Whether you love her or hate her, you can’t stop hearing about Kaitlyn Bristowe. This year’s leading lady on ABC’s The Bachelorette has been one of the most talked about ever, mostly because this season brought in Nick Viall, a contestant from Andi’s season with whom Kaitlyn had some sort of undefined relationship before the show starting shooting, and was open about sleeping with him on a date.
Last night’s episode was a favorite of every season of The Bachelorette: “Men Tell All.” The takeaway moment of the night came when host Chris Harrison alluded to when Kaitlyn and Nick had sex in Ireland. Kaitlyn said she received hostile messages from viewers after it aired, including death threats. Chris read some of the mean tweets, which mostly centered around calling her a whore.
“Spreading hate the way people have been is not okay,” Kaitlyn said. “The hardest part for me is that it affects my family.”
Do I approve of Kaitlyn’s actions? Well, the true answer is…who cares what I think? It’s isn’t how I would have acted given the circumstances (that I was dating other guys and this would all air on national television…), but if that’s how Kaitlyn wants to go about finding her husband, then go for it. At least she owns it.
The issue with this whole cyber-bullying segment is that Kaitlyn is on the most popular television show of the summer, and she acts surprised that she gets so much hate. There’s no doubt that bullying is an issue, but there’s a difference between tweeting about a television star and middle schoolers picking at another’s insecurities. As a celebrity, even a reality show star that we’ll all forget about by this time next year, people are going to talk about her negatively. Ask Jimmy Kimmel – he made a whole segment about it.
Do the Internet trolls who feel the need to call a woman they don’t even know names on social media need to find a hobby? Of course. I worry for them, and no one deserves to feel unsafe. But if Kaitlyn plans on staying in the spotlight, she might need to get used to not always being adored. There are always going to be a few haters. She seems to have earned the respect of most viewers, has a supportive family, and all the guys on the show seemed to admire her (even after she broke their hearts).
As for ABC, they probably loved all the slut-shaming attention Kaitlyn was getting because of one reason: it brought in ratings. That’s their main goal, and if a woman’s feelings get a little hurt in the process, so be it. They’re going to capitalize on it, as they proved by bringing it up on “Men Tell All.”
Let’s just be grateful this season is almost over.
[Lead image via]
