Fans of The Bachelorette Are Mad About That Strip Dodgeball Date

UPDATE: October 27, 2020—Clare Crawley has chimed in on the controversial strip dodgeball date from her season. When a Twitter user wrote to the current Bachelorette, “It’s awful you had the guys take off their clothes if The bachelor asked the women do the same things all heck would break loose. You were wrong. Juan Pablo should have had you strip,” she replied with this photo from Juan Pablo’s season in which his contestants did a topless photo shoot. It all but proves both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have a history of sexualizing their contestants. 

Someone pointed this fact out on Twitter too, which Crawley then “liked.” “Hmmmm it’s almost like making contestants take their clothes off is a really tired production trick and wasn’t your idea at all,” reads the tweet. And that’s that on that!


ORIGINAL STORY: 

This season of The Bachelorette was brewing with controversy before it even aired. Between the production shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and the rumor that Clare Crawley was going to be replaced at some point by Tayshia Adams, this might actually be the most dramatic one yet. 

Last night’s episode brought another moment that has Bachelor Nation talking on social media, and not necessarily for a good reason. Crawley took a set of suitors on a group date that involved playing dodgeball. Sounds harmless enough, right? But this game had a twist—it was strip dodgeball. 

Fans were quick to point out that, had the roles been reversed, with women stripping down for a Bachelor, there would have been an outcry. “My friends are forcing me to watch The Bachelorette. During one part, the guys were forced to strip off playing strip dodgeball,” one fan tweeted. “Could you even imagine if female contestants were forced to take their clothes off and run around? Like. The feminist screaming would never end.” Another wrote, “This dodgeball would not fly on The Bachelor; therefore, it should not fly on The Bachelorette. I do not like.”

Others criticized Crawley directly, especially after she said, “This is my game; these are my rules.”

“Imagine the outrage if Juan Pablo asked the girls to do strip dodgeball...and said, ‘Sorry girls: My game, my rules.’ Why does Clare get a pass? This is cringeworthy TV,” one person tweeted. 

Reality Steve believes the blame lies elsewhere, however. “Any1 who is bitching about Clare & this date & choosing to ‘make’ them strip, I hope were also just as loud when Peter ‘made’ the women lingerie pillow fight each other,” he tweeted. “This date is ridiculous, they absolutely have a double standard, but it’s NOT on the lead. Blame the show.”

So what do we think next week’s controversy will be? 

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Originally Appeared on Glamour