelor (Nielson Company, 2015) to witness a white male attempt to whittle down a crowd of 25 mostly white women that in 2002, New York Times contributor Caryn James labeled as “uniformly attractive” and “deeply deluded.” The purpose of this publicized and mildly polygamous courtship is a corporate take on the arduous quest for true love.

The show’s six week duration feature multiple instances of producer enforced mayhem within the “Bachelor Mansion”, a home that the women have to share throughout their courtship. Contestants are scarcely seen on camera without a glass of champagne in hand, fueling their flirtations and feuds with their roommates. The women present themselves each evening in full gala attire as they await judgment from their potential husband in the form of a long stem red rose. Despite the show being referenced in James’ article as “sexually exploitative” and that the series was serving up “an adolescent boy’s fantasy” by the National Organization for Women, the show draws in a consistently large and predominantly female audience.

It’s difficult to pay attention to the multitude of controversies surrounding each
Similar to seasons past, roughly 2-3 women of color are featured at the beginning of every season. Their minimal inclusion in the competition is broadly overshadowed by an uneven playing field. It was noticed by a University of South Florida Associate Professor as she wrote a paper on the exploitation of fallen women competitors on reality television. “Women of color appear on the show, but they do not thrive...they serve as a spice to an overwhelming white series” (Dubrofsky, 41) a notion represented by the attempted attack of Afghanistan war veteran and Haitian, Jubilee, following her highly coveted one-on-one date with