'The Bachelorette' Faked a Sex Ed Class

I can understand why reaction to Kaitlyn's season of The Bachelorette has been so all over the place — even with just a couple of episodes, it's already broken every rule fans have come to expect from the show. But what I don't understand is why fans are so upset about The Bachelorette 's elementary school sex ed challenge. It's not even the main attraction of the episode, which is all about a sumo wrestling challenge. But somehow, pages of comments are proclaiming this the "worst Bachelorette ever" on the show's official Facebook. "Wow, seems like Kaitlyn's all about this subject!" is the number one comment on the preview for the sex ed group date.

I don't understand why people are so nervous about the idea of Kaitlyn having sex during the season, since, you know, she's supposed to be finding the love of her life. And, most importantly, she doesn't come up with the idea for these challenges — reality producers do. Trust me, I'm sure these special guests have been on speed dial since before the season started casting, but Kaitlyn has seemed happy and eager to jump in with anything. She was willing to do the stand up comedy challenge, putting her sense of humor out there for everyone to judge. Now, she seems to find this sex ed challenge hilarious. (Um, just like it's supposed to be?) But, I think her words from her last scandal still apply here:

It makes sense that she would be this enthusiastic. In order to look for love on TV, you've got to be either borderline delusional, extremely naive, or have a really twisted sense of humor. And Kaitlyn's mix of the three traits is heavily weighted towards the humor, which I, personally, am fine with. The Bachelorette has always had a controversial streak, and I think "sex ed prank" ranks pretty low on the list.

As Kaitlyn explains in the preview, the kids aren't being exploited, because they're actors with canned dialogue. These guys aren't expected to really teach anyone sex ed. And, there's nothing displayed here that goes beyond embarrassing — accidentally saying the word "vagina" twice to sixth graders won't traumatize anyone except the dudes.

Kaitlyn's biggest sin is that she seems so eager to go along with what ABC wants for the season. While a lot of Bachelor and Bachelorette cast members seem too awkward to go after the truly eccentric challenges, Kaitlyn is willing to do anything. And do it with some level of enthusiasm, which might help explain why fans have reacted so negatively to her. But this elementary school prank? Seems pretty harmless. Personally, I'd rather see more of these comedic challenges on group dates rather than the boxing or the sumo wrestling — all these guys have abs, so their competent performances in sporty challenges is just boring. Kaitlyn's an adventurous Bachelorette, so it makes sense that she should have an adventurous season. Everyone else just needs to get on board and stop blaming her for dates she didn't plan.

Images: Rick Rowell/ABC