Erg. Ugh. Just…[cringe]. That is my reaction upon seeing a clip (first posted at Jezebel), sent in by Dmitriy T.M., of a segment from a recent episode of the reality show Bachelor Pad. The show is a spinoff of the popular shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, consisting initially of 20 former contestants from those two shows, one of whom is voted off by the rest of the cast each week. This week, the contestants indicated their votes for who should leave by getting to anonymously throw paint-filled “eggs” at others’ backs. But in case that wasn’t sufficiently humiliating, the host also had contestants throw eggs in response to the question “Who are you least attracted to?” Here’s the segment with the women:
It’s a depressing illustration of the current TV obsession with public humiliation and bullying as entertainment. It’s hard not to feel for Erica as she stands there feeling each successive hit, being publicly held up as the least desirable woman there. But her response is also revealing; it exemplifies the way women are encouraged to think of themselves as being in competition. At 2:54 Erica talks about the experience and the difficulty of having a body that, while appearing incredibly thin to me, in that environment qualifies as notably curvaceous.
But in her ability to defend herself and push back against the judgments of others, she falls back on a common strategy: not questioning the standards of beauty themselves, but simply trying to refocus them, in this case (at about 3:05) pointing to another woman who is “way bigger” and not “that pretty.” The result is to reaffirm both the idea that body size is an objective and essential measure of attractiveness (so being bigger automatically should make you less attractive than a smaller woman) and that women’s self-esteem and resistance to negative judgments of their own attractiveness must come at the expense of other women, with whom them are always, and inevitably, in competition.
Comments 48
fine — August 17, 2011
wow, what a stupid show.
I would have aimed at the host, btw.
ducky — August 17, 2011
I see most reality shows as a reflection of the culture they are in! Shame most of them have nothing to add in a postive way to society! Shame as reality shows could have done for people what diy shows have done for homes!
Jennifer — August 17, 2011
I wonder how much of this was her placement. It seemed like the guys were under some pressure to hit the intended target (that's all they talked about) and may have thought it would be easiest to hit her. It seems like these shows are so manipulated you never know what people are really thinking. While I agree that it would come off to the audience in the way you suggest, not sure if that's what was really going on.
Anonymous — August 17, 2011
What is so sad is that no one on the shows seems to question this whole process. They go along with it because, in that environment, it is normal to bully/torment and harass people for superficial reasons. I'm not normally one to say this, but what has our culture come to when this is considered an appropriate thing to have on T.V.? What does message does this send to people about the importance of appearance over anything else? It is horrible. I don't support censorship, but I wish producers would have a sense of common decency and not put this stuff on T.V.
Anonymous — August 17, 2011
Note how the last couple of guys were talking about wanting to hit the target. The competition was actually set up so that the bigger women would get the most eggs, because they were the easiest to hit and the men were actually more concerend with their scored than with showing how they felt. I have a very hard time imagining that the producers didn't predict this.
Anonymous — August 17, 2011
Ugh, I hate reality TV. So trashy.
Mary — August 17, 2011
I'm sorry, but I can't even watch the video. It's all just way too depressing.
Sam Rogowski — August 17, 2011
I feel bad for Erica, but I confess that if I watched the show regularly I may or may not feel bad depending on what she was like.
Taylor Wray — August 17, 2011
When you go digging around in the dump, you can expect to find trash, meaning it's almost pointless to highlight the superficiality of reality shows because that's their entire ethos. Everything about any reality show is superficial, momentary and shallow, so it's entirely fitting that the women who choose to compete on them act that way, as well. Also, in reference to your last sentence, don't forget these women actually ARE in competition (at least ostensibly) to win prize money and a fake boyfriend.
Charlotte — August 17, 2011
Did they throw eggs at the men they were least attractive? The men have paint on them, so it kind of seems like they did. It's also possible that the women had to throw paint at...oh...the guy who they thought was the "studliest" or something....and therefore being judged "positively" rather than negatively.
