My mom always told me “Em, if you ever and I mean EVER beg a man for a date like the women on those trashy TV shows do, I will kill you.” And while I always knew that my mother would never harm a hair on my head, she meant business. But ever since The Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo has made it into my series of guilty pleasures, I wonder…what would happen if I begged a millionaire for a date?
I mean, there are quite the winners to choose from after all. I could have my pick of two strapping individuals from an episode this season conveniently called “The Chauvinist and the Playboy”. Now, I don’t like to ruin the story line for anyone but it’s pretty easy to guess how these two millionaires have treated their past lady friends.
Our “Playboy” millionaire’s name is Brian and among various things, Brian likes to trade baseball cards. But not just any baseball cards, cards from his own company that sport scantily-clad women and boast the slogan “Playing Cards Never Looked So Good”. He is constantly surrounded by beautiful women of unnatural proportions and asks our matchmaker for a lady who doesn’t mind his demeaning day job. Surprisingly, most of the women that were interviewed had complete trust in a man who they hadn’t met yet and definitely didn’t question how he treated women on and off the playing cards.
Meanwhile, we were introduced to our eagerly awaited “chauvinist” named David. Strikingly handsome, Canadian, and rich, David fell right into his role. Asking for a “stay-at-home” type of girl, David obviously lost his respect for strong, independent women somewhere around the Canadian border. Throughout the episode, I held my breath hoping that Patti, our matchmaker, would throw a spitfire at him just to see him shrink into his pathetic old-fashioned ways. But my hope eventually gave way to the plot of trashy TV. His excessively giggly date was charmed by the sights of Canada and how fast he took her top off. And as for Patti’s most important saying- “no sex without monogamy? Well, let’s just say what happens in Canada stays in Canada.
As this episode wrapped up, I realized how utterly horrible it was and how this wasn’t the only episode to make me cringe. Maybe I was raised differently from the women on the show but I would think that most women with steady jobs and some kind of intelligence wouldn’t degrade their selves by throwing themselves on a pile of money that just so happens to look like a man. Or maybe those women just look at what they’re doing differently, as if chasing after millionaires isn’t some type of high-class prostitution. And of course, not every man and woman stick to these horrible stereotypes. In some karmic way, they’re the ones that end up with having a chance at love. Coincidence? Then, I also realized that I honestly do have some respect for Patti. Every episode, she presents herself as an independent woman who fights for monogamy and true relationships between hetero and homosexual couples. She even criticizes the men for being chauvinistic and the women for being straight-up floozies. And even though she sets up her millionaires with gold-diggers, she does ultimately give her clients what they want and that should be respected from some type of odd pimp-daddy business point of view.
So as a 22-year old single woman and after years of listening to threats made my mother, I’ve come to realize that begging for a date from a millionaire is just as bad as begging any poor man on the street. I have too much respect for myself and other people to ever degrade myself like those women on TV. (No offense, Patti). Simply put, money doesn’t make up for respect and intelligence…even if it is broadcasted on Bravo.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 