In Bali, local young men participate in the Usaba Sambah Festival to attract the attention of the unmarried women. The men engage in fights with each other using the spiky pandanus plant, supposedly to promote their masculinity and strength. The women look on from a nearby Ferris wheel as the men pummel each other into bloody lumps.
The Bachelor capitalizes on this in every season of The Bachelorette. How many times have we seen the men engage in some kind of combat sport, whether it be boxing, wrestling, bullfighting, or otherwise? In order to win a date with that season’s bachelorette, the men must also pummel each other bloody. Because romance.