It disturbs me that women in this clip are being physically punished ("Michael" gets really excited about winning the competition and throws the egg really hard) for their apparent faults. It makes me wonder...does that guy who told me I looked "like a total dyke" but that he'd "like to turn me straight" want to physically punish me for my appearance? (Judging from his tone of voice, I'm thinking he didn't mean "total dyke" as a compliment.) The show suggests that it's okay to physically victimize women that society deems less attractive, and that the physical victimization is also the way for men to "feel good" by "winning."
caro — August 17, 2011
Interestingly, this woman was also on the VH1 show, "You're Cut Off" in which the wealthy parents of spoiled younger women send off to ostensibly learn how the real world works. It's a reality show just like any other of course, where it's a competition and there's drama and backstabbing for show. If I'm not mistaken, Erica is the daughter of a plastic surgeon who's had a great deal of work done on herself. She has a particularly low self-image when it comes to her body, though classically, that's what she uses to get attention and get what she feels she needs in life.
Kris — August 17, 2011
I find it more than a bit bizarre that this show encourages dehumanization (in this clip, we see it done to the women, but given the paint on the men, presumably a similar task was done with them beforehand.) The women are not women, but targets to be hit with eggs and paint, the literal symbol painted on their backs, eyes blindfolded and turned away as not to see the thrower and so, presumably, that person doesn't have to look them in the eye as they throw things at them to show how little they regard them. Even in the testimonials from the men, they stop using names or describing girls at some point and start talking about "needing to hit the target," as if they've forgotten that's a person they're hitting, or have tried to dissociate as not to feel so terrible about doing it.
I get that the whole point of reality television is salaciousness and cheese and in some ways, debasement of people. But I guess I always thought the big draw was the human drama, how people interact and their relationships and how they figure out the ways around incredibly manufactured scenarios; how hurt they are, how much embarrassment, how much they can lose. I don't watch much reality programming, since that idea doesn't appeal to me, but this treats them as inhuman and I don't see the appeal to a viewer. It's cruel and gross and a horrifying lesson in what we'll watch on television, all of that, but it also lacks even the vaguest flavor of *people* interacting, which I think might be the saddest bit.
Alan Jay — August 17, 2011
Looking forward to next season's show, "Bachelor's Closet." The Dentist with the Mall bought teeth and Jake are bound to win it. L'Amour, L'Amour!
Blix — August 17, 2011
I would like to know why anyone signs up to be on these shows. The fame isn't real, the money can't be enough to justify it, and the chance to live a normal life is over. Least of all is the reality of any love. By signing up these women and men are basically putting a label that reads "shallow" on their foreheads.
Belinda Cech — August 17, 2011
Thank you so much for commenting on this! i actually watched the entire episode and this was one segment of it that made me gag.
The men, in fact, were also subjected to the same thing first. they asked a number of questions, like "who do you want to go home this week?" and the last one for both the men and women was "who are you least attracted to?" actually, i noticed that they phrased it differently when the women threw the eggs at the men vs. when the men did the throwing. when the women were the victims, the question changed to "who is the least attractive person."
i think it's good to point out that just because the men endured the same thing, it doesn't discount this clip. in our society, only women are judged by their ability to attract the opposite sex. if you're not seen as sexy enough, then you might as well give up and it's sickening that they reinforced this. sickening, but not unexpected, given the premise of the show.
adrienne_again — August 17, 2011
I wonder if people are more likely to choose as "least attractive" the person with the most paint on them already. Your eye goes there first, and there might be a subconscious tendency to think less of someone if you think other people think less of them.
But then, I think this is all so sad that I'm probably just trying to rationalize why this poor woman was singled out. It doesn't excuse the entire concept at all.
Anonymous — August 17, 2011
I've always found it interesting that while what we traditionally define as "beauty" or "sexual attractiveness" is mostly biological, it's still the only more or less immutable trait you can still shame someone over and not be called a monster (yes you can control your weight, make-up, hair etc - but a lot features that people use to identify beauty are just genetic). Let's take another more or less immutable trait with some ability to manipulate - intelligence. Can anyone imagine if the show brought on people of varying IQs from say 90 to 180 and told these men and women to pelt who they thought was the dumbest in the room and everyone threw paint-filled eggs at the person with an 90 IQ. There would be national outrage over how disgusting and repulsive that type of shaming and humiliation was. Yet, somehow that is OK with beauty or sexual attractiveness.
