This article contains spoilers for Hannah B.'s Bachelorette season. If you are not current, read at your own risk. I held off writing this article until I could gather all my thoughts. There has been a lot of drama this Bachelorette season and watching the show has become more frustrating every week. I like to just put out into the open: I in no way care what Hannah B does with her body and I will always support a woman's choice. That being said, respecting other people's beliefs and feelings is important and I'm very upset with how the fantasy suite conversation went down between Luke and her.
I've never been much of a Bachelor franchise fan. I actually just starting watching during Colton's season, and liked it so much that I figured I'd stick around to see Hannah's journey for love. When the current Bachelorette season aired, I was particularly interested in Luke P. He was the reformed Christian boy, whose charming looks and passion drew Hannah in from the beginning. As the episodes went by Luke changed from a competitive and sexy contestant to a complete aggressive and manipulative self-victimizer. It was disheartening, to say the least, that we had to continuously watch Hannah fall for his toxic behavior and give him rose after rose, while she sent other "good guys" home.
In no way do I blame Hannah for falling for his charm - I mean I've definitely been there before. The problem I have is with the situation that occurred between her and Luke concerning the whole sex before marriage disagreement. First off I'd like to make known that I do not care if someone has sex before marriage. What people do with their bodies is completely up to them and in no way should someone shame you for what you choose to do with your body. But people are allowed to have different morals than you and if someone feels deeply about saving themselves for marriage then they are allowed the same respect as someone who doesn't. Luke P has had a lot of problems this season, especially when it comes to being raw and honest with his feelings. But in this argument between him and Hannah over sex, I saw a more genuine side to him. He actually seemed sincere about how her actions made him feel and was just trying to understand where she was coming from.
Hannah stuck up for Luke even after every guy in the house said not to trust him, after all the fights and aggressive behavior he displayed, but her tipping point was that he was uncomfortable with her having sex with other men while "dating" him. And now Twitter and the rest of social media is praising Hannah for being so "woke" and for putting Luke in his place. She had nine weeks to put Luke in place for a variety of things that made more sense, then sending him home because he was hurt by her actions.
She did the same thing with Jed, when he brought up how he was uncomfortable with being compared to Luke P. Hannah doesn't ever want to be wrong or feel like she made a bad decision. So whenever one of the guys would challenge her choices, her only response is to say "I'm just so mad", remind them "to trust her to make the decisions", or run away and cry. When it comes to Luke she has always managed to make it as though he's sex-shaming her or not letting her control her own body. While at some times he might have been or his word choice was not the best, in the fantasy suite conversation he seemed to have a desire to understand.
It's not about religion. It's really not. Luke was very open about his struggle with sex and how he had decided that he wanted the next time to happen with his wife. Hannah, who seemed to be attracted to Luke because he was such a spiritual leader, is so shocked that he would upset that she's being intimate with the other contestants. I'm not saying you have to be sexually pure or abstaining from sex to be Christian, I'm saying that for Luke it is an important part of his faith. I was just confused as to why Hannah didn't understand why it hurt him so much. Everyone is mad at Jed and Peter because they supposedly had girlfriends before or during the time of filming. So we're allowed to be mad at them for "cheating" on their girlfriends and Hannah, but we as fans can't give Luke just a little bit of understanding when he's upset about Hannah sleeping with the other contestants?
The Bachelorette is supposed to be about finding love and committing to a relationship. It makes perfect sense to me why someone would be upset that their "girlfriend" is sleeping with other men. If every single one of these guys loved Hannah as much as they say they do, then they would probably be just as frustrated as Luke was. If the roles were switched and this conversation happened between a Bachelor and a contestant, everyone would feel with the girl. This argument between Luke and Hannah shows me that the show isn't about love at all - I know SHOCKER! It's all about getting enough drama so that the fans keep watching every season.
Hannah's Bachelorette season vilified Luke P. Whether it was completely on him or not, he didn't have a chance to change his "character" once the producers deemed him the villain. He definitely has some major growing up to do and I think that he didn't always express himself in the best way. But Hannah B was willing to work with him and attempted to see the goodness inside of him all up until he challenged a decision of hers. In that way, she is very immature and honestly doesn't think she ready to be making such a life-altering decision. Just like Luke, Hannah has a tendency to say really hurtful and ridiculous things to people when she gets angry. Her "I f**ked in a windmill" line that I've seen way too much on Twitter lately was revered. What adult says that to someone they love? And then proceeds with "and we did it a second time". After that exchange, I was done.
I'm mad at Luke because he put Christian men in a really bad light. He struggled from the beginning to maintain his anger and jealousy which often came out in the worse way possible. But he is working on himself, and everyone is allowed to make mistakes and say really stupid things. I'm mad at Hannah for being so immature and turning each episode into a soap opera. She has a lot of growing up to do to and I think like Luke, she needs to not care so much about what other people think. She was more concerned about her public appearance and the "character" she was playing rather than actually following her heart. I think that they are both good people who just lost themselves in the ridiculousness of reality television.