Temptation Island and its clichés: the man is violent and the woman is always in tears. Why?

The clichés of Temptation Island

Milan, July 30, 2025 – "All men tend to react with violence and women with tears" : this observation from my colleague Giulia De Ieso regarding Temptation Island got me thinking. And it should also give pause to those four million viewers who spend their evenings watching the Canale 5 docu-reality show.

A program that isn't entirely fiction, let's be clear. Let's not fall into the cliché of "it's all fake, it's just entertainment." Or, rather, let's distinguish: the work of the tempters and temptresses is a job. And, as such, it's paid. This means that each of them plays a role that is somehow directed by the writers and that becomes real on screen in exchange for a fee .

Boyfriends and girlfriends , on the other hand, aren't paid to display certain characteristics or behaviors. Which means, generally speaking, they should tend to stage reality. Exaggerating it for the sake of memes, social media, video reels, and the hope of future increases in followers and thus hypothetical engagements as spokespersons for this or that brand, but still maintaining a certain level of reality.

A reality that speaks to us, however, of clichés. The man, preferably tattooed, muscular, and characterized by a highly imaginative use of the Italian language , perceives the woman as his own. His own and no one else's. Not even her own. And so here come the most surprising accusations: "She never jumps into the sea with me because she says the water is cold, she does with the tempter, yet this sea is colder than the one in front of our house," "She doesn't dance with me, but look at her now," "When she's with me, she never smokes, now among those men she took out a cigarette." And when things don't go as the aforementioned man expects, what happens? Water bottles, tables, sunbeds, torches are thrown; there's even someone who beats himself to vent. In short, nothing but violent reactions. To what, no one knows, given that we're talking about completely nothing.

And women? Their reactions are also composed: tears. Always tears . And the watchword: "Disgust." On the other hand, women have unfortunately been defined as the "weaker sex" for decades. So how does the "weaker sex" react to disappointment? With tears. With despair.

The man becomes strong, virile, throws objects and flexes his muscles, and the woman complains . Don't you also recognize the most terrible cliché in all this? Not that these are situations that can't happen, mind you. But is it possible that statistically, among all the contestants in all the recent editions, there hasn't been a single person who has managed to subvert this attitude?

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