Posted by Sam Richards
Frankly, it’s odd that in this world where most of us want to be more multicultural than we are that we don’t see lots of race/culture mixing on a show such as this. Maybe it happens on other shows…I certainly don’t know. But that it doesn’t happen on this one is odd. I wonder if this particular show caters to an slightly older (read: set in their ethnocentric ways) crowd of viewers.
When I first watched this video post, I thought to myself that it is a legitimate point to make—and it is—but then I started thinking more about it and there are other ways to look at this. First of all, we all know that to be “politically correct” there are television ads, magazine ads, etc. that include people of color in relative proportion to white people because of the upcoming cultural need to represent all races and all people. And I agree, there should be a representation of all people because our country, and our world, is incredibly diverse, beyond which what many of us realize. However, for something like the Bachelor (or the Bachelorette), let’s be honest, it’s reality TV so it’s already pretty fake and probably scripted (although I like to tell myself it’s real life). So, if ABC producers etc. chose to include people of color solely on the fact to meet some sort of quota or on the basis of political correctness, well this would just further the inauthentic nature of the show. In general, the percentage of interracial marriages is low in the United States, and this can be for a number of reasons. We talked about in class on LGBT day the idea of “sexual attraction” and “attraction” in general. Many times, this idea of “attraction” has a face, and many times that face has a color, or a race. People often have a “type” of person they are attracted to, whether that be blonde, brunette, red head, white, black, Asian, Native American, blue eyes, green eyes, etc. So, it could simply be the case that before the show the ABC producers sit down with the up and coming Bachelor or Bachelorette and ask them to describe their “perfect” match. Remember, for those of you who don’t watch the program, (and I have to admit I am an at-times addicted viewer), the ultimate goal of the experience is a culmination in marriage. So, using this season of the Bachelor as an example, let’s just assume that Jake (the most recent Bachelor) said that he is mostly attracted to white women with lighter colored hair. Well, that could first of all explain the lack of women of color in the pool of bachelorettes, and then could additionally explain why three out of the remaining four women had light colored hair and why the eventual winter had blonde hair. Other people in their responses brought up legitimate points about other reality television shows such as For the Love of Ray Jay, Flavor Flave, I Love New York, and Tila Tequila. All of these shows are centered on people of color, and while there is the occasional white participant in the pool of people “looking for love,” the majority of “contestants,” for lack of a better word, are of the same race/color of the person the show is centered around. In terms of the question that heads this video post, “Are whites the only people willing to humiliate themselves?,” no, they’re not. I think it matters less about what color we are and more that there are people, of all races and all backgrounds, who are willing to go on TV and make a fool of themselves, regardless of their ethnicity.
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I never really thought of this idea of having mostly all-white casts in the many forms of reality TV shows that people watch. I personally think they are all crap and are far from the reality that any one actual lives, but, to each their own and if people want to fill their brains with the trash that is reality TV than go for it. It is funny though that the girls specifically mention the ABC part because that makes a huge difference. ABC is a huge network obviously that is broadcast everywhere and also carries big sports games, award events, and other shows. Unfortunately, people of color actually DO have their own shoes that mostly featuring people of color- but even though they are on big networks they are seen (in my opinion) largely as a joke. See the Ray J show, Flavor Flav, I love New York, etc. These shows are terrible and portray people of color (mostly black) as rude, loud, angry, violent, greedy, selfish, and conniving. The shows that actually try and show people forming a serious relationship and not just hot-tubbing and stripper-dancing every single night are, as the chick in the video pointed out, almost exclusively white. These shows, although still crappy, don’t just follow around a black guy and his fighting parade of "hos" in every episode, every season. In fact, this is really an issue that I am surprised a lot of people (especially of color) have not voiced their opinion about. In a country where they are still the minority and are subject to many forms of discrimination, this is only hurting their cause. Please tell me an employer isn’t going to think differently if a highly educated and qualified woman that looks a bit like a Flavor Flav girl is trying to get a job over a white woman. Not happening. Maybe I am just way too against the stupid reality shows but for some reason, even if they are terrible but consist mostly of white people (Rock of Love for example), it doesn’t seem to really affect the way people look at whites. But since the other shows are so ridiculous, they give people of color a very bad reputation. I think maybe ABC should try and do a more grown-up Bachelor/Bachelorette type of shows with mostly black people in it. I think people who usually watch the show will watch it regardless of the color of people and it will also help to erase some of the stereotypes produced by a lot of the terrible MTV and VH1 shows.
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I never realized how white The Bachelor or The Bachelorette really were. But to say that only white people go on these shows and humiliate themselves is false. There are various other shows that are primarily African American like I Love New York and For the Love of Ray J. I think our society as a whole all wants to be on TV and be famous and they are willing to do whatever to achieve this, even if it means humiliating themselves on these crazy shows. I don't think it's just white people that want to be on TV, it's everyone. TV and being famous has fascinated us all and we all want people to know us and see us on TV, no matter what it is we are doing.
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What I'm thinking is that on the show the Bachelor/Bachelorette, doesn't the people who are in charge PICK CONTESTANTS THEIRSELVES?!?!
Meaning, the Bachelor/Bachelorette picks who THEY want to marry? Then technically, its not a race thing. Its a personal opinion thing. From what I know, contestants apply based on their looks (of course), current job, mindset, and then "insert" the long speech about why they want to marry this person and how this person is better than the other contestants. So, I'm guessing people from other races were juts cut because that's just not their taste… remember: MARRIAGE is different from DATING so this experience is different from just "experimenting". Maybe the Bachelor/Bachelorettes choosing candidates have already experienced other races in past relationships. Marriages are meant to be a permanent union under God when you and your significant other has felt that you wish to spend the rest of your lives together. So maybe the reason why the contestants are similar in appearance because they know what type of physical appearance that they want for a permanent union.
As for the show itself, I really don't believe in these shows that do matchmaking for the media. Regardless of what race or ethnicity you are, if you a big enough fool to go on TV and REALLY think that you're going to fight other people over finding true love for someone, then so be it. Regardless of what race you are, the relationships after the season ends aren't true, or always flop… so they can get MORE people to watch the next season. Put it in perspective: other shows with different racial backgrounds work the SAME way! Ray J's "For the love of Ray-J" Flavor Flav's "Flavor of Love", Tila's "Shot at Love", etc. They're all fake to bring in revenue to me and have viewers watch. Its not about "one race humiliating the other" because the perspective of the camera is always dealing with the contestants interacting with each other. Think about it, NONE of the contestants would want to get in a feud with the "main character" for trying to pursue love because that will mean that they will get voted off. Therefore, its the contestants embarrassing each other when it comes down to it. Think about it: on the 1st Flavor of Love, there was a white woman battling for the title as well… in a house with a majority of African American/Latina women. There was no "race" issue there.
As the previous post states, race isn't an issue; its the people who wish to humiliate themselves and bring their selves to fame by getting their "15 minutes". These bachlor/bachlorette shows do not bring an "idealized" or "pre-conceived" notion of beauty… if anything, America's Next Top Model may have an influence on what the "ideal" woman should look like.
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This post really made me think about something that I've never even noticed before. I'm usually a pretty detail oriented, observant person, and not once have I realized that the Bachelor and Bachelorette mainly cast white men and women. Is this intentional on ABC's part? I don't know, it could go either way. Maybe by some freak accident every contestant to make the cut has been white for the entire legacy of the show; somehow this doesn't seem physically possible, when taking into consideration the racial diversity in the demographics of the United States today. I wonder if ABC is conservative in their thinking that the success rates of people actually engaging in love and relationships as an outcome of the Bachelor/Bachelorette will only happen if all contestants are racially the same or similar? While this seems wrong, it seems to me like the most logical explanation as to why there is a major lack of diversity in this specific show.
