Who Will Emily Maynard Pick: Women Are Addicted to The Bachelorette

Culture

Whoever Emily Maynard picks – Jef or Arie – in this Sunday's The Bachelorette Finale, is irrelevant. 

This show isn't about who gets picked or who doesn't get picked. It is instead only about Emily Maynard – and her power to pick who she wants.

Talk about male sexual objectification. In The Bachelorette, men are treated as props; Ken dolls properly groomed and placed in exotic locations for the amusement of the audiences as well as the main character – an empowered bachelorette who knows what she wants and goes for it.

But when you really think about it, the premise of eager bachelors romancing the Bachelorette in the hopes of being picked ... and then living happily ever after when it's all said and done ... is as disingenuous as The Stepford Wives fantasy – where women, not men, are the chosen ones to fulfill the goal of a perfect marriage. 

That is why the romantic tone of shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette – with candle-lit dinners in the middle of charming Italian towns and intimate confessions on the bench of a beautiful park – is so fake, that it is almost refreshing (like a cheesy soap opera or lame sitcom that, for some reason, one can't get enough of).

Those who think The Bachelorette is popular among women because the female audience loves the drama of finding true love miss the point. Women don't watch the show for the "true love" fantasy. The real reason why women love The Bachelorette is because she has power. Emily Maynard is the one who calls the shots – at least, for as longs as she delivers high ratings.  

That is why it is irrelevant who Emily Maynard picks this Sunday in The Bachelorette Finale. She is already in talks for a spin-off which would show all the wedding preparations as well as the ceremony and beyond. And since the contract, and subsequent paychecks, will be in her name; she’ll be the one calling the shots in the eventual union between her and either Jef or Arie. Let’s just hope the anticipated television nuptial lasts longer than reality television queen Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Brooklyn Nets basketball star Kris Humphries.