The Bachelor

On the 5th of January a new season of the Bachelor started. My friends and I all got together to watch as girls from all over the country arrived at the mansion where the show is shot and began to throw themselves at Jason, the star of this season. It was pretty funny to watch the girls try to win Jason over by either dancing with him, reading him a love poem, or explaining the art of "vision boards." There was a part in the show where a girl named Jillian explains her theory about men and hot dogs that has become a jovial topic of conversation among many of my girl and guy friends. Jillian explains to the other girls that she has specific criteria that a man has to meet as far as his hot dog toppings, before she will considering dating him. She says that if a guy liked ketchup on his hot dog that he's a "mamma's boy," mustard and he is ready to commit and start a family, guys that like onions on their hot dogs are never going to marry, and if a guy likes sauerkraut that he is a jerk or "bad boy" and you should steer clear. So, as a result, my roommates and I have annoyed many guys by jokingly asking them what they like to put on their hot dogs (my boyfriend likes everything on his-not sure what that means). But it was interesting to me when I actually started to think of the idea of judging what kind of man someone is by something so trivial. There are so many "tests" like this for guys and girls and most of them are meant completely as a joke, but some people, like Jillian, follow them religiously. Also, can a guy not be a "mamma's boy" and want to settle down and get married? Is there something wrong with being a "mamma's boy? I just thought that this was funny and brought up some interesting questions about labels and masculinity.