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Networks such as VH1 and MTV who also have shows centered around contestants finding love, feature plenty of different races, and all in the same season. If ABC does go with the logic I presented as a possibility above, would they cast an entire season of black contestants? Or an entire crew of asian contestants were they to venture into the 21st century and discover diversity? It would be interesting to find out. When you think about their other shows, like Desperate Housewives, they really are lacking in diversity on a larger scale than just the Bachelor and the Bachelorette. The only diversity found in Desperate Housewives is Gabby and Carlos, who are Latino. Other than that, all white. Take Grey's Anatomy for instance; other than Christina, who is Asian, again– all cast members are white. I feel as if there is a trend on behalf of ABC to cast and feature prodominently just white people.
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I don't agree with this pattern found within ABC's repetoire of shows at all. Today's world may not be as racially equal as everyone would like it to be, but at least make an effort to represent large amounts of the audience that view these shows. Now, many people might lash out against white people, saying that this is just another example of not even thinking about other races equally. But it is nobody's fault other than the producer's at ABC. Am I still going to watch their shows, even though they seriously lack racial diversity? Yes. Am I just saying this because I am white? No, it's because some of their shows are my absolute favorites, the ones I look forward to each week.
Maybe this is the very reason why the diversity hasn't happened for ABC; has no one taken a stand against it?
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Now that it has been brought to my attention, I do find it odd that big TV networks like ABC and NBC don't include much racial diversity in their popular shows. From what I understand as well, a large portion of the viewership of shows like the Bachelor and the Bachelorette are younger than middle aged. This observation comes as a surprise as our current generation has grown up in a more diverse culture than our parents and we tend to be more open to diversity (not to say anything bad about our parents, just that they grew up in the midst of the civil rights movement). I'd like to know ABC's reasoning, is it that they don't think people would be interested in watching an interracial couple? As we saw in lecture one day, this generation seems to be a lot more open to this idea.
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This is actually something I’ve quickly pondered before, but then automatically dismissed because mismatching races is something I think very few companies or corporations rarely do. When I watch commercials on t.v, they are usually matched up perfectly with race-white couple, black family, Asian lovers. This never really seemed too strange to me, which leads me to wonder if this is why I never pondered why things are like this. The reason that I do a double take when people of different races are together is unexplainable to me. I guess I just think it’s bizarre because I never really see people doing this. However, I, myself, am a product of mixed racial backgrounds and I feel as though I forget this lot. I never really see my mom as being Hispanic. She doesn’t even have citizenship in this country and I don’t even feel like that makes any difference in how my dad and her are together. The language barriers didn’t even stop them from falling in love! But, for some reason, I never once went into deep thought about why networks usually air races as matching each other perfectly. True love is blind; it has nothing to do with appearances. This should be motivation enough for networks to show the world what different types of racial differences have found love amongst themselves.
I think a main reason for this is just because it is what the majority of people do. In my experiences, I have found that most people are with people that look similar to them. When I go to the mall, most people stick to their own races when it comes to who they hold hands with when in public. Even walking around campus, I see mostly races intermingling that are the same. This causes me to wonder if the reason they’re together is because of the pressures of society to stay within your race when it comes to choosing a partner, or if it’s the other way around; if choosing a partner on the basis of similar races is causing networks to show mostly people of the same race getting together on their shows.
I feel like our nation is the biggest melting pot on the planet, yet, on our television shows, we try to make sure we stay within our own racial boundaries. It’s quite contradictory. Our country actually contradicts itself in many more ways than this subtlety. Perhaps this segregation of inter-racial mixing has to do with keeping a race “pure”. My one friend back home has a boyfriend who will not let her wear black and white together because it represents inter-racial relationships. I think this kid is a moron (his name is Flint!!!), but he’s not the only person out there trying to keep races separate, he’s just much more public about his feelings.
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Although these types of network television shows have predominantly white cast members, I definitely would not say that whites are the only people willing to humiliate themselves. The network shows do not seem to be too humiliating on the surface in the first place. I’m not an avid viewer when it comes to shows such as “The Bachelor” but I understand the basic premise of the show. If being a contestant on these shows, whether for the money, “fame”, or love is fundamentally humiliating then I think we’re using a pretty wide scope. “Real World”, “Jersey Shore”, and “Tool Academy” would seem to be more humiliating than “The Bachelor”. However, there are many shows on MTV, VH1, and Bravo that include very multicultural casts that are subject to far more embarrassing footage. MTV and VH1 cater to very different audiences than network television and are much more likely to include controversial footage of their contestants. This makes these shows far more embarrassing, and they do not always include only white people. Consider “Fear Factor”; people have done some ridiculous things to try and win money on that show, and its contestants were not always white.
I think what is present here is a network simply trying to get the most viewers possible. The Clark Doll Experiment, in which black children were asked to identify which doll (black or white) was good and bad, showed that black children were being raised in a culture that taught them whites were good and blacks were bad. The ripples of this cultural ideal are still present today. I would venture to say that the majority of television viewers are more partial to white casts. This is a major flaw and shows how deeply engrained American racism truly is. There seems to be a vicious cycle in that the media and retail business provide the population with what they want (which is white) while simultaneously teaching them that white is good and black is bad.
From a young age, people need more exposure to different cultures. If we learn at a young age that institutional racism does in fact exist and we are better equipped to see it, the system will begin to gradually unwind. This racism is so deeply rooted in various areas of culture and this is why we continue to see it today, even when it is very subtle.
This is probably the worst post I have written.
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I have definitely noticed this kind of thing before. Actually, a few hours ago I was on the Charlotte Russe website (a clothing store) and I noticed that all the girls modeling the clothes were white. When I go to the store in person, there are quite a few black and/or brown people there, and it got me thinking if they are bothered by this? I personally do not think I would be offended or annoyed if I were to look through a clothing magazine and the models were black or brown. They still have a woman’s body and I know what colors and styles look good on me, so that would not really interfere with my life. But as for all these mainstream television shows having predominantly white actors/participants, well, that fact even annoys me…and I’m white. Would America really suffer if the Bachelor were black? I think not, and if they would suffer from that simple change, then they should be out educating themselves instead of watching the Bachelor.
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Entertainment television is going to do everything and anything they can to increase their ratings and who watches the show. If this means that the less people of another race, the more viewers, they will go to these extremes to make money. It is always all about money. They aren’t thinking about what types of people they have on the show, unless it is going to make some sort of profit. Honestly, it’s crazy that they can get away with this discrimination, even if it only has to do with money. My question is, why the hell do we watch this shit anyway? Like honestly, it is all staged. And the majority of people who watch it know this. So why is it entertaining? Maybe the ratings stay high up for people over different races because they love watching the white people look like idiots.
It’s completely embarrassing that this is the way white people are shown on television. Real reality isn’t going to be easy to see for people that don’t live in the U.S. But everyone watches television. It’s global; there isn’t any way of getting around it. So they watch American shows like this and probably think we are all complete head cases. But, because of the way the ratings go up, and the money these sickening programs make, television becomes this way in other countries as well.
Yeah, it’s ridiculous that the shows are so blatantly prejudice; but it’s also ridiculous that we know this, yet we still watch it. Not only do we see the prejudice, but we know it isn’t actually reality. So why are we wasting hours of our lives consuming a fake product? It’s like buying anything and realizing it isn’t real, so what do people normally do in this situation? They don’t buy it every again. What is the point of watching something that is prejudice, and is only made to suck money away from us? Ah. It honestly just pisses me off. We shouldn’t be asking questions like, “Why are there predominantly white people on the Bachelor ?” We should be asking questions like, “Why the hell are we wasting our time watching this stupid shit?”
I know I’m ranting, it just completely aggravates me. I am sick of watching everyone base their lives on these “reality” TV shows that aren’t real.
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I have always noticed the fact that there is an overwhelming white population of women on the show the Bachelor. In addition to this the black population of the show is usually the voted off and for the most part are light skinned. I think the show chooses to do this because of the audience base. The ABC network is one that has a very family and female audience and has many shows depicting the “typical” white family that I have always felt fits into the Disney model. I think by doing this “The Bachelor “ turns many people off and would be much more successful if they tried to bring some diversity into it. I feel that they would be able to do this more easily if they were to have a black bachelor. I feel that in this situation the women may be more diversified. But with that it may turn off the white audience who has been watching it all these years expecting their idea of “Prince Charming”.
