The 'Golden Bachelorette' Promo Reinforces the Franchise's Commitment to Traditional Family Values

Some viewers, myself included, have been expressing dissatisfaction for years now regarding the prominent promotion of traditional values within The Bachelor franchise. For seasons upon seasons, we’ve been subject to classically attractive (and classically boring) American men and women preaching about how much family and marriage means to them while dating multiple people at a time for a handful of weeks before getting engaged and then breaking up a few months later. Still, the message remains the same: a man and a woman together in matrimony is the highest aspiration and achievement of the American dream.

So here’s my theory: People who agree with that are still the core of their viewership, but to appease the rest of us, they tried to get a little more diverse in their casting. This is why Bachelor in Paradise exists; so the early rejects from the other shows can get their fun and flirty screen time in. Those early rejects are, unfortunately, usually the people of color. It’s less about love and marriage and more about hot people hooking up. Then, when that wasn’t enough, they started casting people of color as the leads of Bachelor and Bachelorette: Rachel Lindsay, Matt James, Tayshia Adams, Michelle Young, Charity Lawson, and now Jenn Trann.

The way they’ve communicated about these moves has not been great, however, and proves that they’re kind of missing the point. And now, with the addition of The Golden Bachelor and Bachelorette, they’re proving that any appearance of diversity in either race or values is a mirage. In the latest promo for the first season of The Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos—a mature, American version of Gisele Bündchen—is seen sitting around the dinner table with her gaggle of adult children and young grandchildren, assuring them she’s going on this “journey” not to replace her late husband, but to make their family “whole again,” because everyone knows a family isn’t a family without a patriarch.

“I’m very picky about a man being a gentleman,” says 61-year-old Vassos. Her ideal partner is “Somebody with a big heart, somebody who is generous, and also somebody who is humble.”

The promo also serves as her official Tradwife audition tape. There’s a scene of her cooking with her mother and mother-in-law: two generations of traditional women fulfilling traditional gender roles. Then her daughter, the third generation, enters with a question: “How do you feel about kissing another guy on TV?” Uh oh, moms can kiss?!

But don’t worry, she knows watching moms kissing is gross, and her intentions are pure: “Oh, jeez. I’m gonna have to get used to that because you don’t want to be with somebody that you don’t like to kiss, so you have to try it out. I’m gonna probably kiss a fair amount of guys on camera. I’m sorry, guys!” she responded. So, consider the Madonna/whore test passed.

With the Golden shows, the Bachelor franchise producers have the space to stretch their legs and kowtow to the most conservative of their viewers. And yet, even Gerry Turner, the originator of the brand, proved that wedded bliss isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when he got divorced from his chosen bride mere months after their televised wedding. There’s a lesson to be learned in there somewhere, but I doubt they’re paying attention.