We all have guilty pleasures, but lately I’m wishing mine were a little more elevated. I wish I put my feet up at the end of the day and listened to opera. I wish I’d visit the city’s museums other than when I’m chaperoning school trips. I wish I weren’t so hooked on The Bachelorette. —
And now I’m dragging my children into the mire.
I used to watch reality TV in private, mostly because my husband hates those shows and my kids aren’t allowed to watch TV during the school year. But now, here we are, in the lazy, hazy, unscheduled days of summer, and life’s a free-for-all. My husband still won’t watch reality shows (except those about trekking all over the globe for money), but my daughter and I are spending not-so-quality time together, curled up on the sofa routing for Ashley and her many fiancee possibilities. I guess you could argue The Bachelorette (as well as The Bachelor) is one of the most sexist shows on television. It’s probably true. It is a bizarre concept, having 27 single guys jumping up and down for the final rose needed to propose to the queen-bee bachelorette. Bizarre as it is, I kind of like it.
Any woman who has been single in New York City, knows that 27:1 ratio is a bit off base. But, hey, a girl can dream.
And even though I have no real basis in arguing this show as kid-appropriate — my 15 year-old son recently walked through our living room while Ashley was on one of her many dates of the episode, and likened The Bachelorette to that TLC polygamy show — I do like the way the contestant – the bachelorette – lists her spousal requirements for all the world to see.
Listen, my daughter is only 12. She’s too young to even have a boyfriend, at this stage. But I don’t think it’s bad to see — even in reality-show format — that love can be a thinking game. My daughter and her friends are all about the crush — which cute boy is crushing on which one of them. Kind of like duck-duck-goose, they’re all sitting waiting to have their heads tapped. Eventually, I’d like my daughter to use her head when it comes to love. To think about what she wants, what makes her happy.
It’s a stretch, I know. I’ve just always been a pop culture fanatic. It fills my time between the opera and museums. And if I can weed out a positive message somewhere in the clutter, I’m going to take it and run.