I think what makes this issue more of a problem is the fact that in response to the popularity of this show VH1 has come out with shows like “I Love New York” and “Flavor of Love”. These shows are much more diversified however focus on very sexual situation and depict the black and other minority cast members in a very stereotypical way.
I have always viewed the Bachelor and the shows on VH1 as ones that also depict females in a very degrading and inferior role. Some of the situations that they are put into and the conversations they have, I find does nothing but humiliate and exploit the women. I think the fact that all the women kiss and have sex with the “bachelor” has made me both very uncomfortable and disgusted. The fact that women are going on national television in order to “win the heart of a man” and willing to act in outlandish ways I feel does nothing but impede on the efforts of many women fighting for equal representation and respect in society. While I do not think that ABC’s “The Bachelor” is as bad as the shows on VH1 the concept of the show is the problem. There have been very few “Bachelorettes” and a lot of drama surrounding several of the “Bachelors”. This drama has further objectified the women in the media and done nothing but make the men look like powerful and overpowering men with many women at their complete disposal.
I fell that the only way to change this is slowly eliminate shows that are set up with women fighting for the attention of men. Women need to stand together and realize that to have respect in society we cannot allow ourselves to be portrayed in such degrading ways.
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It seems like there are a lot of people on the show such as the bachelorette who are more white. However, if you watch shows like the love of ray jay there are quite a lot of people of color so I don’t think it is fair to insult the bachelor and take offense to that if there are other shows that are predominantly dominated by people of color. There are also other shows such as flava flav which have a lot of women of color or telia tequilia who was not only bisexual but a person of color and she had a show which was dominated by people of color. I think that there are other shows on ABC who have people of different races so it is pretty unfair to judge based off of one show.
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The show dancing with the stars which is also on ABC has many people of different race and color and from many different parts of the world. It is an enjoyable show and yes although there are more white people than black people it does not make ABC racist in any way or make them discriminating in any way. This to me is an example of how people of color tend to look into situations and search very hard to find situations of discrimination. Although I don’t disagree that there is still discrimination on tv and all over the world it doesn’t mean that we need to search it out.
I know that Sam gave us a statistic that involved there being more white people on tv and they were more than there are in the world doesn’t mean that a certain station is racist because of one show. There may not be people on the show because they feel that they are looking for someone of the same race and they don’t want to risk having the bachelor or bachelorette be white when they are looking for someone of their same race. This in turn could make the people who are not on this show racist as opposed to white people being racist.
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I have never been one to have racist ideals or jump at the chance of calling people racist but that may also be because I am white and I don’t look for it constantly from the people who are around me. I don’t know how it feels to be completely defensive in multiple situations but I don’t think that it makes it fair for us to always feel that we have to be on guard when it comes to making comments because I think that is what created people censoring how they talk in most situations around people of color.
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This post really made me think and opened my mind because I really never realized that all of the past bachelors and bacherolettes throughout the past six years have been all Caucasian. It makes me wonder if ABC is racist against who they pick to be on the show or if people of color are just not interested in being on these types of shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Maybe people of color are not desperate enough to have to be randomly set up with twenty and random people and somehow magically find their true love in front of all of The United States to see. I would really love to find out the answer to this question.
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theglory Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 2:20 am
I don’t think that ABC is racist, as a whole, but the parent Disney Company is owned by all white men who pick programs to maximize the size of the audience to advertisers. Advertisers are looking for a specific demographic for their products. Whether it is by age, race, or sex, the target audience is what the network is going for. The more specific the audience is, the more the advertiser is willing to pay. Maybe the advertisers are looking to target white women between the ages of 18- 55 during the Bachelor? ABC may think that the majority of white women date white men so they may pick a good looking white man and sexy white women that the viewers can relate to so more white women (who the advertiser is targeting) will watch the program.
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I actually never noticed the disproportionate percentage of white contestants on the Bachelor. I don’t make a big deal of it. I don’t think racism is as big a reason for this as much as social acceptance would be. Directors and producers think of everything before putting together a show like “The Bachelor”. I’m sure a disproportionate percentage of the people who watch “The Bachelor” are white as well. Obviously not all the audience of the show are white, but I think a bigger percentage of the audience is white compared to the percentage of white people in America.
When I watch shows like “the Flavor of love” (which is another show very similar to the “bachelor”, but with mostly black contestants), I don’t wonder why so many of the contestants are black. The bachelor in “Flavor of Love” (Flavor Flav) is black, and it is common for people to be attracted to their own race. There were a couple of contestants on the show that were different races, but that is because the show was on VH1. The show’s primary target audience was African-American and putting African-Americans on the show would help intrigue that target audience. Therefore it would make sense that a disproportionate percentage of the contestants are of the same race as the bachelor of the show. On BET, almost every person is black. Whether it is music videos, TV shows, game shows, reality TV shows etc… That isn’t racism at all. A huge percentage of the audience that watches BET is black, so the director and producer of the show would obviously surround their shows with black people.
Another reason I think the shows are designed this way, is to actually avoid racism. What would happen if a minority contestant got eliminated from the show really early, for no apparent reason? What if the white contestants ganged up on a minority contestant? What if the final two contestants were white and another race, and the white contestant won? Wouldn’t the show be seen as slightly racist? Especially by people who look for any reason to call anything racist.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that most actors are white. Although a disproportionate percentage of the athletes and musicians are African-American. Actors/actresses are chosen by directors and producers. They find people that fit the description of the characters they want in their production. Athletes and musicians are chosen by pure talent and it doesn’t matter their race. All I’m saying is that, the “white face” is more accepted on television. It is just what we are used to. If they had a choice, most Americans would be more comfortable seeing a white face on television. So when they have a choice, a lot of people who choose casting, tend to choose white people for their shows.
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It’s crazy how true this really is, I never followed the show to that extent, but the times I did see it, it was only white women, or vice versa. That was a great point you made by bringing this up. A channel like ABC one of the top channels in the United States, and a channel I watch very often I never realized how they usually have one or two minorities in all the shows, but are they just in their so no one can say they are racist? Well after thinking about it, yes I believe so, I can’t call ABC racist because after all we usually see one Latino or colored person which makes the show diverse in their eyes. But to the minorities it doesn’t really make a difference because we are so use to seeing a couple minorities on the show we don’t really look into it that much till someone brings it up. But shows like this or even CBS’s shows like survivor who have a few minorities in the show can still classify as diverse, but if we really look into it we don’t see the diversity anywhere, it will be like one colored person to every five white. This is not really what we would call diversity, but yet we see it and just continue watching because we are use to it. It was a good thought, but I believe to see the real kind of diversity will still take time, but will eventually come.
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I found those pictures pretty dramatic and overwhelming of the whiteness portrayed in the pictures, looks like a snow day. No kind of interracial integration portrayed in those pictures which makes one views change and take to extremes where they just seem racist. I never watched a show to its entirety, but glimpse and understand the concept behind the show. I know that there are few people of color as a contestant but the majority of them or vast majority are white. I understand the concept; I would have to ask whom is the show intended to, who are their audience? My other question would be who are the producers? The producers are there to make money, which requires high ratings, so something must be done right because they have continued for several seasons. I don’t think nobody has minded this question, but us. If I had to guess their audiences for the majority are white, as well as the producer whose paying to produces for these shows. An interesting point made by Sam Richards in one of his lectures was the fact that people of their own race believe they are the most beautiful and best race in existence. As those who were first making up categories for race, they were the most clever, gentle, good, law-abiding and everyone else was a barbarian. So relating to the Bachelor, the mentally carries on to these shows who don’t want to see interracial dating. In my point of view, it can be understandable; I am Hispanic and believe Latin women are the most beautiful women in the world and my preference. We got to remember it was not long ago that we still had a strong segregation of race, Jim Crow Laws, before it was abolish and try to enforce equality between everyone. Time and education is the key factor in understanding and accepting race. I do not want to be contradicting in my following approach, but in a time and society one must think or believe the show can be diverse or a better representation of race displayed of America. This is not the case and do we want to imply racism? I don’t think so just a preference of race and talk if I was the bachelor, I would want a selection of mostly Latin women. I believe when it comes to love, one has their view and knows what they are attractive to. Again, as Sam Richard said you know what you’re attracted to when you feel it down in your pants. It is a situation that is bias and different throughout everyone as we are humans and will discriminate and prefer someone you are willing to spend your entire with. So would we have to promote a better representation of America in race and could we finally say the show is not racist and accepted to everyone? Complicated question, but seems not to mind because of the success in the show.
