The fans are urging The Bachelor to cast women of different sizes, breaking from the tradition of always casting contestants who are very thin. It's fair to say that the show is trying very hard to evolve with the times. Matt James' season of The Bachelor is being hailed as one of the most diverse casts of all time, at least when it comes to race and ethnicity. And on The Bachelorette, there have now been two Black leads: Rachel Lindsay and Tayshia Adams. It must be noted that the show is actively changing its ways in order to accurately reflect the reality of the American population.
And yet, there's always room to grow, and The Bachelor fans are voicing their concerns on social media. A prevailing pattern that this series has established is that all of the contestants cast on the show are extremely fit. While it is true that certain male contestants didn't have six-pack abs, they were all generally very fit and didn't register as people who were overweight. When it comes to the female contestants, the show has been even less forgiving. For the most part, all of the contestants must look like runway models.
One can argue that television as a whole only gives screentime to people who look fit, and that it is not fair to single out The Bachelor for also making those casting choices. But the Reddit fans are still making their voices heard and expressing that they want women of different sizes to be cast on the show. In the thread, commenters mentioned that seeing so many thin women on The Bachelor gave them "body issues and insecurity." Another Reddit user wrote, "They're all like 00, 2, 4. Which is fine! But how about, I don't know? 6, 8, 10, 12? There are tons of super hot, yes - "attractive" - women that size." Unfortunately, the post also featured some body-shaming comments, which drives the point even further that TV needs to do better when it comes to showcasing beautiful bodies of different sizes.
Hopefully, The Bachelor will welcome women who have different bodies and shapes in future seasons. It does feel a bit exclusionary to not cast contestants who don't look like literal models out of a fashion magazine. The show should ultimately reflect the dating scene in the country, even if it still incorporates elements of a romantic comedy movie.
Television has come a long way, but there's a lot of work ahead. Still, there's hope that big TV shows will be more diverse as the years go by.
The Bachelor season 25 airs Mondays at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC.
Sources: Reddit