By the way, didn't this whole affair look like the kind of crap a bunch of 13 year olds made up during middle school lunch? It honestly looks little different from the immature crap middle school boys do when they pick out the ugly girls in the lunch room.
infinitum17 — August 18, 2011
Oh my god, this is seriously depressing. I can't believe our society is this horrible. I despair for the future of gender relations in our country.
Veseyjan — August 18, 2011
Just to say that this show only has losers - both the mis-informed contestants, and the insatiable audience this is aimed at!
Village Idiot — August 18, 2011
It's awfully evocative of our poop-flinging ape ancestors. I guess I should be glad that they didn't use real poop, though that would've been even cheaper to produce since the top concern and priority of all "Reality" TV is that it be very cheap to make.
A great satirical movie that takes the reality-TV genre to its logical and bloody conclusion is called "Series 7, The Contenders" (very, very underrated and disturbing; highly recommended).
What would be, like, totally bangin' would be combining "America's Top Model" with the UFC for a reality show in which aspiring models have to fight (in bikinis) until one gets knocked out or faints from malnutrition. Then the audience gets to throw poop at the losers while mocking their obviously-excessive intake of carbs. The sad part is, that show would probably be a runaway hit (just like "The Contenders" would).
Anyway, this kind of thing is what weirdos like me mean when we say our society is descending into something with the potential to ultimately become far worse than the Dark Ages; welcome to the vacuous hell that is the "Lite" Ages... The world is priming itself to blow; how's my hair?
Anonymous — August 18, 2011
A disclaimer that I haven't watched the shows, so personality wise I can only judge based on the clip.
The request is "throw the eggs at the one you find least attractive," not "throw the eggs at the fat one" or "throw the eggs at the one with the ugliest face." While one of those probably had a bearing, personally finding someone attractive IS partially based on personality when you are in regular contact with them. All of the women seemed shocked and sympathetic to the fact that the men seemed to gang up on her, but she reacts by calling another woman "WAAAAAY bigger" than her and ugly. Not by saying "I don't think I'm fatter or uglier than anyone here" or "I don't think that I am the fattest or ugliest." If they're living in the house with her, its probably no secret that she'd take a chance to belittle another woman's looks for no reason. That's a pretty ugly personality trait. If all the girls in the house look the same (and they do), then eventually who is "ugly" and "pretty" is going to be affected by their behavior. Ask any traditionally attractive person dating someone outside of the standards of beauty, they'll probably say they find their SO quite attractive.
Both the activity and her attitude are just nasty, nastier than simply "adhering to beauty standards." It doesn't simply say "these people are ugly, these people are pretty, that's how it is," but "to be pretty and feel good about yourself, you have to attack and tear down other people." It's not enough to be thin and pretty, or even thinner and prettier than everyone else. You have to make it so that you are not only thin and pretty, but someone else is fat and ugly, even if that's a totally false statement.
Orizaga — August 19, 2011
Basically all those girls look alike (so do all the men). Of course that doesn't make it okay to have a show in which violence is perpetuated against women. Honestly, these women don't look like they can throw as hard as the men. And eggs? What the flip, that's gotta hurt!!! So it's unfair and results in being more violence against women, plus the psychological violence of it.
Maeghan — August 19, 2011
Wow. Just... I am so, so sad that these women allowed this to happen to them, and that these men thought that was an acceptable thing to do. And that the television producers decided on this. It's just disgusting all around.
Kinelfire — August 19, 2011
Managed to get through about half the clip before giving up as I felt acid lapping at my wisdom teeth.
Also; there's an experiment I read about somewhere recently (not a recent experiment; I can't remember exactly where I read it, or I would like to it) that if you ask people to choose the right answer, but tell them that most people chose the wrong one (something like, 'Which line is longer? This one - or this one --?' and said that 80% of people chose - ), a significant number of people will chose the wrong answer, even though it's clearly wrong, presumably because they don't want to be the odd one out.
I found myself idly wondering if maybe the guys throwing eggs after the first couple were guided in their choise of Erica because others had already chosen her. Not that this excuses anything in any way.
brizzle — September 18, 2011
Wow. I was really angry after I watched that! I wonder where the clip is of the guys acting as targets. I saw targets and paint on them.
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