The “Bachelor” franchise has firmly established a strong presence in the pop culture landscape, reaching viewers across many demographics. Clearly kids are not immune to its influence either.
On Wednesday, Australian mom and blogger Constance Hall posted a photo of her 7-year-old daughter, Billie-Violet, who asked her if she could watch “The Bachelor.” In the caption, the mom explains why she said no.
Addressing Billie-Violet, Hall writes, “I have had to reside myself and give in to the great competition that is our society. Your little lives are full to the brim with competing against each other, sometimes it’s a miracle that kids leave childhood with any friends at all.”
Hall lists some of the competitions she’s observed between children, from running races to earning class prizes to seeing who’s hair is the longest.
“But do you know what one thing you should NEVER ever compete for is?” she adds. “Love.”
Drawing from her store of mommy wisdom, Hall offers this advice to Billie-Violet:
Because there are no winners and there are no losers with love. In your life you will love a man and he will love someone else, it happens to everyone. But that someone else didn’t win and you didn’t lose. You might meet someone else, you might decide you like women, you might just love being alone. But you will never lose.
And do you want to know the most important reason I won’t let you watch The Bachelor?
Because the day your friends fall in love should bring you SOOOOOO much joy. The absolute funnest part of falling in love is debriefing and dissecting and repeating every single thing that he said to you with...... Your friends, because they WANT to know, they love the fact that you are in love. They don’t sit in a corner at a cocktail party staring at you and bitching about you to other girls who they also hate because they are all COMPETING for love.
Hall acknowledges that she watches “The Bachelor” but notes that it’s because she’s “old enough know that it is fiction” and enjoys “a bit of sh*t fiction” every now and then.
“But your fresh young impressionable brain should be planning how you and every other little sweet girl you know are going to join forces and lead this beautiful world instead of poisoning yourself with sh*t TV,” she concludes.
The mom’s post clearly struck a chord with other parents, as it currently has over 77,000 likes on Facebook. The comments section is filled with responses from fellow parents, sharing their similar reasons for not letting their young children watch “The Bachelor” franchise.
As for Billie-Violet, she’ll have to find something a little more empowering to occupy herself, and we’re confident her mom may be able to help.
For more on “The Bachelor,” listen to HuffPost’s “Here To Make Friends” podcast.
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