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What a good question! I really appreciate that this question was asked and brought to the attention of people in our class. First, I do not watch the Bachelor (which looks like was the main show illustrated in this question) but from the pictures, it is apparent that there are very few multi-cultural people represented. I don’t know how shows of this kind work, but could this be because of the demographic for which the main character is interested in? For example, because the main bachelor is white, maybe he is only interested in white women? I’m not saying this is right, wrong or indifferent, but I feel like the type of person that the main character is interested is one reason why there is predominantly on skin color portrayed over others. Also, they really should get a bachelor who is not just white. I think this would also help the portrayal of more multi-cultural people on the show, but apparently they haven’t had that yet.
Another show that actually does accurately portray the demographics in the United States is shows like The Real World on MTV. I know for every season I’ve watched it; there is always a good array of different races and ethnicities portrayed on the show.
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This is actually a good question…the bachelor has never been very diverse….I have seen a few minorities but it has never gotten past a handful. On another note there has never been a minority as the Bachelor or Bachelorette. I don't know why this is because there are other shows that are very diverse, but this one seems to stay the same. I think that if they had a show where the minority was the main focal person and they chose other girls or guys that they would be interested in, assuming that they where mostly of the same color. I think it would be a great if the show was more diverse especially if they cast it in the same light. It would be a great change from shows that are like Flavor Flav. The Bachelor is made out to be a classy dating show. They wear long formal gowns and drink champagne. This show is made to seem like these people are high end and very classy upstanding people. I think that if they did this then it would give a better representation of minorities and take away the after thoughts of shows like flava flav and other sequels. It is actually funny though to see the pictures of passed Bachelor shows every one is standing looking like clones….But in reality I think they should have a black or brown contestant it could really be a positive thing set aside from corny dating shows like those on VH1 where many people are picked to cause trouble and make fools of themselves. I would like to see if anyone did protest it if they would change it and possible pick a minority. This just makes me think of commercials today and how different cultures are portrayed. I know McDonald's recently has only focused on black people. If you watch a commercial today they rarely show a white person. Which I think is really cool I think that many commercials today have maybe like one black person, but to a see a commercial with only black people is pretty cool to see because it reminds me how we are slowly working through are racial differences and trying to make everyone equal. I think we are going to keep working our way up there to make thing equal, but is just going to take a while. Getting back to the Bachelor I think there definatly be a point where people of color will be on or another show like it, but I def think it is time someone is because the VH1 shows are very misinterpretation and it casts a negative light on minorities. But like I said we are slowly making our way and I think that is a good thing.
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I agree in saying that the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” does accurately represent the demographics of the United States. The main person who is “searching for love” is usually a white female or male. I agree with many of the above that have used shows like “A Shot at Love” with Tila Tequila, “For the Love of Ray J” with star Ray J, “Flavor of Love” with Flava Flav, etc to demonstrate that whites are not the only participants in these reality shows. These shows are not featured on ABC of course. They are all featured on networks like MTV and VH1 that has a different audience who usually tunes in to them. It’s pretty safe to say that most people watching these shows are of a younger generation than people tuning into shows on ABC.
ABC without a doubt has a targeted audience but so does every network. There are lots of shows that target a black audience like someone mentioned before – Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns”. Even the network BET can be an example of how networks target a specific audience. Every network has a target audience. Disney targets children. Lifetime targets women, cause I’m sure not many men are tuning into Lifetime original movies. Spike TV targets males. I could go on and on about all the different networks and who they target.
I don’t necessarily agree with the title that states- “Are whites the only people willing to humiliate themselves?”. As stated before there are “reality” shows that have individuals of different backgrounds who I think have demonstrated that white people are not the only ones capable of humiliating themselves. I think anyone who has at least tuned into these shows for even a matter of minutes knows what I mean when I say this. For example girls hooking up with each other to get the attention of a guy, or a guy having “alone time” with a different girl each night to see if he really is in love with her. In my opinion I don’t think that there is any class in any of these things. I would not put the show “The Bachelor” on any reality show pedestal either. When it boils down to it, all these shows are just mindless entertainment.
When it boils down to it reality shows will humiliate anyone whether they be black, brown, white, blue, purple, or of any color or background. It is just a matter of who signs that contract to let America watch their “reality”. I think that anyone who wants fast fame is willing to humiliate themselves and will sign up for a reality show to get attention. This is dependent on the individual, not what color they are.
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hmc5079 Reply:
March 5th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
"doesn't accurately represent the demographics of the United States" ** whoops, sorry typo
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In response to the question/title of this post “Are whites the only people willing to humiliate themselves?”….shame on you. While, yes, I admit that I did happen to watch the season of The Bachelor that just ended (and yes, I am Caucasian) and DID notice that there were no women of color in the top 25, there are plenty of similar shows with contestants from different backgrounds and races. What about “A Shot at Love” and “Flavor of Love”? Even the main contestants/characters are of non-white backgrounds. There is diversity! And as mikehrom pointed out in his post, they just happen to be on different channels that probably appeal to more diverse audiences (like MTV and VH1). And believe me; the people on those shows make complete fools out of themselves, too. So just because almost all of the contestants on this show are white (while there have been black, brown, and Asian contestants on as well, they just never made it to the end), doesn’t mean that the diversity doesn’t exist elsewhere on television.
THAT being said, I do also agree that ABC is being a little ridiculous. You can tell by the pictures on this post that there are hardly ANY contestants of color…And come to think of it, I never saw one on the show this season either. And the NEXT Bachelorette is white, as well. I mean, come on. God forbid they have a non-white bachelor/bachelorette, let alone any of the contestants! I really do think, though, that it’s because of the demographic. Older people (30+) tend to watch this show/channel more than they watch something like “A Shot at Love”.
Maybe I’m looking at it with biased eyes. In fact, I KNOW that’s one of the problems. I’m seeing these shows through my Caucasian experiences and beliefs, and that is why I don’t feel offended in any way. I really think it would be invaluable to spend a day in a non-white person’s shoes. Because then I would be able to see how they get treated and how they view things like this.
Personally, I would still keep watching The Bachelor/Bachelorette shows if there was a more racially diverse group of contestants. Because honestly, they pick the contestants based on beauty. And I’m not trying to get at “white people are more beautiful than colored people, therefore the contestants are all white.” I’m not saying that at all…but it would probably be an interesting debate. It’s just that even if they picked an Indian girl or a Latino guy to be on the show, they would still be skinny, have flawless skin, and perfectly shiny hair. It would turn out to be ultimately about the glamour and the superficiality, not the race.
