What ‘Heated Rivalry’ Can Teach Us (And Reality Shows) About Romance

Get in, losers, we’re going to the cottage! Like most women you know, we haven’t been able to stop thinking, dreaming, talking, and texting about the gay hockey romance juggernaut “Heated Rivalry.” And we couldn’t help but wonder: what does the massive success of this show tell us about what women want in relationships, or what healthy masculinity looks like to us? What does it say about the ways women feel about themselves and their own sexuality? And what lessons should reality dating shows take from this cultural moment? We get into all of these questions and (full disclosure) swoon… a lot.