Settling vs. Settling Down: 2 Ways of Looking at the <em>Bachelorette</em> Finale
This post reveals plot points for the finale of The Bachelorette Season 13.
Women are often told to settle. For just a little less money. A little less respect. A little less space in the world. The tellings aren’t generally meant unkindly—they’re meant more as realistic reflections of the world and what it is—but they tend to accumulate over time, injecting themselves into women’s understandings of themselves and the places they occupy in their careers, in their finances, and perhaps especially in their romantic relationships. American pop culture sells soaring ideas about romance and soulmates and Happilys Ever After. It whispers, all the while: “Settle, though. Just a little.”
Did Rachel Lindsay settle? When she chose her fiancé on Monday, did she, as suggested, compromise her desires? Or did she, instead, take a stand for the validity of those desires?
