A Feminist watches Love Island: episode 8 & 9 - Girl Code

The relationships in the villa are heating up with Amy and Curtis as well as Lucie and Joe deciding to become ‘exclusive’, though not yet ‘in a relationship’. It has only been a week so fair enough that they aren’t a ‘real’ couple yet. 

But personally romance aside, I found the ‘friendships’ the highlight of these episodes.

From the gendered debriefing chats after the hideaway, to Amy blowing up at Lucie for not hanging out with the girls enough, to the ‘new girls’ entering the villa randomly holding hands (why were they doing that?), this show is obsessed with pressuring the women to be friends with each other then showing them ‘betray’ that ‘friendship’.

Female friendships can be incredibly powerful, supporting women through all they have to deal with in this sexist world. However this doesn’t mean every single woman has to be friends with every single other woman, including ones she hasn’t met.

So far Love Island seems determined to scrutinise and undermine the women’s ‘friendships’ in a way the men’s ‘friendships’ have escaped. Take, for example, the scene where the women are watching the ‘new girls’ on their dates with the men, this is clearly set up to make the women feel territorial and fight with the ‘new girls’ over the attention and affection of the men.

This scene playing into the idea that women are always comparing, competing, and undermining other women, as they seeing each other as continuous threats. But how exactly do we want the women to react in the situation? It isn’t gendered, if you locked anyone on a balcony and made them watch someone they fancy on a date with someone else, they would probably at least roll their eyes a bit. Equally how are the ‘new girls’ betraying the other women? They have never met, they aren’t friends just being they are all women.

In our patriarchal heteronormative society, women are taught to view each other as competition in the fight for male approval. We are told that our self-worth and value comes from how men view us. So it makes sense that if we find our value in men, other women are our main threat and competition. This is intensified on Love Island.

Many of the women on Love Island have alter their bodies to create different versions of themselves that will be found more attractive by men and they have chosen to go on a show where their ability to win over the male gaze will determine their success.

So why is everyone on the internet reacting so badly to Lucie saying she was on the show to find a boyfriend not make friends? Because for some reason we think all women should back each other up, no matter the pressure of the situation they all in. Then if a woman fails to so, they all failing their entire gender.

Shows like Love Island pit women against each other, and then tries to convince the viewers that the results are proof that "our kind" can't be trusted. We should always ask ourselves who benefits from this type of divide-and-conquer (clue it’s not gender equality).

The stereotype that women can't get along because they're always competing has real world conquests with some people using it to argue against gender equality. Advice columnist Amy Alkon has written that women aren't suited to be leaders in the workplace because evolution "leads to some 'very confusing' (and often ugly) relationships, with women as covert competitors, using tools including gossip and social exclusion to push down other women, especially any who dare to stand out."

I hope when the women meet the ‘new girls’ in person they will remember that if your bae flirts with another woman, it’s on him not her, but somehow I doubt it.

We will see on the next episode tonight!