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The Bachelor is an American reality television dating game show debuting in 2002 on ABC. The show is hosted by former game show host and news anchor, Chris Harrison. The fourteenth season, On the Wings of Love, premiered on January 4, 2010. Solid ratings throughout the twelve completed seasons have resulted from an average audience of nearly 10 million viewers, with some decline in the series' more recent seasons. While much of the series has aired on Wednesday nights, its ratings slide reversed somewhat with a move to Monday nights in January 2006. I understand that some people might wonder why the show is not multiracial but I seriously think that it has nothing to do with race. It is mainly up to the bachelor or a bachelorette, for that matter, what candidates for their potential spouse are appropriate. If the bachelor decided that he is attracted to a specific type of woman than the directors of that show will do their best to help and find these perfect women for him. For example, if he likes tall and blonde-haired women then the majority of women will be tall and blond. However, if he is into multicultural or even older women then that will be what he will get. Moreover, there have been episodes with black and Latino women in the past. I personally enjoy those shows and never thought twice about them in racial context. I do sometimes question myself as to how some of those girls even got on the show in the first place. I am being honest here. Unfortunately, some of those fine women have no brains and if they do they are already with a child or were divorced or something. The show itself is very much entertaining for all age ranges and from time to time, the show will even throw some curve balls to make it more interesting. There have been a few interesting twists such as Brad not picking either of the women and Jason changing his mind during the "After the Final Rose" show. The runner-up from the first season, Trista Rehn, later starred in The Bachelorette, a spin-off program in which the format is gender-reversed. Her wedding to the winner of her season of The Bachelorette, Ryan, was also televised. I remember just a few seasons ago, there was a single millionaire who in reality was a farmer and had an average income. If was very funny how the women completely changed their minds about the guy as soon as they heard that he was not rich. It is very disturbing to find that our world is all about money. The people are hungry for money and think that money is everything, when in reality the money is the number one cause for war, hunger, and just dishonesty and betrayal.
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After reading this post, watching the video, and looking at the pictures, my curiosity was peaked and I decided to research the concept a little more online because I had honestly never really noticed the seemingly racist tendencies of shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. On the other hand, I do not watch either of those shows to have noticed, but I never really heard this conversation discussed before either. It is interesting and it provokes many questions as to why this is being done. I think multiple factors play into the reality of the matter, in a way in which the ultimate cast of characters could be argued to be a "racist" one because it usually lacks minorities, but I also think it is more complicated than that. As Sam discussed in class just recently, people make decisions that others may view as racist, but if they were given the time to explain their choices, their rationale would have nothing to do with race at all. I never thought about my race or receiving any kind of privilege or disadvantage because of my race so much before in my entire life. I sometimes wonder if constantly defining us by our race by saying things like the "brown and black team" and the "white team" only serves to perpetuate any kind of racist tendencies people have (whether they are conscious of them or not).
That being said, we have to remember what we are talking about, as I have read in previous posts, that is, a "reality" show that most people do not even truly believe is REAL. I'm glad other people brought up other examples of so-called reality shows that have come out in recent years on various channels, including MTV and VH1. The entire genre of a reality TV show seems to contradict itself and the shows seem to make a spectacle (and a joke) of serious situations, experiences, and things in life. An example is marriage on The Bachelor – if people took marriage seriously, do they really honestly believe a person's "soul mate" is going to just happen to be one of their significant others on the show? If people wanted to take this seriously, they would see that the reality of the matter is that the odds are COMPLETELY against them, and that the show serves as more of a joke than anything else (unless there was a rare occasion where a lifetime commitment did happen to be formed….). I conducted a number of searches on The Bachelor, trying to find how the contestants are chosen, but I could not really find any relevant information. I'm wondering if the show's producers choose the candidates, if they meet them in person, if they allow their "bachelor" for the current show to weigh in on his/her personal opinion in choosing candidates, if they look at personality, education, career, accomplishments, etc. That would play into the process, too. I found a picture of executive producer Mike Fleiss, who is white, which did not surprise me, but I could not really find any information on him addressing accusations of racism or anything along those lines. I think we also need to consider, though, the realm these shows are made in; what I mean by that is that maybe the show should be more open to other races and ethnicities; maybe the show should think about representing accurate demographics; maybe the show should take away their title of being so "serious" and marriage-related, and take on a more casual, dating tone. One could also argue that the show is stereotypical in other ways as well. Look at all of the past bachelors and bachelorettes, as well as candidates for them to choose from; did we ever see an unattractive bachelor or an overweight person? Like I said, I do not watch the show, but I think it most likely falls into the trap of many discriminatory stereotypes we have seen in regards to the myths of what make a person "beautiful" or "desirable." I think the problem is inherent in our culture. Thus, working towards a solution is actually much more complex than adding contestants of various races to a show like The Bachelor because it hits on so many other (I believe more influential and credible) aspects of our media.
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I will be the first to admit that I watch The Bachelor every week that it is on. I couldn't tell you why, it's not quality television, just fun to watch. I never noticed until this post that the majority, almost all, of the contestants are white. I'm sure maybe I subconsciously noticed it, but it was not something that I made a point of, so to say. I do agree with many of the people that ABC does cater to an older audience. I know my grandparents watch that network.
I feel as though ABC is trying to be safe. There have been some other races featured on The Bachelor, but they are few and far between. I feel as though in playing it safe, and keeping to basically one race, ABC is attempting not to offend anyone. Our generation is more open to inter-racial relationships, but what about the older generations? I'm not saying that all, but many older people are still against inter-racial relationships and marriages. In only showing basically one race, ABC is essentially ensuring that they have viewers. They are ensuring that many of their older viewers will continue watching and will not be offended.
There is another side of this though. Many shows on MTV and VH1 show predominately black contestants. These networks mainly cater to younger viewers. Many of these younger viewers are fine with and open to inter-racial relationships. These networks are more free and open to show different races because many of their viewers are fine with it.
I personally, do not feel as though as a white person, I am being humiliated because of the show. I do not think whites are more willing to put themselves out there and be humiliated (as the title suggests) than other races. If you look at other reality shows that feature these other races, it is clear, I believe, it is just American culture. We love watching people on television to see what they would do in various situations.
I think that maybe in a couple of years, the major networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS will be more open to dating and reality shows with several different races. It would go to show how far we've come as a society. If major networks that serve mainly older demographics show reality, different races being together.
I think one of the first steps, would be having a Bachelor or Bachelorette that is of a minority. Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t think there would be fewer viewers just because of this. The show would then show more of what the real world is like.
I do wonder if ABC deliberately casts all white people; I highly doubt that. So this makes me wonder what the producers of the show would think of this question. I’m sure they would have an answer that would cover it, and maybe even one that would surprise everyone. So maybe we shouldn’t be too quick to judge.
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I have watched a few seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette, and I have noticed that almost every one that has ever been on the show has been white. I don’t think it is so much that they want all the contestants to be white. Instead, I think that because the Bachelor and Bachelorette have been white, ABC feels that an older audience would want to see white couples, and think that people (especially in older generations) would be offended? (maybe not the right word) if they saw mixed couples, and therefore stop watching the show. That being said, I do think that this isn’t fair considering the diversity of our country, and I think that there should be seasons with contestants who are black or other races. But, I think if that happened, the network would still have men and women on the show that are dating the Bachelor or Bachelorette be of that same race, and not have mixed couples.
While I have noticed this pattern in the TV show, only because it has come up in conversations about the media, such as this one, I think that white people, including myself, don’t think about race in that way when we all look at other groups of white people. Just as when people ask me how I identify myself, and I say American, race is just not something I notice when I see other white people. On the other hand, I think that many people of other races tend to identify with their race and would say Black or Indian, for example, when asked how they identify themselves. However, it makes complete sense that when people of other races watch a television show with ONLY white people on it, they would of course noticed that other races, especially their own, are not being fairly represented on television.
I have to agree with the fact that people are saying it is the older audience that is the cause. When you look at a show like Real World, the entire purpose of a show like that is to put people that are completely different from one another in a house (then watch the drama that unfolds). Every season of Real World has people in the house that are gay and straight, people of different races, and people who come from all different socioeconomic backgrounds. Again, MTV targets teens, and in today’s generation, this diversity intrigues people, and does not often offend or bother younger viewers.
As some people have commented on this topic, I don’t think that lack of diversity on the show means that the people at ABC are racists or don’t like people of color. I do think that this is a sad reflection of our society and what people still want to see, and ABC and the people working there are just trying to give people what they want so that there are more viewers and the show stays on the air.
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I think that this is a great observation. I am actually surprised by a lot of the comments. Most people are saying that they have never noticed that not a lot of black people are on certain shows. I, being black, have noticed. My parents, siblings and I joke about it a lot and I figured that it was just obvious to everyone. What I want to know is why it seems that people of color seem to be noticing this more than whites? Do white people just notice or do they not care? Or is it that people of color are just paranoid and notice everything? Lol.
