Dear Married at First Sight producers and network decision makers,
Australia is in the middle of a national crisis of violence against women.
LGBTQIA+ communities (especially trans Australians) are facing escalating threats of violence (literally just wrote about violent attacks in NSW).
Racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric are resurging globally, with the Trump regime openly celebrating mass deportation, family separations, and aggressive immigration crackdowns that have devastated migrant communities.
This is the broader backdrop against which this season of Married At First Sight Australia is airing.
And you choose to platform a man, nay a boy, like Tyson?
Just some of what Tyson has said on screen
Tyson, a 30-year-old former ex-military boy, has described himself as a “masculine” man with conservative values. He has said he does not want a “woke” woman.
During the first episodes of the season, he listed his “red flags” in a partner as including:
A woman with green hair.
A “complete feminist” who “hates men”.
A woman who dislikes Donald Trump, whom he said he believes is “doing a great job” (there’s your confession).
A woman with a “high body count” (suggesting she has “daddy issues”.)
At his wedding to Stephanie, he described her as “frigid” after she only allowed one kiss during their photoshoot.
When asked whether he would ever be a house husband, he responded with: “Hell no… You may as well ask me if I want to wear a skirt around the house.”
These comments were broadcast in full during prime-time programming.
A clear choice has been made
This is a choice. Reality television is curated, participants are selected, storylines are constructed, and footage is edited. Nothing happening on our screens is an accident.
Tyson’s praise for Trump alone is terrifying for many. Trump’s political brand has included hardline anti-immigration policies and opposition to diversity initiatives.
Couple that with the regurgitation of far-right “manosphere” talk (complaints about “body count,” hostility toward feminism, disdain for “woke women”, a fear of men in skirts) and what you have is not harmless banter.
When these words and ideas move from fringe forums to prime-time television, they become normalised.
Should we switch it off, perhaps?
Ratings are the currency that keeps this machine running. It’s the bottom line that matters more to the corporate giants than outrage or the harm that platforming this kind of rhetoric poses to women and gender-diverse people.
If networks only respond to numbers, perhaps it’s time we all reconsider giving them ours until they do better…
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