‘Survivor 44’ Has a Gender Problem — Here’s How CBS Can Fix It

After watching another woman leave Survivor 44 during episode 3, one thing became clear to fans — the “new era” has a gender problem. Survivor 43 began with four women voted out before a man left the game. And season 44 followed suit, with three women eliminated before a man exited during Tribal Council. So why are women more in danger of going pre-merge? And is there a way for CBS to fix this issue in future Survivor seasons?

Claire was voted out in ‘Survivor 44’ Episode 3 on CBS

Bruce Perreault was the first to leave Survivor 44 on CBS for reasons beyond his control when he hit his head during the Reward Challenge in the premiere. Then, Ratu lost the first Immunity Challenge, and Maddy Pomilla was the first castaway voted out of the game when Brandon Cottom played his birdcage immunity idol. In episode 2, the Tika tribe voted out Helen Li at Tribal Council.

And in Survivor 44 Episode 3, Soka lost their first Immunity Challenge. The target shifted to Claire Rafson (who had yet to compete in a challenge aside from the marooning). Instead of voting out Matt Blankinship (who was in a showmance and believed by everyone aside from Danny Massa to have an idol), the tribe wanted Claire gone.

So what has gone wrong for women to fear for their lives pre-merge in Survivor on CBS? Is it a problem with the new era’s format? Or are the castaways to blame?

Why are women disproportionately voted out compared to men in the ‘new era’ of ‘Survivor’?

After much reflection and noting other fans’ and former Survivor players’ observations, we believe that CBS has gotten something very wrong with the format of the “new era.”

Seasons 41 and 42 didn’t experience the aforementioned gender problem because the castaways expected a tribe swap. And the cast members in seasons 43 and 44, having seen the previous two “new era” installments, knew that their initial tribes would remain the same until the merge. So the notion of “keeping the tribe strong” arose as a result. And we all know that is a classic Survivor excuse to vote out women over men.

Also, three tribes (with only six players in each) puts women at a disadvantage for the same reason. Strength will always be valued over anything else as long as there are no swaps, small tribes, and solely physical challenges. Plus, lost votes force castaways to stick to the status quo instead of making waves.

As one fan pointed out on Twitter, “In the new era of [Survivor], women have been: 14/21 (67%) voted out pre-merge. 10/12 (83%) voted out first of their tribe. Since 43 (when new players would be aware of format changes), women have been: 7/8 (88%) voted out pre-merge. 6/6 (100%) voted out first of their tribe.”

It’s hard to argue against the statistics. So how can CBS repair what the “new era” of Survivor has broken?

CBS needs to make format changes following ‘Survivor 44’

A fix is simple when talking about the disadvantages to women during the pre-merge of Survivor‘s “new era” seasons — start with two tribes, bring back tribe swaps, and include more mental challenges.

Two tribes, with nine or 10 people on each, make it easier for perceived physically weaker players (who tend to be women) to hide. Tribe swaps mean that castaways can’t depend on brute strength to make it to the merge, so they can choose to value loyalty over all else. And fewer physical challenges equal the playing field.

The solution is straightforward, and we hope Survivor producers make these changes when developing future seasons.

New episodes of Survivor 44 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.