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People still watch these shows? I thought by now they wouldn't even be remotely popular or entertaining in the least because 90% of these shows are staged and the only reason some of them actually go through to get married is because the show pays them for it, because they make a mint if they broadcast it on television. But anywyas, I do think that these kind of shows have always been instilled with some racial undertones as you can look at the pictures there are a ton of white contestants on these shows and rarely anyone of color or an ethnic background. But as you can see the mockery of these shows on other channels such as the "Flavor Of Love" starring Flavor Flav or "For the Love of Ray-Jay" starring RayJay there seems to be a predominantly Black ethnic standing within these shows and create more problems like racial stereotypes, like "New York" girl from the Flavor of Love, got her own show because she was on it for fame and creates all this drama, a lot of this is staged to play with emotions as well as to create the most amount of drama to attract the most viewers which is why some television shows have some crazy person doing something to get attention and that will be on the trailer for the next video. I find that all these shows claim to be reality TV but are very far from it, these people are paid to do X Y and Z and having to be put through these stressful areas to cause tension. But these ethnic created spin-off are showed on some other television stations not "wholesome" enough that ABC thinks it should not be included. If you look over the entire options of "reality TV" don't be surprised what you find. The only reality TV you will actually see is if you strap a cardboard cutout of a TV in front of your face and do like Peter Griffin did walking around and following random people. IT doesn't make you think why these shows are on the air but really most television stations are racist in the way they broadcast some new idea like having MTV create the real world about people drinking until they pass-out or get laid but consuming toxic levels of alcohol. I mean sometimes its fun to drink and get loose and have a good time with friends but EVERY episode is like that mentality of get-laid or get drunk. Not to "have fun" If you look at the recipie for the real world you'll see it includes a stereotype of each person, and how they want to be on the television show and become a reality star and have no career because of the stupid things they do. Ultimately i don't watch these shows nor do i even pretend to watch them. I can't have my brain sink that low of stupidity to even keep the channel for an hour. I rather enjoy some crazy wholesome Family Guy, where the jokes are meant to be played out.
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The girl in the video has a good point. Why are the Bachelor and all the other shows that are like it the way they are? Frankly I think they are all trash and I don’t really understand why people watch them. The only reason I would watch the Bachelor is to laugh at how dumb the people are, or at least how dumb they’re pretending to be, if they’re actors. I think if someone gets emotional over a show like that, they must have some problems that should be addressed.
As for the question posed, I’m not sure why all of the contestants are white. Maybe it’s because the bachelor guy is primarily romantically interested in white women. Maybe he’s a flagrant racist off-screen. I think it’s probably because the most ditzy, dramatic women the network interviewed happened to be white. Then again, black and Hispanic women have a reputation for being dramatic and outspoken, but there are other reality dating shows geared toward minorities, like “Flavor of Love,” with the always appealing and gentlemanly Flavor Flav, that they would have a good shot at. The day a reality dating show casts a conservatively dressed woman with a career is the day hell freezes over. They want a bunch of dolled up airheads who will start drama at every chance so they can get ratings. It’s kind of like Jerry Springer but with wealthier and better looking people. I feel like sometimes, white girls are more starved for attention and that’s why they do this kind of thing. They’ll do anything to get on TV, usually because they don’t have any real talents to get them anywhere in the real world. Maybe white girls are just more delusional, and they actually think they can find true love on a TV show and live happily ever after with whatever arbitrary douchebag the network picked that season.
Here’s another question – why is the bachelor himself such a quintessential white jock? He’s always the square-jawed, supplement pounding, iron pumping quarterback type; the perfect corn-fed Nebraska high school football state champ. The overwhelming whiteness of him and the contestants paints a picture of traditional white America that would appeal to an older white demographic, like Sam says in the blog entry. I just went to Hulu to watch some of an episode from the most recent season of The Bachelor and I noticed that they pull from different groups across the white population, but not from across the country’s population. They have the suburban blonde cheerleader, the crazy redhead, and the southern belle with a kid, but no discernable minorities whatsoever. It’s kind of odd, seeing as America is considered a melting pot.
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I feel as though it is all just stereotypes playing into the network to make what some consider "good TV". The networks most definitely plan out these shows with intentions of grasping a target audience and their way of reeling that audience in is by putting people on the show that look like their target audience. People are scrutinized in their auditions to see if they will be what their looking for on the show. Putting together a cast that will interact in a specific way is how they make ratings. Side thought is that they are putting together these casts in an effort to avoid certain racial slurs from having to be bleeped out, I'm sure some pretty intense words could start flying as the girls are fighting over Flava Flave or Joe Millionaire. The label reality TV is often put onto these shows in an effort to convey the idea that this is how people really are but what they don't realize is that people act differently when they are in front of a camera than when they are behind closed doors in the privacy of their own home.
You might even be able to go as far as saying that the lack of diversity on the show goes back to the person looking for the love. Producers may have had a meeting with the host/millionaire and said what do you look for in the opposite sex. Being a show for them or a show for the viewing public. If the show truly is about that persons quest for love the contestants on the show should be catered towards that individuals personal preferences when it comes to looking for "love". If this is the case then it may not be the producers who are the stereotypical racists. It would be the close minded millionaires that are having a hard time when it comes to the love department.
It would be interesting to do a review of the products that are being advertised during the same time slots as the show. Shows usually are tailored to bring in a certain demographic and if a network can prove to the companies that they are going to be bringing customers to them then the advertising space is much more valuable. There are certain products that just wouldn't go over well when watching Flavor of Love. For instance do you think there would be a strong response from commercials for denture glue? My guess is not so much. So they tailor the cast of the show to be that of the people they are going to be trying to sell products to. In the end I feel as though it is just all about business and what will make the most money for the network.
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I think overall there is a vast over representation of white people on all television, not only a cheesy (sorry Bachelor fans) “reality” dating show. I had not considered that the show airs on ABC which does seen to have a conservative feeling and perhaps that was implicating the race of the contestants. Perhaps the network, who I assume picks the contestants, has a very narrow idea toward the type of woman their bachelor would want to pick. And according to this very narrow idea of ideal mates for the bachelor only pretty, slender, white women fit the bill. Additionally, why has the bachelor himself always been white?
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I am certainly not an ongoing watcher of the Bachelor or the Bachelorette series. On the few occasions that I have flicked by the show I agree that nary a black face could be found. It is odd because African Americans appear on other reality shows such as Dancing with the Stars, American Idol and Survivor. I don’t know if people of color are not willing to advertise their emotional stability (or lack thereof) on national television or that an insufficient number of Blacks watch the show, making it unprofitable to include them in the plot. Of course, the possibility exists that producers do not think that fostering mixed racial couples is a money maker and good old prejudice is the reason we only have whites humiliating themselves.
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While reality shows on ABC may show predominantly white people, reality shows on other channels are more racially diverse. For example, on MTV or VH1 the reality shows tend to have a much more racially diverse crowd. I just believe that the people who watch MTV or VH1 are younger and more acceptable of other cultures than the people who watch ABC. I don’t believe that the executives at ABC would have the main character of The Bachelor be a minority and include a minority cast because they wouldn’t think that as many people would watch it, or else they would have already done it.
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theglory Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 2:11 am
I completely agree with everything that you said. I feel that time is the only thing holding back minorities. As our younger generation grows older, the television stations we watch will change. The high viewership for programs with minorities on VH1 and MTV like Flavor of Love and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila will give the big four networks the confidence to show programs with more minorities in them. Some networks like ABC and NBC have recently started airing programming with more gay and lesbians characters. For instance Will and Grace and Brothers and Sisters have homosexual characters and are widely popular shows.
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I wasn't upset by this for any racial reason whatsoever. There are unfortunately plenty of these shows to go around for everybody to make themselves look like assholes, although there is something to be said that on the big networks like abc the contestants…wait the idiots are almost entirely white. I must have missed something with the reality tv show thing. I thought that needed some kind of talent or skill to be on tv, like acting or singing, or playing baseball. These shows are awful, all of them, they serve no purpose other than making the people watching them more ridiculous then they already are. And all of you people out there who say that you only watch these shows for fun… stop lying you know you love it. Now Sarah Palin is talking about a reality show, need I say more!
