“Love Is Blind” embraces the manosphere

when Netflix dropped the first season of Love is blind In February 2020, she showed off a reprieve from the abs that usually seem like a prerequisite for reality TV shows.

The premise – that couples get engaged “invisible” after talking to each other through pods and then, after a big reveal, decide whether they want to get married – came off with just the right amount of chaos. Who can forget Jessica letting her dog drink wine or an insulting Carlton throwing his fiancée’s ring into the pool? Meanwhile, Lauren and Cameron’s candid conversations highlighted the awkwardness that sometimes accompanies interracial dating.

It was a reality show, but it seemed like a format that could allow people to fall in love without getting bogged down in distractions and superficial expectations. maybe.

Now in its tenth season Love is blind is the cornerstone of Netflix’s cinematic reality TV universe. But while each episode brings us distinct women who seriously buy into the series’ original conceit, it’s becoming harder and harder to find any men rooting for them.

With the latest American season featuring Chris Fusco, who willingly compares himself to Andrew Tate and mocks one male cast member for being “submissive,” and Alex Henderson, a Trump-loving crypto brother with an ever-changing backstory, Men Love is blind It appears to have been plucked directly from the atmosphere.

Season after season, the women on the show (and viewers at home) are exposed to men who make superficial and shameful comments, struggle with anger and emotional regulation, and sometimes seem uncomfortable with their partner’s success.

While race still comes up, it is often in a superficial and derogatory way. Contestants find themselves either struggling with the fact that their partner is a person of color, or dealing with unaddressed internalized racism that devalues ​​them while prioritizing whiteness in the partner—a worthwhile topic that deserves more nuance or therapist involvement.

widely, Love is blind It seems to push for conservative ideals — business wives, debunking divorce, big families even when the contestants aren’t thrilled about the idea of ​​having kids.

The kinetic content that is produced Love is blindHe did not respond to a request for comment.

When Ohio’s current season’s 28-year-old Emma Petsinger discusses the scars on her arms — the result of surgeries for birthmarks — with her co-host Steven Sunday, a 32-year-old who works in finance, he quizzes her about how she lost her virginity rather than asking thoughtful questions. Petsinger’s health issues have made her hesitant to have children, but instead of taking her at her word, the men she dates assure her that she will be a great mother.

Then there’s the fast-talking Henderson, 31, who, despite not having a job besides the day trading he claims to do, expects his fiancée, Ashley Carpenter, a 34-year-old claims administrator, to pack up and move to Arizona or Florida, where her potential promotion will take place. Carpenter’s father, the MAGA “patriarch,” barely let his wife speak during a family meeting with Henderson, then described his daughter’s appeal as “die or die.”

While women outperform men in obtaining university degrees, and are working to narrow the wage gap in some cities, some men in Love is blindIt also seems that recent seasons of React poorly to the presence of high-achieving partners.

Last year in Denver, Jordan Keltner couldn’t get past his concerns about his fiancée Megan Wallerius’ wealth, eventually leading to their breakup after he said he was too “tired” to have conversations with her after work or keep up with her rich hobbies. This season, Fusco, a 33-year-old account executive, gives a tour of his fiancée, physician Jessica Barrett’s multi-bedroom Ohio home, and later insults her for not going to Pilates every day. “I don’t care if she’s a neurosurgeon or if she’s a $100 million trust fund,” he says, while complaining about their lack of sexual chemistry before spending a chunk of time trying to convince already-engaged contestant Bree McInnes that she needs a “dominant” man like him.