You would be forgiven for not thinking of The Bachelor franchise as being empowering, or feminist. If anything, you might even think of it as a sexist show, driven by traditional male and female gender roles.
No matter what your opinion is, you can’t deny the fact that the show has at least seen some super empowering female moments.
From brutal verbal takedowns to rejections that were just so good to watch, the women on this show have shown us what Beyonce is always singing about.
While some of these ladies became fan favorites as The Bachelorette, a few were simply contestants who made a name for themselves during The Bachelor.
Interestingly enough, many of these empowering female moments involved telling off misogynistic men.
In the end, though, it wasn’t about the men they told off, it was about the confidence they showed. Girls, we run the world. Right?
1. Emily Maynard calls out Kalon McMahon
I’d you’re trying to marry a woman, there are a lot of things you shouldn’t do. Leaving the toilet seat up and loading the dishwasher incorrectly come to mind.
It should probably go without saying that calling her daughter “baggage” isn’t going to score you any brownie points.
That’s exactly what Kalon McMahon did on Emily Maynard’s season of The Bachelorette, and let’s just say this didn’t go down well with her.
In an empowering female moment, Emily called out Kalon in front of all the guys after she was made aware of his comments.
During an interview, Emily claimed she wanted to go “West Virginia hood rat, backwoods on his ass.” Whatever that means.
Emily began, “That is my heart and soul, and for anyone to say that’s baggage,” before Kalon cut her off. She stood up for herself, however, saying defiantly, “let me talk.”
Emily eventually told him to “get the f**k out.” She even called out Kalon for coming from a single mother and still not understanding her position.
Kalon continued trying to defend himself, but mama bear was having none of it, and cut him off.
It was one of the most empowering female moments we’ve seen in The Bachelor franchise to date.
2. Andi Dorfman is not okay
Any real fan of The Bachelor franchise will know about Juan Pablo Galavis, one of the most hated leads ever. With his arrogant attitude and apparent narcissism, he went from a fan favorite to public enemy number one very quickly.
Nobody could blame Andi Dorfman when she broke up with Juan Pablo the night after their fantasy suite date. The entire conversation was so cringe-worthy it required something stronger than a glass of wine just to get through it.
Andi told Juan Pablo how she realized she wasn’t in love with him when they woke up together, to which he responded, “That’s perfect.”
Andi claimed it was hard for her to realize that, after so much time with The Bachelor lead, responding, “It’s fine, it’s okay” as if someone had just bumped into him at the supermarket.
Andi was not having any of it, and spoke for herself and everyone else in Bachelor Nation when she angrily said, “I want to die if I have to hear it’s okay again!”
She would later name her tell-all book after the moment, calling it It’s Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak Into Happily Never After.
Andi even included some revelations about her night with Juan Pablo in her book, claiming he showed her his old soccer highlights on YouTube and blasted Ray J and R. Kelly.
3. Clare Crawley tells off Juan Pablo during The Bachelor finale
Andi Dorfman wasn’t the only one to go off on Juan Pablo Galavis during his run as The Bachelor. Apparently, a condescending lead such as Juan Pabs brings out all manner of empowering female moments.
Throughout the season, Clare was smitten with the franchise’s first Latino Bachelor, almost blindingly so. Even after she claimed Juan Pablo made an inappropriate comment to her while microphones were off, Clare still showed up to the finale, ready to get engaged.
Unfortunately for her, Juan Pablo rejected her, and that is when she finally let out everything she had clearly been holding in like a grenade. Had the pair gotten engaged, Clare would have saved the brain ninja comments for their first fight.
After rejecting her, Juan Pablo went in for a hug and was denied with two bitter hands.
She stormed off the platform, saying, “I’ll tell you what, I thought I knew what kind of man you were, what you just made me go through, I would never want my children having a father like you.”
The entire time, Juan Pabs can be heard condescendingly muttering, “Mhmmm, okay.” It was enough to make any viewer burn with fiery rage, and throw their “wine o’clock” wine glass at the television screen.
In the end, though, Clare got the last laugh and became The Bachelorette. She even found her Mr. Right (hopefully) in Dale Moss within two weeks of filming.
