Let's be honest - the Casa Amor recoupling was BRUTAL. Last night the nation braced themselves for the most intense Love Island episode of the series - and it delivered. The chaos and tension alone was enough to last us all until the summer series. But personally, the episode left a sour taste in my mouth due to the treatment of the Casa Amor girls. Newsflash: the Casa Amor girls have feelings too.
I understand that the role of a bombshellsis to shake things up. The Casa Amor Islanders have to enter the villa with confidence and thick skins in order to succeed. However, the Casa Amor girls always get the short end of the stick. Their feelings are always massively downplayed as 'secondary' by the original boys and the lack of compassion for them is hard to watch.
After being intimate with Cynthia Otseh-Taiwo during Casa Amor, Casey O'Gorman shocked viewers when he decided to stay coupled up with Claudia Fogarty. Watching Cynthia break down during the episode was the trigger for many. Cynthia's feelings are just as valid as Claudia's - especially since they both had similar amounts of time to get to know Casey. The day before the recoupling Cynthia was someone he had a 'connection' with, but as soon as Claudia returned he reduced their time together as not being 'that deep.'
Casey's lack of compassion for Cynthia's emotional response was horrible to watch. He didn't even apologise or show any remorse for leading her on. Casey gave her hope throughout only to crush her in the last second. Remember when he branded himself a 'nice guy' during the Ron and Lanasaga? We beg to differ...
It's a clear pattern: Every year some of the original boys reduce the Casa Amor girls to 'tests.'As soon as they have to face the consequences of their actions, they try to squirm their way out by dehumanising the Casa Amor girls and disregarding their thoughts, feelings and emotions. It's like they had their fun, got what they wanted sexually and then discarded them. It's vile.
At least the original girls who explored during Casa Amor like Olivia Hawkins and Tanya Manhenga, actually owned their choices and brought back the boys they explored with. Although I don't agree with their behaviour either, they stood by thier actions. Whereas in the original villa, four out of the six men explored, but only one Casa Amor girl was brought back. The girls were used for the boys sexual gain.
Most of the boys got very intimate with the Casa Amor girls. Let's also dissect the language other male Islanders used in regards to them. The moment Casey labelled Cythia a 'minx' and complimented her bum, I knew he wasn't serious. He instantly reduced her to a flirtatious sex symbol and fetishized her.
The difference is the boys want to have their cake and eat it too. Samie Elishi said it best: 'It shouldn't have to take you kissing someone else to realise how much you like me.' Samie didn't need to kiss Ryan to 'test' her feelings for Tom Clare - she explored by getting to know him as a person and realised it wasn't meant to be. She was completely respectful of Tom's feelings, but the same can't be said for him.
Farmer Will shocked viewers when he kissed bombshell Layla Al-Momani. As the nations (now former) sweetheart, no one thought he would ever disrespect Jessie Wynter. During the recoupling, he did something we've never seen from an OG boy before when he started crying after his actions were exposed. Now, I understand that this is an emotional experience, but Will's tears instantly made Jessie hold back her emotions, when that was her moment to feel.
Some viewers took to social media to question why the Casa Amor girls were 'bitter' because they were so vocal about not being picked - but I see this very differently. I'm actually glad that the Casa Amor girls were very vocal about the disrespect. I loved the fact that Layla spoke up for the girls and the way they were mistreated by some of the boys. Why should they stand there in silence after being hurt?
I really hope the OG girls follow the Casa Amor girls lead and hold the boys to account. The men can't keep wriggling out of responsibility because now they 'realise' they like them the more. They've only realised it after having a lads holiday and playing with women's emotions. After the recoupling, it dawned on me that Sanam Harrinanan is the ONLY Casa Amor girl standing - I hope she will feel supported and included in the villa. After all, her feelings are just as important.
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