‘The Bachelor’ Fans Are Calling for the Producers to ‘Break the Gender Norms’ With This 1 Minor Detail
Although The Bachelor is not realistic in the way that the lead dates 25 or more ladies at once, it is traditional in almost everything else. The eligible Bachelor chooses dates to take his women on and eventually asks the father for their daughter’s hand in marriage. However, fans are calling for the producers to change up this one detail.
Where did the idea for ‘The Bachelor’ come from?
The Bachelor was rooted in tradition from the beginning. Mike Fleiss created the show where he wanted 50 women traveling around the world dating this one man. Later, the number was knocked down to 25, but the format was kept the same.
He wanted the show to progress like a typical relationship. Group dates were meant to be hanging out with friends casually, not the cat-fights that typically ensue. Then the more serious one-on-one dates progress to meeting the parents in “Hometowns.”
Eventually, a weekend getaway became “Fantasy Suites,” and for Fleiss, the show should end in a proposal.
“We were very, very cognizant of the order in which the girls were introduced to Alex Michel,” the Director of the first season, Jason Carbone, told The Cut. “Every creative decision made on that show was debated and discussed and scrutinized to within an inch of its life. And then it’s go time.”
Do ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ leads ever stray from the format?
For most of the 24 seasons of The Bachelor and 15 seasons of The Bachelorette, the women and men follow the plan laid out for them. However, there are a few exceptions to the rules, and things are changing as the seasons go on.
During The Bachelorette Season 11 with lead Kaitlyn Bristowe, she broke the rules a little bit. She took a date back to her hotel room before Fantasy Suites week for some alone time. Colton Underwood also went rogue during season 23 when he broke it off with his final two to pursue the woman who had already left.
Rumors are flying that the current Bachelorette Clare Crawley is also breaking protocol by falling in love with someone early. Entertainment Tonight reported that Tayshia Adams is stepping in to finish out the season.
Bachelor Nation is calling for production to ‘break the gender norms’
Since many leads are breaking the show’s rules and format, fans are now calling for the women to pick out their engagement ring.
“I think if we’re down to the final two, instead of the Bachelor or the final guys selecting engagement rings, we send Neil to the women!” one Reddit user suggested.
Typically the man meets with jewelry designer Neil Lane to choose the ring he uses to propose. However, fans want to see the women choose their diamond in the next season.
“Go further, have the women propose to the men on bended knee,” another Redditor added. “Don’t just break the gender norms that are easy and that you gain from.”
Other fans agree with this idea and would love to see the gender roles switched for this moment.
