Before we publish texts on the subject of masculinity and perpetration in about two months' time, we want to try inserting a text that deals with a current topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The past few weeks, RTL graced us with the latest season of The Bachelorette, that glitzy cesspool of reality TV. The concept? Simple: one Bachelorette (this time Stella) plays queen bee, with a swarm of suitors buzzing around, hoping for a rose. The twist? For the first time, the Bachelorette was bisexual, meaning both men and women got to embarrass themselves in equal measure. Each week, Stella thinned the herd, sending contestants packing until she reached the final two.
Let\u2019s get one thing straight: the show\u2019s issues go way beyond its tired, predictable format. The list of offenses reads like a bingo card of trash TV tropes: reductive, borderline offensive portrayals of bisexuality? Check. Erasure of genderqueer identities? Yep. Hypersexualized shots of women? Absolutely. Exotic colonial vibes from the \u201cstunning\u201d filming location? You bet. And don\u2019t even get me started on the manipulative edits, the shameless consumerism, or the relentless, in-your-face product placements. It's a glittery dumpster fire.
But let\u2019s zero in on the men, shall we? This season\u2019s genius casting decision to mix real queer women with straight men put the spotlight on something most of us in FLINTA* communities already know: straight men in competitive spaces are not just absurd\u2014they\u2019re dangerous. If you thought this was going to be some fair and balanced critique, let me stop you right here. What follows is a snarky, rage-fueled takedown of two dudes who perfectly represent the exhausting, infuriating masculinities I\u2019ve encountered far too often IRL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s meet the clowns: Martin and Ferry, who somehow stumbled their way into the final four before Stella finally sent them packing. Martin is your classic macho gym bro caricature\u2014broad shoulders, a sunburn that makes him look like undercooked meat, and a personality as deep as a puddle. His favorite hobby? Telling anyone who\u2019ll listen about his 6 a.m. workouts. Ferry, on the other hand, is an aspiring rapper with a tragic backstory. He started the season \u201cchilling\u201d with the women until they realized they couldn\u2019t stand him, at which point he latched onto Martin like a lost puppy, desperate to impress him. Together, these two bros managed to embody every red flag in the book.
Martin, the self-appointed alpha made it to the semifinals but quickly became notorious among reaction YouTubers for his macho behavior. He orchestrated a confrontation, rallying four dudes and one woman to publicly humiliate another contestant for the crime of *checks notes* crying. Then, in a move so predictable it\u2019s practically a rom-com trope, he ignored Stella\u2019s clear \u201cno\u201d and physically forced intimacy in a pool as a pathetic attempt to mark his territory in front of the others, as if Stella was some kind of prize he needed to win. The feminist alarm bells were deafening.
And then there\u2019s Ferry, who somehow managed to skate by on his remorseful tragic boy schtick. Honestly, I\u2019ll never understand the sympathy he got from Stella or the audience. Like Martin, Ferry had zero tolerance for even a whiff of losing control. But instead of playing the macho card, he\u2019d pout, lash out, or lean on his angsty rapper vibes.
He wasn\u2019t above threatening violence, though he always hid behind irony or \u201cart\u201d. Case in point: in the finale, he casually sang about smashing Stella\u2019s glasses. Adorable, right? He also conspired with Martin to gang up on a woman, possibly overwhelmed by jealousy of her ability to express emotions, then got applause for \u201capologizing\u201dfor calling her a \u201cwhore.\u201d Honestly, the bar is subterranean at this point. But here\u2019s the kicker: it worked. Ferry\u2019s authentic remorse for the completely wrong things, his crocodile tears and \u201cvulnerable bad boy\u201d act made him not only Stella\u2019s fleeting favorite but also a hit with viewers. Never mind that his best-buddy bromance with Martin should\u2019ve been a glaring red flag. Pro tip: you can tell a lot about a guy by the friends he keeps. And yet, people lapped it up like thirsty dogs.\nLet\u2019s not forget Ferry\u2019s podcast, where he casually explains his hole deal being a \u201ctrue fucking sexist\u201d that no one will call out because he \u201cknows how not to sound like one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I don\u2019t know how much of the show was real and how much was courtesy of RTL\u2019s editors, nor do I care. What I do care about is this: both Martin and Ferry put on masterclasses in abusive, violent behavior, and their misogyny was on full display for anyone willing to see it. Let\u2019s not pretend these issues were limited to these two, either. Every male contestant reeked of entitlement and misogynie, even if they didn\u2019t have enough (screen) time to show their full hand like Martin or Ferry. At least in this show we don\u2019t need to discuss for long to make clear: yes, all men.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bevor wir in ungef\u00e4hr zwei Monaten Texte zum Thema M\u00e4nnlichkeit und T\u00e4terschaft f\u00fcr euch haben, wollen wir mal ausprobieren, einen Text einzuschieben, der sich mit einem aktuellen Thema besch\u00e4ftigt. Die letzten Wochen lief im RTL die neue Staffel der Reality-Dating-Show Bachelorette. Das Format der Sendung ist im Prinzip sehr einfach: Im Zentrum steht eine Bachelorette […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[202],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sonstiges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":914,"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kritischer-kalender.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}