Aidan and the misogyny

I've been watching LI since the beginning and I've seen some truly horrendous things air. Deeply questionable decisions from Islanders, comments and actions that would get you cancelled these days, and some really blatant examples of pervasive sexism and racism. And they were almost always very obvious.

I've been angry many times, but I think this is the first time I've ever felt a deep kind of upset. Watching Aidan treat Jasmine like that when all she did was stand up for herself got to me in a way that not much else has. Let's get one thing straight: Aidan is sexist. It doesn't slap you in the face; it's not glaringly obvious; it's subtle. It's insidious. It's designed to knock down a woman who has built herself up in a way that doesn't serve him. That's what makes it so dangerous.

After Jasmine called him out when she overheard her name, after she (rightly) told them they were being immature about the challenge, when she didn't curse, didn't lose her head like Priya did, when she removed herself from a situation that would not end well, she was told by a man that her behaviour was "off-putting", that the way she behaved made her unattractive to him. As though that's the only measure of her worth, as though her speaking out made her less of a commodity physically; because that's all Aidan values. He believed that imparting that message to her, that telling her he found her unattractive, was going to put her back in her place and make her modify her personality.

To suit him. To fall in line with what he finds attractive. This is a method that men have employed to control women and keep them meek for centuries. Women have historically been expected to edit themselves in order to attract a man, and this is something we're seeing perpetuated on our screens. It needs to be called out. We need to start examining the conditioning we've all been subjected to as women, and we need to unlearn almost everything we've learned when it comes to social interactions and expectations.

Between that and the way Aidan continued to not only pursue Ellie, but outright lie about their relationship status after she'd categorically told him no, it's giving "red pill alpha male grind her down until she gets tired and submits to you" nonsense. We need to do better than this. Jasmine deserves better than that, for sure, and seeing her cry after the interaction made my heart twist with empathy. I've been there. I didn't know the name for it back then, but I do now.

The saving grace really is that the girls stood together. It's not being sheep; they're just not letting the men separate them. Standing up for yourself is never unattractive, and a man who tells you it is, is someone you should run from.