The Reality of “Reality” Love: The Problem with Gamifying Sex and Love

From Love Island to The Bachelor to Are You My First?, these types of reality shows turn love and sex into a competition. But what does that say about how we see relationships—and ourselves?In this episode of Unzipping Taboos, we dive into the “gamification” of sex and relationships on reality TV. We unpack how these shows reinforce harmful beauty standards, perpetuate rigid gender roles, and normalize manipulation—all while being marketed as romance. We also explore the hypocrisy of a culture that politicizes marriage for some while turning it into a ratings game for others.At the same time, we talk about what responsible viewing can look like: understanding media literacy, treating contestants as human beings (not villains), and remembering that real relationships don’t look like staged drama on a tropical island. Whether you watch these shows for fun, critique, or guilty pleasure, this conversation unzips what it means to be a thoughtful consumer of relationship “entertainment.”If you have a story, thoughts and/or a topic or question for Dr. Sue and Charlie please share your ideas here:  ⁠Show suggestionsIf you want to ask Dr Sue a sex question for the weekly Q&A you can submit it here: Ask a question