It's that time of year again where people are getting ready for the summer, buying floral print and sacrificing any and all plans around 9pm. I have to admit even I have got caught up in Love Island fever, making time in my day to keep up to date on the episodes with iTv Hub. However, the program itself has brought several unsettling issues to light.
Body Diversity
This was obviously going to be one of the topics I would touch on because it is really in the forefront of the media right now. From the natural hair movement to the body positivity movement, diversity is so in the forefront. We are looking at a current media climate where women are showing off their stretch marks, their freckles, their love handles as badges of honour and for Love Island not to capitalise on that, even from a monetary perspective, they really missed a trick. When I watched the first episode, I was painfully aware that, while I did get to know the cast, all of which had different personalities, they shared one thing on common - body type.
Initially I found this rather peculiar as there are not even two people within my friendship groups who have the same physique, indicating that some work must have gone into finding people with similar body types. In a letter written in response here, it stated that participants were chosen based on both mental and physical aspects which makes sense but seems like the sort of thing you'd have to take with a pinch of salt. The producers also have to take in account who will garner the most interest, who already have a large following and will create the best chemistry in the villa. All I ask for is for them to throw us a bone sometimes. Give us a female PT who can bench press more than half the boys but is very feminine, or a male ballet dance who is obsessed with Die Hard movies. The spice of life is what makes things interesting.
From a media standpoint I understand where they're coming from. To attract people to watch the show, you need people who are visually appealing. But in this time of open discussions ad focus on body positivity and mental health, it begs the question whether the media has completely grasped the amount of influence it truly has.
From a media standpoint I understand where they're coming from. To attract people to watch the show, you need people who are visually appealing. But in this time of open discussions ad focus on body positivity and mental health, it begs the question whether the media has completely grasped the amount of influence it truly has.
Racial Diversity
As soon as season 4 aired, Twitter was littered with commentary on the show about this and I was hard pressed to ignore it. As a black woman myself, the series earned a few raised eyebrows from me as I saw more and more of the same look entering the villa. This caused a bit of a ruckus when it came to the discussion of diversity in media as some viewed the representation as satisfactory while others agreed that Love Island needed to do better.
On some terms I understand that the level of representation was technically correct. In data published by the Institute of Race Relations here in 2014, out of the 64.6 million people living in the UK, 56.2 million (or 87.2 percent) were White British. While London is a metropolitan place, with just 45% of the population being White British, the distribution of people of colour is vastly different over the UK. So yes technically Love Island is demographically correct, but that is not the issue.
The issue is colourism in society and in the media and the ramifications it has on self-esteem. This is a constant story that is faced by dark skinned women and men who are overlooked for lighter skin counterparts. Let's not forget how people were saying 'lightskin is their type' but as soon as a dark-skinned person stated a preference in dating someone white, the pitchforks were getting sharpened. Even in research conducted on the influence on race in dating by OKCupid founder here, Black women were found to be the least desirable, so for those who say it's not 'about race', the research says different.It's an unfortunate sentiment but it's only black girls who will see a man of her own race that she's interested in and have to deeply consider whether he even likes black girls.
For me, this isn't just about how many POCs are featured in the show, though it is very important and I would like to take the time to state that people of colour are NOT interchangeable. You cannot have one dark-skinned Black person and think that your job is done when it comes to diversity. To me, it's about the negative reaction that dark-skinned people are facing right in front of our eyes and not having the power to do anything. But saying that, these are the casting directors who in 2017 cast 39 different women to go into the villa, with only 3 of them being mixed raced and how many black? Zero. The first time we have a Black woman on the show is in season 4.
A perfect example of colourism in the show would be the pointless exercise of asking 'What's your type?" when the answer is very clearly going to be, based off of previous examples, exactly the same type as the person before them. 55,000 people applied for the show and the producers couldn't find one guy whose ideal type doesn't fit solely in the category of blonde or brunette. I find it very hard pressed to believe that in all the UK, the producers could not find one person who had a difference in variety when it comes to taste.
We the viewers watch as the sole dark-skinned person is repeatedly disregarded for her friends, while being expected to be gracious about it as it's simply 'not her time'. When she is overlooked again and again by basically every prospective partner in the villa, she is not given the support her male counterpart is given. They are not seen banding together to give her a pep talk, no one offers to style her hair or do her makeup, no one steps back to give her a chance, and when she is seen giving advice to offers to make sure they aren't being taken advantage of, she is reprimanded.
I know for a fact that I am an "light skin" woman who identifies as black and although I know what it feels like to be overlooked in favour of my friends/companions, I have nowhere near the understanding of what its like to be dark skinned in this world. To see someone get upset because they are constantly overlooked is absolutely soul-crushing and my heart genuinely hurt. A little snapshot of what it's like dating as a Black woman can be found here.
In the same way Love Island missed the body diversity boat, they all forgot about the little birdy called colourism and the influence they have on society.
Socially Acceptable Behaviour
Most people who have an interest in psychology would be aware of Philip Zimbardo's Prison experiment, where a team of men were recruited to spend a period of time in a confined space. The catch was that the men were split into two teams, the guards and prisoners, and were required to commit to said roles. Needless to say, the experiment did not end well and is in general cautionary
I can't exactly pass judgement on people I don't know but it is incredibly easy to highlight the double standards of behaviour between the boys and girls. Watching the oodles of support being bestowed on one individual when they have tried but missed all their shots as opposed to the tumbleweeds that were rolling around the villa for the other individual who hadn't even been given a look in. If only I could roll my eyes when I slept.
It takes a special sort of person to act in such a way that Women's Aid has to issue a statement about the way you behave and the similarities in abusive relationships. As I watched a female contestant confront a male contestant about his behaviour, I felt sick to my stomach as I watched him smirk his way through the entire conversation. There is nothing more frustrating than having someone disregard your feelings.
Having watched the show enough, there appears to be a disregard for other peoples feelings. Even though people are put in "couples" the aim of the game is to meet someone you actually get on with and can see a 'future' with (all the while keeping your eyes on the 50K prize). This can often can get convoluted once feelings get involved and people start to panic, employing tactics or being genuinely mean to each other. It seems pertinent to highlight how the use of language can influence behaviour. Would you react in the same way if your team mate or acquaintance changed team as you would if your partner/couple ditched you for the other team? Probably not.
What seems to be wrong is an almost severe disregard for others feelings in pursuit of your own happiness. While in no means should one give up their own happiness in order to fulfill someone elses, one should at least have the decency to respect the other persons feelings and be nice. You're not legally bound to be their future spouse, but you should be legally bound to being a good person and I bet cabin fever severely skews your perception and I honestly can't say that I'd be acting much better.
What seems to be wrong is an almost severe disregard for others feelings in pursuit of your own happiness. While in no means should one give up their own happiness in order to fulfill someone elses, one should at least have the decency to respect the other persons feelings and be nice. You're not legally bound to be their future spouse, but you should be legally bound to being a good person and I bet cabin fever severely skews your perception and I honestly can't say that I'd be acting much better.
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