While the concept of the beloved Bachelor franchise certainly does not emulate feminism with 32 women dating one man, this season took a never before seen ending promoting feminist ideals with women supporting women.
Even though I have many problems with the Bachelor franchise, such as the reinforcement of gender binaries and traditional gender roles it creates, the lack of LGBTQ+ representation, and the racist actions of prior producers and individuals on past seasons, I was pleasantly surprised with the feminist call to women building one another up, instead of tearing eachother down in this most recent season.
This season 32 women started their journey to find love with the Bachelor, Joey Graziadei. Like always, it was a season filled with drama and romance which led to Joey choosing between two women, Daisy Kent and Kelsey Anderson, in the finale. However this finale was different than any before, as the two women talked prior to the engagement and rode together to the moment Joey would end things with Daisy and propose to Kelsey.
We were shown moments of support and comfort between the two women as they greeted each other with big hugs and expressed feelings of relief after their conversation on the day Joey had to make his choice. We were shown parts of this conversation where Daisy expressed feeling “not right” and just wanted to talk to Kelsey as a friend. Kelsey listened and as did Daisy for her, illustrating the kindness and support the women have for each other. Following this conversation, see the two women riding together, being there for one another no matter the outcome.
Pictured: never before seen in Bachelor history, Kelly Anderson and Daisy Kent holding hands on their way to see Joey.
Despite not being chosen, Daisy embraces Kelsey before she goes to get engaged to Joey and says, “I know your mom is going to be looking down on this moment and she’s going to be so happy and so proud of you.” This moment is especially touching after seeing Kelsey’s struggles surrounding losing her late mother at a young age this season, and exhibits Daisy’s support for her.
In prior seasons there has definitely been some animosity between the final two contestants, especially given that they have both put their hearts out on the line for the bachelor, but this season it was so refreshing to see the outward support from Daisy and the other women. In the finale interview, Daisy and Kelsey once again sat hand in hand, preaching about the importance of being happy for one another and supporting each other on their journeys ahead of them.
Pictured: Daisy Kent and Kelsey Anderson holding hands at live finale of season 28 of The Bachelor.
This was a fitting ending to the season after a very women supporting women season. There was absolutely drama that went down in the house this past season such as the infamous feud between Maria and Sydney, but even that was resolved with a hug on the “Women Tell All” episode. This episode is historically one filled with drama where all the women from the season come back to discuss issues that came up while filming and their journeys on The Bachelor. In my personal opinion, this episode is always one that I look forward to the least or end up not watching because it has been a toxic environment where women put each other down and nothing ever gets resolved. However this season I was pleasantly surprised as everyone who showed any sort of negative behavior towards other women in the house apologized. While there was still some arguing and talking over each other in this episode, it was much less mean-spirited as it had been in the past and the women all were able to squash their beef with one another. They promoted the idea of kindness, illustrating that they are all human and not just characters on a screen who make mistakes but can still support one another. In general, it was a positive sentiment to see, since our world can do a lot better about treating each other with kindness.
Pictured: Maria Georgas (middle) hugging Leah Cayanan (left) Sydney Gordon (right) at “Women Tell All” live recording of episode.
Even within some of the most patriarchal rooted ideals, such as the concept of a bachelor, there are always pockets where intersectional feminism can shine through and promote healthy values and beliefs about womanhood.
The Bachelor franchise is making long overdue steps to being a more inclusive and positive environment such as announcing Jenn Tran from Joey’s season being announced as the first Asian-American Bachelorette and more individuals from the franchise speaking out against hate. While there was much positivity to come out of this season, it was disheartening and disturbing to hear about all of the hate that contestant Rachel Nance got for being a bi-racial woman this season. Watch this video to hear more about her experience.
Even with steps forward in women supporting women, we need to support all women, which does not mean tearing a woman down because of her ethnicity whether this applies to women we see on television shows or in real life.
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