For many Americans, post-dinner weeknights consist of popping some microwave popcorn, sitting back on the couch and either tuning into the latest television romances, keeping up with a famous K-infested dynasty or even watching mothers squabble over the abilities of their prodigious dancing daughters. This is where America places its eyes at 7 p.m. and beyond, allowing these unrealistic shows that present themselves as “reality” to create in minds unhealthy pictures of what reality is and what is accepted in society.

One of the driving forces in the media industry in terms of operation is the lens of what makes the most money. This perspective determines what stays on the air, what is cancelled, and from that, what the American populace sees on their television screens on any given night.

Reality television is a significantly successful television genre in the modern day. Household names, like Ryan Seacrest who makes as much as $15 million per season, can cash in on this genre, according to Business Insider. Thus, there are countless epochs of washed-out celebrities on their journey of redemption, dramatic sagas of women presented as catty or empty searches for love that will fall victim to the crash-and-burn cycle that short-lived camera romances inevitably produce.

One gleaming example of the perpetuation of general stereotypes is that of the infamous “Bachelor” series. Women enter the environment looking for love, or rather looking for an opportunity at their 15 minutes. By even two weeks in, these dames are sobbing over a missed rose or the fact that the man of their dreams is kissing another contestant–resulting in verbal and occasionally physical attacks at each other and a change in atmosphere to that of melodrama and hostility.

The targeted generations of shows like “The Bachelor” have been bred into the systematic universe of these orchestrated “reality” shows, and have been subconsciously fed data pertaining to how women and young girls should normally act. Even if on the surface there is recognition of the laughable drama, there is still the prevalent issue of taking these particular sectors of entertainment and applying them to standards of real life and relationships.

Amid the stresses of everyday life, it is vital to find healthy outlets or merely periods of time to give the hard-worked mind a rest. For some, this is channeled through the conscious decision to kick back and watch shows of fabricated romance and drama. It is not detrimental to partake in these viewings for the mere pleasure of entertainment, as long as its content is not taken to levels of personal reflection and life alterations. Reality television is best kept in the fictitious environment on which it was created, and not in actual reality, where consequences are guaranteed and love is more complicated than a rose.