dating shows just got more gross

This is more exoticism & depending on the cities maybe orientalism.

Granted the premise is pretty explicit in the casting call, but could IMAGINE a black dude ever getting cast in this?

Maura: what do you think of X-Treme Dating & do you think shows which have guys and girls with different roles/setups/etc. (aka x-treme & others) are better or worse?

What bothered me here really is the whole "one white male" idea that this show's gunning for from the start, although you're right - if a black male was cast southern affiliates would be in an uproar.

sigh.

This is a reality show, granted, not a sitcom -- but it's still an audition, so if there are legal protections for such, they'd apply; and if not, I'm sure it falls under the "it isn't discrimination if the variable affects job performance" exceptions, and with television like this, appearance certainly affects "job performance."

How's the dynamic different? The girls are clearly forced into put-out mode. Are the guys forced to be all "look how financially sound i am and what a provider i can be" or do they play up their sense of humor or what? Are they hella competative? Do they play up their physical endowments to the point of embaressing their date?

(haha jody also I am an IT guy FOR venture capitalists -- worst of all worlds!!!)

It was exactly like that -- the men were fighting over their tattoos, muscles, and bank accounts, and the woman just sat there, composed and beautiful.

I thought the woman was sort of an asshole too at first (the date was set in Williamsburg, and she was aloof and modelesque), but then I realized what she was doing. She said at the beginning that she wasn't looking for a relationship, just someone fun to kiss. And I think that's why she never once stepped in to intervene when the men made asses of themselves (taking off their clothes to prove their manhood). Since she had nothing at stake, she probably found the whole situation a total riot!

But hell, when it comes to the law ... if all it came down to was "the law does or does not say this," lawyers wouldn't have much to do. That's why I didn't disagree with you that a civil rights lawyer wouldn't turn them away -- I'm just pointing out that the show has an adequate defense. And whether or not the law permits them to do it, I don't think they -should-. But I think it says more about their viewership -- or their perception of their viewership -- than it does them.

I mean, they're not excluding black guys because they hate them, I have to assume. They're doing it because they think people won't want to watch. And worse than that, they might be right.

Lonely hearts adverts, though -- that's the same as personals, or no? There are no legal protections there as far as I know or can imagine, any more than there's a law that says you can't refuse to date someone because of their race (or gender, or religious background, or shoe size, or etc.)