You wouldn’t think it, but it does actually cost money to be on The Bachelor. If you read Dan Ketchum’s article from Go Banking Rates you’ll find out that there are various ways that the women that go on this show manage to pay for their wardrobe, which is the biggest cost out of anything apparently. The show actually pays for a couple of dresses per woman, but apart from that they have to find their own funding for the rest of the season when it comes to their clothing. To be honest this makes sense considering that if the show did have to select a wardrobe or take suggestions from the women that are picked for the show they might be underwater after the wardrobe budget was torn to pieces simply because someone didn’t want to be thrifty. But thinking about how much a woman might need to front for her own clothing is still kind a mind-boggling idea since some of them put up thousands for new clothing that is going to be deemed worthy enough to be featured on the show.
As Julia Glum from Money goes on to add however the glittery and impressive gowns are only the beginning since while the dresses do tend to be rather impressive they’re not the whole wardrobe, otherwise the show would be a great deal shorter. There’s also casual wear to be considered, beauty products, and anything and everything that the women want to use to make themselves more appealing and therefore more visually enticing to the man they’re trying to win over. It does stand to reason that you could say the ‘pay to play’ model is what the show has been following since it was first brought to the public, and this only reinforces that since what we see on TV does look like a lively game of chase the single man, which might be a better title for the show since in truth that’s really what these women are doing. But don’t tell that to folks like Seija Rankin from E!News since you might find yourself in an argument over the cost of the materials and clothing that cost so much more than the products and clothing used by their male counterparts. It’s true that women do use a lot more products to make themselves seem more appealing and they do spend more on clothing, but when you look at the difference between the average male and the average female when it comes to conforming to what society wants to see it’s easy to see a very big discrepancy. The fun thing to note is that it’s the choice of the women to participate and therefore spend this kind of money.
I can only imagine the arguments that might follow from speaking these words in an open forum, but to be honest the premise of the show is still something that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Women come on this show to find love, they compete with other women and in some ways they seek to tear each other down at times in order to get what they want. It’s a mad dash to see who can use their wiles the best and who can make themselves more convincing as temptresses in order to get the bachelor’s attention so that he might choose them in the end. The fact that this show is so popular isn’t hard to figure because quite honestly people love reality TV and likely will until it finally finds a way to truly insult their intelligence in a manner that is deemed unforgivable. Until that moment happens though it’s going to be seen as okay and even favorable for women to go on TV and find love with a camera in their face and the entire nation looking on as they attempt to use every trick in their personal arsenal to get their way.
How scripted this show is sometimes debatable since it’s there for entertainment and isn’t always taken so seriously. But this issue of cost is something that seems like it might be another sticking point with some people, women in particular, who like to announce to the world that women are somehow ‘discriminated’ against by being made to pay for their own clothing. The whole idea of coming on the show is that they will be given a chance to strut about, play up their own talents and skills to ‘find love’ in order to entertain and possibly win the prize at the end. Asking the women to pay for their dresses, casual wear, and other needed materials is something that should possibly be expected. It’s fairly obvious that some folks would argue that this isn’t a practice that seems fair, but then again, it doesn’t seem all that fair to say that these women are there for more than their chance at fame. Guess what, fame comes with a price tag.
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