How 'The Bachelor' Tilts Reality... A Lot

If you've noticed that The Bachelor doesn't exactly do right by the women competing for Chris Soules, you're not the only one. It's been a rough go of it so far for a lot of Chris's hopefuls. Between Ashley S.'s supposedly "crazy" behavior and Tara and Jordan (among others) being drunk during the first two episodes, this season has been a mess so far. But honestly, I'm not sure I can blame any of these women. From where I sit, it's The Bachelor that makes women look "crazy," not the women themselves.

Just think about it: You're far away from home, you're surrounded by strangers, you really want this guy to fall in love with you, and everyone around you is trying to prevent that from happening. You're probably really nervous, you're out of your element, and you are never alone. Just take a second to think how you, an average woman with feelings and a heart, might feel in this situation. (Let me help you out here: Not good.)

All in all, it's just a bad situation for there to be cameras on you at all times (whether you're a guy on The Bachelorette or a woman on The Bachelor), because you're obviously going to say and do a lot of things that you wouldn't normally do — and some things you might not want to relive months later when the episodes air. But such is the plight of the women of The Bachelor, and I have to hand it to them, because I could never do what they do. There are a lot of reasons the show makes otherwise normal, well-adjusted human beings appear, well, not well-adjusted, and for that, I think they all deserve our support.

They Basically Live In A Giant Pressure Cooker

These women are all trying to win the heart of the same man while living in the same house together. Emotions are running high. There's no escape from the women who might be more likely to cause drama. If they get in a fight, they're forced to face it, whether or not they've been able to clear their head first. Every feeling and every event is totally elevated. Just thinking about it stresses me out.

There Is Way Too Much Alcohol Available

Most of these women probably don't drink as much as they do on the show in their regular lives (and if they do, I'm certainly not judging them); the constant presence of alcohol seems like a lot of encouragement to drink, and to drink often. Plus, when we look at Tara "The sport fishing enthusiast" on limo night, the production was refilling her glass until eliminations, which (spoiler) went into the wee hours of the morning. From the looks of things, the mansion is stocked with practically unlimited quantities of booze and emotional women who might be more tempted to drink because of all the stress they're under. This is obviously a recipe for disaster for anyone, regardless of mental state or gender.

They're Constantly Put In Unrealistic Situations

Nothing that happens on The Bachelor happens in the real world. When you go on a date, even a one-on-one, cameras don't follow you around. Group dates where you're competing for the affection of the guy you're with? Totally not a thing, unless you are really dating the wrong guy. I have never seen anyone race down the street on tractors while wearing bikinis. It just doesn't happen. So if we aren't going to see these women in their homes, doing their jobs, and interacting with their friends and families, it's reasonable to assume we aren't seeing how they'd behave under normal circumstances and thus have no right to judge their TV personalities and quirks.

And They Don't Get Breaks

It's not bad enough that they have to compete for dates with Chris, but when they get home, they're faced with over two dozen women who are frustrated that they weren't afforded the same opportunity that week. You don't get to chill out with your dog and watch TV at night. You don't get to take a day off from the cameras, refuse to shower, and watch Netflix all day. There's no such thing as recharging in The Bachelor mansion. And personally, if I didn't get at least one day a week to sleep in and ignore my responsibilities before being interviewed on camera, I'd appear absolutely insane.

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