This week, Channel 10 introduced us to our 2016 Bachelorette. And I’m so freakin’ happy with their choice.
Yes, partly because our new Bachelorette has the most fitting surname in Bach history (Georgia Love… I mean come on) but mostly for another reason. A bigger reason. An unusually important reason for a show where one woman dates a dozen men at once. I’m overwhelmingly proud because – for the first time in the show’s history – I’m going to know what the Bachelorette’s job is.
For those who haven’t poured over every celeb story in the last 48 hours, let me give you an overview. Georgia Love is a 27-year-old television journo with an impressive CV. An incredibly impressive CV. Born in Melbourne, our new Bachelorette has a prestigious journalism degree from RMIT University under her belt. She’s anchored for WIN News in Tasmania. She’s intelligent and gutsy and a total lady boss… which is a big first for the TV franchise. Why, you ask?
Because I know Tim Robards was a chiropractor.
I know Blake Garvey was a suit-wearing real estate agent (also a suit-wearing douchebag… but that’s irrelevant).
I know Sam Woods was successful fitness entrepreneur.
And I know Richie Strahan is a rope access technician.
But I have no freaking idea what Sam Frost’s occupation was when she was Bachelorette. Apparently, that didn’t matter, because it never got a mention.
Come to think of it... I don't know what any of the US Bachelorettes did for work, either. And who knows? Maybe they all had great CVs when they were signed up for the gig. They might be incredibly intelligent and hardworking women, but we wouldn't know. We were never told about any of that... because? "SHINY HAIR AND BROKEN HEARTS ARE ALL THAT MATTER" the Bachelorette producers have always told us - but that's complete crap.
Georgia Love is the antidote this series needed, because she breaks its mould.
You know the mould I'm talking about. The one that tells us bachelors are all super serious business men who bring home a heap of bacon - that they are BIG MAN PROVIDERS who make it raaaaaiiiiin. The bachelor mould always features a ripped six-pack, and the distinct outline of a Beemer and an oceanside penthouse in the distance.
Whereas the Bachelorette mould? It says women are desirable purely because A) they made the top three from the last season of The Bachelor, B) say I'm "ready to settle down" a lot and C) are super hot.
And that's all fine. But you know what's even better? Showing that a bachelorette has more to offer. Showing that successful women aren't intimidating, emasculating vultures, and that they actually make for some pretty damn good life partners. Showing that 'focusing on yourself' means the exact same thing for a woman, as it does for a man.
Watch Georgia's first promo as the Bachelorette below and JUST TELL ME you're not impressed by her (post continues...)
To be clear, I love Sam Frost. She's great. She was charismatic and hilarious and incredibly likeable on the show, but I so wish they told us more about her life than just "BLAKE SUX AND WE DON'T LIKE HIM".
I guess that's why I was so excited to read Georgia say in The Daily Telegraph that she has “always put (her) career first", because she sounds exactly like me, the 22-year-old who's drinking soup from a mug whilst writing this, who is keen to excel in her career and make something of herself. And yeah, I'll admit it, as much as I love my boyfriend, my friends and my family, at the moment I'm going to put my career first.
As a young woman who is career-focused and passionate about what I do, I'm stoked to see Georgia Love be our next Bach Lady. And I can't wait to see her dating twelve very eligible, very desirable (and often very shirtless) men.
So to the Channel 10 producers: Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.
Click through to see the very best from Sam Frost's Instagram page.
Are you happy with the choice for this year's Bachelorette?
Top Comments
Did Sam Frost actually have a job when she did The Bachelorette? I thought she'd already quit her marketing job at that stage and then got the radio gig after The Bachelorette finished up. Wasn't she just a vague "media personality" in between? I would assume that would have far more to do with why they didn't mention her job on the show than any sort of anti-feminist thing. After all, the jobs of the girls on The Bachelor have always been revealed and they've freely shared what Georgie does for a living (though it would be harder to hide it, with a job in the public eye).
I think you can criticise a lot of things about this show from a feminist perspective but I don't think this is one of them.
Pretty upset the comment I made last night didn't make it to the wall. Moderated out. Was it because I could list the occupations of most of the Bachelorettes in the US because they frequently talked about them through the series? Andi Dorfmann was a lawyer and they made a huge deal about it. The first bachelorette Trista Rehn a physical therapist. Jojo the current bachelorette is in real estate. Desiree Hartstock sold wedding dresses before she found her love... My point is they do mention their jobs, which makes me think maybe the journo doesn't actually watch the show. Or listen