Usually I really enjoy watching The Bachelorette, but this year someone is ruining it. No, not Kaitlyn — the fans. While pretty supportive ordinarily, this season fans think Kaitlyn is the worst Bachelorette and they're incredibly vocal about it. Girl can't so much as hand out a rose without getting totally torn down on every social media platform, and it's taking the fun out of things because calling Kaitlyn the worst Bachelorette is insanely unfair. She is not doing anything that every other Bachelorette and Bachelor hasn't done before her, but for some reason she's getting way more heat for it.
Let's break it down, shall we? Here's what people seem to be pissed about: Mainly that she hooked up with Nick Viall, but also that she's "breaking the rules" of the show and supposedly creating too much of a focus on sex. I can talk until I'm blue in the face about how wrong it is to judge Kaitlyn for having sex, but apparently people aren't listening. So, let's do it again!
As Kaitlyn herself has said, she's an adult, and she's looking for a husband. Intimacy is an important part of that, so she slept with the guy she was dating. The only thing Kaitlyn did that other Bachelorettes didn't do was TALK ABOUT IT. She had the guts to be honest, and to do it outside of the fantasy suites. Plenty of other Bachelor and Bachelorettes have had sex, they just weren't as forthcoming.
As for people pissed that she's "breaking the rules," um, stop. There are no set Bachelorette rules. There are guidelines to help propel the show along, but, ultimately, it's her journey. If she wants to skip the rose ceremony, send someone home early, bring a contestant on late, she's totally allowed to and everyone before her has done the same thing. I'm not quite sure why Kaitlyn is catching flak for doing what Chris Soules, Andi Dorfman, Ali Fedotwosky, Jillian Harris, Sean Lowe, and more have also done.
Finally, she's not making this show all about sex, the producers are. They chose to show her off-camera time with Nick, they chose to give the show an edit full of sex-talk, and they also put together that sex-ed group date. It's true that Kaitlyn is more open, so sex is being talked about, but this season is about plenty of other things too. Like... Ireland, cupcakes, douche-bag guys, and Kaitlyn's general badassery. I love that she doesn't lay down and wait for the rose ceremonies to send jerks packing. She's definitely one of the most take-charge Bachelorettes, but she's not the "worst" one by far. If anyone is the worst, it's this season's slut-shaming, stick-in-the-mud fans. I hope they get their act together soon because they're ruining the season, not Kaitlyn.
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Image: Rick Rowell/ABC
