Why Ladies Love ABC's The Bachelorette

ABC's The Bachelorette is a show about finding love. During tonight's episode, as I watched this season's Bachelorette, Ali Fedotowsky, I asked myself, "What is it about this popular reality show that appeals to women week after week, season after season?" And then the answers came to me.

For Escape

Every episode of The Bachelorette is filled with exciting cities, breathtaking scenery, and romantic encounters. Most of us have predictable lives, so as we watch our Bachelorette's life explode into a whirlwind of incredible experiences, we are whisked away from our humdrum world.

Because of The Spectacular Bachelorette Dates

Those extraordinary dates are a big part of The Bachelorette's appeal! From our sofas, we are taken on a voyeuristic, birds-eye view of her romantic dates with handsome guys, against the backdrop of some of the most beautiful places imaginable. We watched this season's Bachelorette, Ali, on a helicopter ride with Justin and Kasey over a live volcano in Iceland; Season 4's Bachelorette, Deanna Pappas, kayaked in the Bahamas; Jillian took a group date on a train ride across Canada. They are romanced on tropical islands, or dine and dance on the rooftops of high-rise buildings with headlining singers giving them a private performance!

To Watch the Testosterone-Driven Bachelor Antics

Watching The Bachelorette, we ladies are treated to some gorgeous Bachelors on the show, often bare-chested! But, get twenty-five guys staying in the same home, and ask them to compete for one Bachelorette's heart and you'll see them do some funny and crazy things. Like rip off their clothes, drink too much, use bad language, back-flip naked into the pool, threaten each other, and sometimes, act like the backside of a mule in front of a camera.

On the other hand they sometimes surprise us by showing their soft side, when they give up their jacket to her on a cool evening, read her poetry, sing to her, cuddle up with her and even cry! They'll push aside their jealous nature to wait patiently for a few minutes with her, and some will hug her as she leaves for a date with someone else! The Bachelorette shows the girls how competitive every man is, but how a classy guy competes.

To Understand How a Man Thinks about Relationships

Every episode of The Bachelorette provides insight for the single ladies. The guys explain why they are ready for love, their past relationship experiences, what they are looking for in a relationship, what they find attractive in a woman, the kind of connection they seek, the pain they experience seeing her with another guy, and so forth. When have women ever been able to get inside a guy's head like they can while watching The Bachelorette? Whether we realize it or not, we are gaining valuable information!

To Believe in Second Chances at Love

Every Bachelorette previously vied for the heart of an man from ABC's The Bachelor. The first Bachelorette, Trista Rehn, landed runner-up spot in, Alex Michel's heart. Season 2's Meredith Phillips was sent packing by Bob Guiney. Jennifer Schefft became season 3's Bachelorette after her relationship ended with The Season 3 Bachelor, Andrew Firestone. Deanna Pappas was rejected by Brad Womack to became the 4^th Bachelorette, and Jillian Harris was heartbroken by Jason Mesnick, but found love with Ed Swiderski in season 5. These Bachelorettes have confirmed for us that finding love doesn't always work out the first time.

To Learn from another's Bachelorette's Journey

There is no handbook for finding love and often it feels like a never-ending, ever-evolving state of being. Most single girls have fallen in love, experienced a heartache, dumped someone or been dumped. They want to make some sense of it all, and learn from their mistakes, without experiencing too many failures. In The Bachelorette, we get a glimpse into the mind and heart of an intelligent woman, who has a career, family issues and past relationship demons to overcome, which can be insightful. We watch her make mistakes or applaud her intuition, and hopefully learn from the experiences of someone else with whom we have no emotional connection .

Because We Want a Fairy Tale Ending

Single girls believe in love. Sure, we get disillusioned at times and rant a bit after a bad breakup, but we usually dive right back in. And each time we start over, we have that fairy tale ending in mind and hope that the next guy will be The One.

Outside of The Bachelorette show, a girl can't date twenty-five guys at the same time and get away with it. And even though that might seem like every woman's nirvana, most ladies really only want to find one romantic, down-to-earth guy who will love her back, and live happily-ever-after with him.

2010 is the sixth season for The Bachelorette, and so far, only two out of six have resulted in fairy-tale endings. Trista Rehn married Ryan Sutter and they now have two children. And from the latest reports, Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski are still together after that season's final rose.

With these odds, why do we girls watch The Bachelorette? We watch because we want to believe in love, and find that magic ourselves. We identify with that hopeful woman in her search for a lasting relationship, and understand why this Bachelorette is taking the huge step of looking for love on national television. So, we tune in on Monday nights to cheer her on toward finding her fairy tale ending, which gives us hope that we'll also find our own.

Resources:

Wikipedia's "The Bachelorette"