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I'd like to start by saying that I do not think there is an issue here. The purpose of prime time network TV shows is to get viewers so that sponsors will want to pay high prices for commercials. However they choose the contestants and for whatever reason is up to them and I do not se it as racist at all. I don't understand why people are such fools for the media, who cares about this stuff? There are all black television shows also, movies with only black people in them, commercials, advertisements, whatever. You don't hear any white people complaining that they need to be on BET or in the movie Boyz N the Hood. Whatever demographics networks and movie producers are directing towards is up to them, and they aren't doing it because they give a rats ass what you think, they are doing it because they know they can get a certain number of people to tune in. I wonder if there is anyone out there who really doesn't think that is true? After reading through a lot of responses people have been tending to use the phrase that networks only care about "the bottom line." I wonder what the girl who asks this question thinks, because to everyone else it seems pretty obvious.
As to sams question, is it only white people who are willing to embarrass themselves. My answer to you, are you kidding? Have you ever seen flavor of love? Do you know who Al Sharpton is? Have you ever watched a football game and seen Chad Ochocinco or Terrell Owens? Black people are clearly equally as willing to embarrass themselves. In fact, I find it that black people often think it is cool to embarrass themselves, bragging about how poor they are, how crappy of a place they live in, and how much crime they commit. I know black people who are more embarrassed to say that they have money or are smart than they are anything else. Why the hell does anyone think that is cool? Obviously white people are poor, live in crappy places, and commit crime, but how often do you see a white person bragging about how shitty their life is. I realize that this is totally unrelated but it doesn't make any sense to me.
Back on topic. People as sooooo many questions about the media and race, but when are they going to get it. The media is about money. Money. One more time, MONEY. They dont give a hoot what the opinion is as long as it's making money. They don't put black girls on the bachelor unless they are really hot according to their viewer demographic, which finds white women more attractive, which is why there are white women on the show. How crazy of a concept is that? Their goal is to make money, so they do things that make them more money. Wow, gold, right there, just gave you gold.
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Even as a newly found “Bachelor” fan, I have noticed this myself. My first thought was that maybe their pool of applicants are almost entirely white, but that is most likely not the case… and even if it was, I would hope that their casting crew would make an effort to make sure the recruitment of applicants more diverse. Do we think this is any sort of reflection on the audience who watches this show? Even so, I would hope that they would still try and make the show more diverse so they can have more viewers. Maybe someday the Bachelor will learn.
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The Bachelor is a great show, I have been watching it for years now and I was really involved in this past season. I can honestly say that I’ve never noticed the lack of people of color in this show, but now that I look back on it, there weren’t many at all.
I’m pretty sure there is a questionnaire that is to be filed out by the contestant before the cast is chosen before the show starts, maybe on of the questions is about race and it just so happened that one of the contestants wants someone of the same color and it just trickled on down the line.
That’s the only explanation I have for the lack of people of color on this show.
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I was talking about this with a friend of mine the other day and it is funny that it came up on this blog. So my first response is that we have a lot of crazy ass white people in this world. I don't think show producers are discriminating against other races, I just believe that only white people are dumb and desperate enough to actually do this type of stuff. Yes I know there are exceptions to every show, but like we see, the majority of people are white. With a show like the bachelor it could also be that the actual bachelor himself may not prefer to date someone of another race. If that isn't what he wants, then maybe that is why they don't put any one else on the show. Although I feel as a hispanic woman, that we more often appear on things like this than black woman because we in a way look kinda white. However, there are plenty of other shows on tv where black woman, hispanic woman, and white woman all come together. For example, a show that I just recently finished watching was for the love of Ray J. He is a black man and he had white woman, black woman, and hispanic woman on that show. Although I'm 99% sure they were all golddiggers, it goes to show that ethnic people do go out on shows like that. Along with other shows like Flavor of Love that was on, A Shot at love with Tila Tequila, and all those shows on VH1. Those are majority ethnic shows. And also on BET, which is obviously an ethnic station because it stands for Black Entertainment Television. Another point that I want to bring up is Girls Gone Wild. How many ethnic woman do you see going on camera and flashing there stuff and pretty much being a dirty whore? I have yet to see one. Wanna know why? Lots of trifflin ass white people out there. I was joking with a friend and we said it is because we would want to get paid to do that kind of stuff. We don't just go around getting wasted and start flashing ourselves for the camera. Somebody has to pay up. I believe someday we might not have silly shows like the bachelor, because so far I have yet to see one of those relationships work out. On another side note, on shows like The Apprentice with Donald Trump, you did see a wide variety of ethnicities. That was definitely a nice thing to see. The minorities fighting for what they know could be theirs. I believe one day we will see more diverse tv shows, but until then we have to deal with what we have. And what we have is a lot of white people reality tv shows. It's always entertaining and gives you a good laugh!
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I would have never noticed that most of the bachelors and bachelorettes have been predominately white. I mean, I would have probably watched the show more if there was an Indian guy representing my culture, but I know that’s so beyond what would ever happen. I think it brings up a good question and leaves me pondering why. It’s very true that abc is supposed to represent the American people which is so multicultural, yet so many of the contestants have been white. I really think they just choose the people that are fairly good looking and I would hope that’s its coincidental that they are white.
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Two of my roommates watch this show every week so I occasionally see a little bit of the episodes but I have actually never noticed all of the white people in the show. It actually makes me laugh now that I think about it because it really is all white people, which doesn’t seem right to not give the Bachelor or Bachelorette a chance to like or fall in love with another race. This makes me wonder how many people of other races watch this show, does it change their mind of watching it because it is all white contestants and the star is also white. There are other shows similar to this that involves finding someone you love but they are on different networks. The one that I watched was a shot at love but the star was not white so I wonder if this changes how they choose the contestants. I even wonder how they choose the contestants and what makes them choose mainly white ones. It seems weird that age doesn’t matter at all because there are people on the show that are probably around 10 years differently and if age doesn’t matter then why should race. I am not trying to say that they purposely choose all people to be on the shoe but I really wonder why they do and if they even have noticed, which I am sure they have.
I am not sure if it is just ABC that does it or if it is because the bachelor or bachelorette is always white. I would like to see if the bachelor or bachelorette was of a different if the contestants would also be of a different race. I know that a shot of love is on MTV and I wonder how much of a different that made because different audiences watch both networks. MTV is definitely more of a younger audience, which is more diverse these days and also more open to race and different ethnicities. Another similar show is on VH1, which is very similar to MTV, I Love New York and the cast has always been very diverse. Even though New York is black she does not just have black men and she has other races for her to fall in love with. These other shows should prove to ABC that they need to put other races on their show because I think it would make a difference. I would even like to see what changes they would do if they put the bachelor or bachelorette of a different race. It would be very interesting if they would then put different race contestants or if they would just do ones of their own race.
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The reason I think that they have white people still as dominating is because maybe of traditional ways and maybe they don’t want to have mixed races on it. I think that this is a way of discrimination towards race. I don’t think that they should just always choose white people we should make it with every kind of race to show that we are all equal. I think that we also think that a white male that is good looking is what everyone sees to be great but a black male is just as great. I think that they should have people of different races on the bachelor.
