‘The Bachelor’ must challenge racism head-on within its fanbase, production team
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At the “Women Tell All” episode on the last season of “The Bachelor”, Rachel Nance, one of the final contestants, broke down crying. She revealed that she had been sent racist messages and her social media accounts had been hacked by fans of the show.
“I got a lot of hateful messages, as soon as the episode aired,” said Nance. “[There have been] a lot of racist comments towards me, calling me the n-word or calling me jungle Asian, all because I got a rose.”
“The Bachelor” television show and its various spin-offs are hallmarked by the show’s use of roses, awarded to those vying for the main contestant’s love. Considerably less romantic, yet equally a staple of the franchise, is its racism.
The vitriol came after Nance’s hometown date episode which featured her introducing Joey, this season’s bachelor, to her family’s Filipino culture and traditions. Nance, who is half Filipino and Black, was one of the few contestants of color and this season’s sole finalist of color.
The racism Nance and other women of color on “The Bachelor” face can be attributed to white supremacist ideals, perpetuated by members of the Bachelor Nation’s overwhelmingly white fanbase. White women make up 75% of the show’s viewers. For racist white women within the show’s viewership, they may not be able to fathom a highly sought after, conventionally attractive and successful white man falling for a woman of color.
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Such white women feel they, or women like themselves, should be desired over everyone, and they want the media to reflect these racist notions. This yearning to triumph over women of color is akin to the concept known as “white women’s tears,” where white women’s needs are centered over people of color’s.
Discussions regarding race are silenced in order to placate white women’s feelings of discomfort and excuse harmful behavior. When they see women of color receiving love, they dole out disbelief, disgust and race-based hate.
Nance not only dealt with racism from Bachelor Nation, but was done a disservice multiple times by production. Despite her being in the final running, she was given limited screen time compared to her white counterparts, which viewers also picked up on.
One watcher tweeted, “we learned nothing about her, and just saw her make Top 3 and get her heart broken, without really getting to know her.”
Another wrote, “Production giving Rachel ZERO screen time…. Not showing her fun side…. Making Kelsey missing Joey [be] the promo instead of Rachel GOING TO THE HOSPITAL!!”
But Nance’s treatment from production isn’t unique.
Bachelor producers employ racialized tropes which reinforce stereotypes or tokenize contestants of color by having only one contest from a particular race or ethnicity per season. Some seasons, such as season 15, had none. While recently more people of color have been cast, the increase in diversity doesn’t solve the deeper, systemic issues of the franchise.
Producers have also failed to properly screen contestants for racist behavior or views, as mid-season many have been found to have liked racist posts or committed racist actions. The franchise as a whole fails to address its own racism and the racism generated by Bachelor Nation.
Instead, “The Bachelor” cast members of color are brought into a racist environment, lacking the structural measures meant to protect them or provide them with agency to ensure fair treatment from production. As pointed out in “Against Representation Without Transformation”, in an “optics-obsessed industry” it’s important to remember “the appearance of diversity can obscure the reality that visibility alone does not equate to power.”
Rachel Lindsay, cast in 2017 as the first Black lead of “The Bachelorette”, has since called out racism within the franchise, however, the show has clearly yet to take her recommendations. In a blog post, she layed out a list of four things the show must do, “1. Cast leads that are truly interested in dating outside of their race; 2. stop making excuses for the lack of diversity and take action to rectify the problem; 3. diversify the producers on the show to make your contestants of color feel more comfortable; and 4. stop creating problematic story lines for people of color.”
Unfortunately, the show continues to alienate contestants and viewers of color.
During Nance’s recounting of her experience, host Jesse Palmer lumped anti-Blackness and anti-Asian hate as simply “hate on social media.” In lieu of including a teachable moment or declaring a zero-tolerance policy of racism, Palmer interrupted Nance’s brave recollection of racism she received and proceeded to ask all the other women to raise their hand if they also got “hateful comments.”
While I don’t doubt all women on the show faced some level of hate, racism is distinct from plain bullying. The hate Nance received were not just “strong opinions” as Palmer put it, but manifestations of racial discrimination and prejudice.
“The Bachelor” and the shows in “The Bachelor” universe need to challenge racism head-on, rather than skirting around issues in vague platitudes and avoiding taking actionable measures to improve conditions on the show. Without change, “The Bachelor” will be known as a relic of an era of racist reality television.
Emane Haque is a senior Magazine Journalism major. Her Column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at [email protected]
