Season six of the dating show Love Island USA ended a few days ago, and the internet is obsessed. The series began in 2015 and has since gained a cult following.
Viewers of Love Island can download an app or visit the website to vote for their favorite couples and cast members. The couple with the most votes at the end of the season wins a cash prize of $100,000. Many viewers take to social media to post their commentary and share who they’re voting for, creating a large community of fans online.
Ronnie voting for Sean is his redemption arc I hope your hairline comes back king! #loveisland #LoveIslandUK pic.twitter.com/k5QVwWCul0
— Holli 🍉 (@Holliaietan) July 28, 2024
The show revolves around a group of singles in their twenties living together on an island in Fiji. The participants are expected to meet and form romantic relationships with each other, meaning that intermingling is more than encouraged.
Mimicking the Apps
The way the islanders choose their partners on the show is easily comparable to the structure of dating apps. Producers initially introduce the participants in groups and pick their partners based on surface-level interaction and looks.
They are encouraged to get to know several people at once but still must “couple up” with another person in a designated timeframe. Participants share a bed and go on real dates with their chosen partner while still flirting with everybody else.
Credit: YouTube/@Love Island USA.
Tinder and Hinger have cemented themselves using the very same concept. Users are encouraged to share their best photos and swipe away. They often date one or two of their options while continuing to swipe through the apps.
Both the show and the apps are designed to make participants feel as though they have limitless options for sex and love, fostering a non-committal attitude toward partnership where people are constantly searching for the next best thing.
Embodiment of Patriarchal Ideals
There are numerous underlying societal structures that influence people’s behavior on Love Island and in the dating world. The division of gender amongst the contestants in challenges and pairings creates a battle of the sexes while simultaneously pitting them against members of their own gender.
@loveislandusa It’s officially #CasaAmor ♬ original sound – Love Island USA
An example can be seen when the producers send the male contestants to another part of the island called Casa Amor. They bring in new options for the groups once they’re separated. After the separation ends, the participants can choose to bring back or keep one of the new people they met, causing triangulations, competition, and tension. The atmosphere is similar to the open, undefined relationships that are currently dominating the real-world dating scene.
Patriarchy manifests in another way through Casa Amor. Viewers may notice that the men are much less interested in remaining faithful than the women during the “challenge.” In season 6, Aaron is thrilled to meet a new girl despite recently telling Kaylor he loves her. This represents the stereotypical double standard of men wanting commitment from their partner even as they continue to entertain other options.
Patriarchal double standards resurface when the contestants have to guess each other’s body counts. They are put in a line and asked to pick a number. The men’s numbers are revealed to be significantly higher. Yet they all applaud each other, and the women don’t judge them. On the other hand, the men seem to judge the women for their numbers. It even causes some relationship problems for Jana and Coye.
Situationships
Situationships have become increasingly common since the introduction of dating apps to the public. A situationship is a non-committal romantic relationship with no label or, as Carina Hsieh, the person credited with popularizing the word, says, “a hook-up with emotional benefits.”
The premise of Love Island arguably forces contestants into situationships. The cast is expected to choose somebody to “couple up” with at specific times despite still exploring things with other contestants. However, the coupling has no actual label and no clear expectation of loyalty.
One of the biggest issues with situationships is the lack of clarity surrounding boundaries and expectations. One person will have a different concept of boundaries than the other, but because they’re technically not in a relationship, the differences are not discussed.
Avoidance in Younger Generations
Millennials and Gen Z are prone to escapism and avoidance. Introduced to the internet at an early age and living through a global pandemic while their brains were still in adolescence bred a desire to abandon day-to-day life as well as their own feelings and relationships.
Their avoidance materializes in a refusal to communicate their feelings or desires within their relationships. The contestants of Love Island navigated similar issues; several members of the season six cast sabotaged their relationships with poor communication.
Another way that avoidance shows itself is when people treat dating and relationships like a game. The existence of Love Island perfectly exemplifies this. Contestants even have the opportunity to be rewarded for being manipulative. They receive more votes and garner more views by causing drama.
Credit: YouTube/@Love Island USA
In addition, at the end of the season, the winning couple individually chooses between two envelopes. One contains nothing, and the other contains the prize money. The party that chooses the winning envelope gets to decide whether they are in the game “for love or money.” By that, they mean the person holding the money can choose to either split it with their partner or take all of it for themselves.
Final Thoughts
The show’s format and content arguably function as a microcosm of the modern dating pool. Its challenges and entire premise bring up notions that are overwhelmingly present in the culture of the current dating world.