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It's actually funny that you asked that question. I've never watched the show whatsoever but while with my aunt and cousins, who were watching the show, I actually asked that question. Before writing this post I asked one of my friends who watches the show the same question. I was told that the guy screens the girls and narrows down his choices to the ones we see on the show. In that case, this has nothing to do with station but has to do more the the contestants preferences. But I can't be positive that she was right. While watching the episode with my family there were twenty or so contestants left and I'm pretty sure all of them were white, maybe one was black I'm not sure. It was The Bachlorette, but still the same characteristics transfer. Sometimes these shows seem to have a few minority contestants featured, but they usually never make it passed the first round or so. Are they there to fill a quota? Probably not, but we probably will never actually know. I feel like ABC is not a very racially diverse station. Just thinking about it, most of their shows feature mostly, if not all white casts, all of their "contest" shows feature white judges, and that carries through to the contestants. Compared to other stations and shows this is vastly different. Fox for instance, broadcasts shows based around black families and their most popular show, American Idol, features a black judge. I think this says something about the station more than our culture. ABC was one of the first stations on the air and it seems to me that they are what some might say "old fashioned." Someone else had commented that they think the station is also playing into demographics. I also think that is true. If I had to guess I would estimate that 75% of the show's viewers are middle to upper class white females, possibly even a higher percentage. In that case, casting an all white contestant group and judge panel would probably be the most effective strategy for them, no matter how it is portrayed. This isn't an excuse for the show's and the stations lack of diversity but it also certainly does not mean that ABC is staffed with racists who refuse to place minorities in their shows. I think it's mostly the demographics for the viewership of the shows they produce and air. There obviously are other shows on television similar to The Bachelor or The Bachelorette that feature black contestants and main characters. Overall, I do not think that ABC is a fundamentally racist station but they probably have some work to with their viewers. Otherwise, we would not be discussing these scenarios.
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I found this student’s video to be very intriguing. Before I watched the video, I never thought about the subject of the video. I never took time to note that most of the Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants are predominantly white. After I thought some more about the topic, I realized that singer Ray J, who is Black, has his own show where he is looking for a lifelong partner. On this show, Ray J’s contestants are predominately Black. The bachelors on these reality shows more than likely have a say in the contestants and potential partners for themselves. It is all about who he or she is attracted to. Although it may not be politically correct, I personally am not attracted to people outside of my race. This probably applies for the men and women starring in the silly reality show as well.
Does this attraction happen due to subconscious racism? Or maybe past racism that made it socially unacceptable for interracial couples? I think that it is a combination of both of these questions: a subconscious that it is socially unacceptable. For years it was looked down upon for a white and black person to be dating or married. Due to this, over the years people have been dating within their own race, therefore giving individuals a “type.” If racism never existed I truly believe that these reality dating shows would be a mixture of races and no one would have a problem with it.
The Bachelor and Bachelorette are reality shows on abc. This station has been around for years and has been broadcasting through racism years. The station as a whole as predominately white shows and even news anchors. The Black singer Ray J’s reality dating show is not aired on one of the “big” networks such as abc, nbc, and cbs. This particular show is aired on vh1, which has more so called “multicultural” shows on the station. It has more of a variety of shows and a more diverse audience. Younger viewers watch shows on vh1 and as people get younger; the more varied their tastes become because they are not surrounded by evidence of racism.
The question of “Are whites the only people willing to humiliate themselves?” seems inaccurate since the reality shows on other stations such as vh1 and mtv have people of other races on the shows where the contestants make fools of themselves. All of these shows are ridiculous and more than likely more scripted than actual reality. People of all races and backgrounds crave attention and the spot light of his or her five minutes of fame. Just because abc airs a show with all white contestants does not mean that only whites are willing to humiliate themselves, it just means that abc chooses to humiliate whites on its television station.
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I don't really think that only white people are willing to embarrass themselves like the question is stated, but I do think that television is segregated. Black people have their own exclusive shows that make them look crazy like I love New York, and Flava of Love, but they are populated almost entirely by black people. So it's not a matter of black people not being represented, but it is an issue of them being represented separately from white people. They still probably are unequally represented, and I know that they are unequally represented on television as a whole, but an important aspect that is not discussed here is that there are black shows and there are white shows. Very rarely do television shows target both, and this shows that there is a major discrepancy between popular black and white cultures that needs to be addressed.
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I think it is very interesting that you point out the common skin color of all the participants, and it is definitely something to be noticed. From there, I think that the population of the participants is directly related to the shows demographic in relation to the popularity. I believe that when they make the selection process for the shows, they consider the viewing audience and who is interested in watching the shows, and make a selection from there. I feel that these shows have a predominantly white audience, and I feel that they producers think that they will receive the largest audience with a white population.
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This blog question was rather surprising. Honestly, I would have never even noticed if a show was particularly diverse or not. I also would not have thought to have asked this as a blog posting. Seeing as I have never noticed the level of diversity in any of the shows I watch or hear about, I was quite surprised to see that this was completely true. Why that happens? Who knows. I do not think that it is intentional and on purpose. I guess it could be, with the producers thinking that a diverse cast will turn viewers away. But seriously, who turns on a dating show and sees a black or asian contestant and thinks to themself, "Wow, there is no way I can watch this show with an asian girl on it." It just does not happen. And if it does, seriously, stop taking shows so seriously. Why does it matter what color someone is on a tv show, and with that, why does it matter at all. Love is blind and it is stupid to think that they should not include racial diversity on the show. To be perfectly honest, if they casted people of all different colors, I personally think that they would get more viewers. We are starting to go into a time where it really does not matter anymore. The old way of thinking is being lost with every generation and people are becoming more and more accepting. I never thought of ABC being particularly non diverse until right now. Thinking back, MTV is extremely diverse and I really like it about their shows. They have every color of people, gays, lesbians, it lets you see the real people and most of the time it breaks the stereotype which is important for hard headed people to see. If you are really that against seeing someone on tv that looks different than you, seriously just turn it off. You are not forced to watch anything so stop complaining if there is a black girl on a show. The only thing about this post that I did not understand is the title, Are whites the only people willing to humiliate themselves? This kind of confused me when I read that. I have never seen the show so I am not sure how they act. Are they obnoxious? I guess on MTV they act pretty crazy so I will just compare it to that. I feel like if the show was more diverse, there would be no different attitudes and behaviors between girls of different races. It is the show that makes people act as they are, not the race of the people that causes them to act crazy.
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This is actually a good question and feel that no one in the Television Entertainment business would be willing to give a straight forward answer. I feel as though that the media is definitely bias to the white race. Not trying to sound like an activist but it just is. Especially on larger networks such as ABC. I never personally watched "The Bachelor" but as stated in the video all of the contestants are white (also seen in the photographs above). So to counter-argue the person above's statement shows like "Flavor of Love" may have majority minority contestants however there are vastly more white contestants on those shows than shows like "The Bachelor". And like I said before I think it has a lot to do with the networks decision. Take this into perspective. VH1 is a network that airs many reality dating shows such as "Flavor of Love" and "I Love New York" however they are a lot smaller network that is more so catered to youthful people. In current day, the youth tends to be the most liberal and least likely to show prejudice or discrimination. There are more biracial couples now than ever before. So if I was an executive at VH1 I would definitely include more biracial couple dating to cater to the minds of the vast majority of my viewers. I want keep my network as prosperous as possible. Where if I am ABC I have a little more room to air what "I" want to see. I'm pretty sure that ABC has wider range of viewers than VH1 thus they wouldn't lose as much fan support, if any, if they aired a show will all white contestants. The fact that they have older viewers means that they will probably get more viewers that feel one should date inside their own race. Being that ABC has been around a lot longer than VH1 also probably expect to see more white people on the network because that's who has been on there for several years. So in conclusion, I do feel that certain shows are catered to certain age groups and races. Pretty much all of them are. I mean aren't most cartoons catered to children? Isn't QVC network catered to shopping fanatics? It''s safe to assume that ABC caters to certain viewers as well. Television is a business, so whatever sells, airs. Personally, I am not offended nor do I feel like protesting. As a minority I understand that it is a business even though I would like to see more minorities. For that reason, I am prone to watch VH1 reality TV than ABC reality TV. So it is a completely understandable business ploy, not saying I'm in full support of it.
BTW Reality TV sucks
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I have to agree with the first poster and say that I too laughed when I first read this blog topic. I never have really noticed that most of the participants in this show are white. I didn’t really put too much into and just saw the commercials and thought none of it. After I looked at it in this “light” I realize that most networks really do only have white people as the main characters in shows life this. I don’t know if it is a race issue or not, but it is definitely something to take notice of.
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