4. Hannah Brown sends home Luke Parker
Luke Parker creates heated debate within Bachelor Nation, but the general consensus is that he’s a (insert bad word of choice.)
It seemed like all season long, Hannah Brown wasn’t following her heart or her head, she was following something else (hint, hint.) Despite the numerous red flags and the number of contestants who told Hannah how awful Luke was, she still kept him around.
That is, until fantasy suites wee when the topic of virginity came up, as it almost always does. In a nutshell, Luke slut-shamed Hannah and showed controlling, unattractive behavior, all in the name of religion.
Luke expressed his desire to leave the show if he found out Hannah had slept with any of the other contestants (he clearly didn’t know about the hot windmill sex Hannah had already engaged in with Peter.)
Some of her best lines:
“I’m a grown woman and can make my own decisions and I’m not strapped to a man right now.”
“I feel like I’ve finally gotten clarity on you and I do not want you to be my husband.”
“I don’t owe you anything at this point.”
Her most iconic line:
“I have had sex and Jesus still loves me.”
The pair had one of the most eye opening conversations about sex the show had ever seen. In the end, Hannah had her empowering female moment when she sent Luke home, waving him off with a middle finger. Of course, not before he asked if he could pray over her, and Hannah responded with an exasperated, “No!”
5. Hannah Brown sends Luke home again
One of the biggest red flags a guy can show is not taking no for an answer, and Luke Parker displayed that behavior perfectly after Hannah Brown sent him home.
The morning after their disastrous dinner in which Hannah sent Luke home for trying to tell her she couldn’t have sex with the other guys, he is seen on the way to the rose ceremony.
Clearly delusional, he said, “Hannah thought that after sending me in the van, there’s no way I’d want to be with her anymore after the last thing she told me, and she’s sadly mistaken.” Um, what?
Luke showed up to the ceremony, hilariously standing next to the other guys, much to Hannah’s fury.
In another iconic speech, Hannah tells off Luke, telling him she absolutely has clarity and he needed to go home. When he still refuses to leave, Hannah moves the podium! Who didn’t love that moment?
When Luke interrupted her at one point and told her to “Listen!” Hannah absolutely goes off, something Bachelor Nation had been waiting all season long for.
Luke was the epitome of toxic masculinity, but Hannah showed during an empowering moment that she was not going to take it.
6. Lindsay Yenter takes off her heels after Sean Lowe rejects her
Getting dressed up in a tight dress, and super uncomfortable heels for a night out is only worth it when you know you get to take off those same heels (that clearly hate feet and everything to do with them) at the end of the night.
You may be walking home from the club, feeling rejected after nobody asked for your number, and drowning your sorrows in a McDonald’s bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. It’s time for the strappy heels to come off and the sun to come up.
When Sean Lowe broke up with Lindsay Yenter during The Bachelor finale, she did one of the most empowering things a woman can do. She took off her heels, realized her journey on the show had finally come to an end, and accepted her fate.
What was the point? It was obviously time to go home, put on her sweatpants, drown her sorrows in four boxes of Chinese food and cry. But, in the morning, it would be time for Aretha Franklin and a new breakup haircut.
Is there anything more empowering than a woman saying she’s so over it by taking her heels off?
7. Kendall Long giving an inspirational speech to Krystal Nielson
If anyone on Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s season of The Bachelor deserved to find love, it was Kendall Long. She was mature, emotionally intelligent, and said more than just the usual producer scripted lines.
Of course, that meant that someone as insecure as the season villain, Krystal Nielson would try to find a way to sabotage her.
Naturally, the pair were sent on a two-on-one date and things got heavy. Because villains gotta vill, Krystal tried to sabotage Kendall by telling Arie she didn’t think she was ready for marriage.
Kendall came off as the most genuine, intelligent, articulate person to ever appear on the show. Rather than get vicious, as so many contestants do, she calmly tried to explain her feelings to Krystal.
It was an incredibly empowering moment. Rather than get involved in a fight, as so many women frequently do on the show, Kendall spoke to Krystal as a compassionate human being.
She calmly explained, “Saying the thing that’s most hurtful doesn’t necessarily mean you win, it means you hurt somebody.” And that, ladies and gents, is why Kendall was always too good for The Bachelor franchise.