The Nine network has faced criticism on social media after it unveiled a teaser for the reality television show Married at First Sight featuring a male contestant saying men are “getting whipped by their women” and a woman “needs to respect me as the man”.
On Friday the network released a 45-second clip for the upcoming season presenting a contestant named Dean who prefaced his introduction by announcing: “It’s hard to say without sounding sexist or something.”
In the clip, Dean says he likes “a girl that is a girl and is girlie and knows that I’m the man and that I’m in charge”.
Dean wants to be loved, honoured… And obeyed. 🤵 #9Married pic.twitter.com/Lei4aGCXwG
— Married At First Sight Australia (@MarriedAU) December 14, 2017
“Also I want someone that listens to me and I want to be the alpha male and she needs to respect me as the man,” he continues. “I think that’s a traditional role that exists in other countries in the world, and Australia’s lost that.
“A lot of guys are just afraid to be men now, and are getting whipped by their women. I don’t agree with that, and I don’t know why it’s happened.”
Married at First Sight features eight single people who are paired off into couples by a panel of “experts”. The contestants agree to enter a civil union with their designated partner.
Any man who needs to force a woman to respect and obey him is both a coward and a bully.
— Clementine Ford (@clementine_ford) December 14, 2017
The show is fond of courting controversy. Nine posted the clip on social media with a caption declaring that Dean “wants to be loved, honoured ... and obeyed”.
Haven't Ch9 learned anything from 2017? Why, yes - they've learned that stories about misogynistic men are wildly popular
— Jess Hill (@jessradio) December 14, 2017
On social media, fans and critics lashed out at Nine, suggesting that the broadcaster was using the clip to drum up controversy in the wake of the #metoo movement, which has shone a spotlight on various forms of abuse against women by men in the entertainment industry.
Cute that @mirandadevine thinks a man going on a show called Married At First Sight is “aspiring to traditional gender roles in marriage” pic.twitter.com/vKRNOLQy6K
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) December 15, 2017
