Tractor Racing: Gender Analysis

The Bachelor: a television series depicting the trials and tribulations of a man trying to find a suitable wife. While some may think of this show as nothing more than trashy reality television, it is actually a manipulative game show advancing the idea of a patriarchal society. For this analysis I look specifically at the episode “Tractor Racing” from the series’ 19th season. The episode “Tractor Race” advances patriarchal ideology by objectifying female bodies by way of parading the female body as a spectacle, portraying the women as compliant or desiring to be objectified, and depicting men as hegemonic over women. If you are unfamiliar with The Bachelor, it is essentially a game show where 30 women battle each other in order to win the

However, women are, for the most part, no longer being depicted as “passive sex objects” (Gill, 2009). Rather, women are now being presented as “active, desiring sexual subjects who participate enthusiastically in forms of self-presentation” (Gill, 2009). The article “Supersexualize Me!” discusses this shift from the media portrayal of women as subordinate, to what is prominent now in our post-feminist society, women being portrayed as consenting or even desiring to be objectified and critiqued solely based on their physical appearance in order to please themselves, rather than their male counter-parts. This implication can be can be understood in “Tractor Racing,” as well. When the women were in their bikinis riding the tractors, the clip gave the impression that the women were enjoying participating in this activity and displaying themselves for Chris. The bright colors shown from the sun high over downtown Los Angeles intermixed with the playful background instrumentation implies to the viewer that the women are enjoying themselves, and participating on free-will rather than the contractual obligations of the

Hegemony is “the power or dominance that one social group holds over others” (Lull, 1995). In this case, the man is seen as more powerful, dominant, and decisive in comparison to the women. While The Bachelor is essentially about two people finding love in a mutual and reciprocal relationship, the series contains strong implications about the dominance of men. The entire series involves Chris making every decision about each relationship. He decides what dates they go on, what women he wants to spend time with and how much time they spend together, and ultimately, what relationships continue or not. The women merely compete in superficial challenges like the tractor race date in order to try and win Chris’s affection. The hegemony Chris hold over the women is implied in subtle ways through the episode, as well. For example, the camera angle typically points up when looking at Chris and points down when looking at the women, inferring a sense of superiority and dominance over the women. These implications were paralleled during the tractor racing group date mentioned earlier, as well. As the women were being paraded half-naked, Chris watched, fully clothed, while lounging on a bench. The tractors used were huge in comparison to the proportionally tiny women atop them. Tractors are traditionally seen as masculine objects, and with Chris coming from a farming