The Bachelorette: Rewarding Toxic Masculinity

I stopped watching this season of the Bachelorette very early, because I knew where the Luke P situation was going. I did not want to endorse it in any way.

Unfortunately, I was in the minority. This Monday night’s “Men Tell All” special was its highest-rated special in four years. They were likely popping champagne in the Disney executive suites on Tuesday, when they should have been hanging their heads in shame.

I know, I know. Why should I care? How can I get upset? It’s a garbage reality show aired during the middle of summer when most people have better things to do.

I never watched the Bachelor or Bachelorette for high-minded entertainment that left me enlightened. The only time I’ve ever been quoted in the New York Times, it was to discuss my previous company’s Bachelor office pool to choose a winner.

It was pure entertainment, which is always appreciated on a Monday night. The show, especially in recent years, seemed to understand its place as crummy reality television that forced drama and got us to care, if nominally, about people we’d quickly forget.

This season was different. This season revolved around one person. Not the Bachelorette. But one man fighting for her love, the horrible human being known as Luke P. Toxic masculinity wrapped up in the Bible, Luke P was the perfect avatar for a season-long afterschool special.

Why Was He Still There?

It didn’t take long for every other single guy in the Bachelor house to figure out that Luke P was a creepy weirdo. There’s always one each season, sometimes two or three, but there’s always at least one. Luke P grabbed that title with authority and quickly become one of the worst people in the show’s history.

If you didn’t watch the show, well, good for you. In short, Luke P was a terrible person who claimed to be “born again” and “revirginized” and didn’t want his future lover to have sex before marriage. Beyond the hypocrisy, he was also a misogynistic asshole who wants his wife to be subservient to him.

This was all evident very, very early in the season. It was a trope the Bachelor franchise has always used to drum up drama and interest for the first half of the season while the back…