The Big Bang Theory Sexism
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Anonymous
| I've started watching through the The Big Bang Theory for the first time and both my husband and I have been enjoying it for the most part. However, I'm getting a little annoyed at how sexist some of the episodes are. Does this get better in later seasons? Does Howard become a little more likable? Right now I hate him! I just finished the episode "The Killer Robot Instability". In it Penny losing it with Howard for his continued sexual harassment towards her. After it happened I was like "Finally! She called him out on it!" However, instead of apologizing and admitting that his past behavior was inappropriate, he plays the victim and guilt trips her. On top of that, Leonard also guilt trips her into apologizing to Howard. I know that Leonard and Penny end up together, and I know Penny can stand up for herself, but does the message this show is clearly sending right now get any better as the seasons go on? |
Anonymous
| The guys are a bunch of incels. As the serious go on, they get girlfriends, but still act like incels |
Anonymous
| I watched a really long YouTube video about the sexism in that show. I have never seen the show but that YouTube video made me kind of sick. I never want to watch it. |
Anonymous
| It's a show for dumb people who think they're smart people. |
Anonymous
| Not really, no. Maybe a few improvements, but the show remains pretty deeply misogynistic. They lean pretty heavily on the characters' status as "nerds" to justify or downplay some pretty awful behavior (including upskirting and stalking). |
Anonymous
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This is something that always bothered me about the show. I did feel like it got better as it progresses. When it starts, Penny is the only female character in the main cast and because the whole premise is that she's a dumb, shallow, actor in contrast to the genius men, they trip into A LOT of casual sexism. The incel reference is apt. It's never as angry or violent as actual incels, but the undercurrent is definitely "Why don't hot girls give these nerds the adoration they deserve?"
BUT, I do think the show gets a lot better. For starters, they add two more women to the cast and just having more storylines around stuff like women in science is helpful. But I also think they became a bit more self aware of how entitled the attitudes of the characters towards women were. Both Raj and Howard have to confront a lot of their bullish*t around women, and the women they date are vocal (and right) about a lot of their issues. I also think the show benefits in later seasons because it has to flesh out the stereotyped characters (Penny, Sheldon and Raj in particular) which means actually addressing why these characters are the way they are. Raj becomes a lot more than an Indian immigrant stereotype (thankfully) and they have to get into what Sheldon's deal is socially and sexually. And Penny gets to be a much more well-rounded character. Howard is always the absolute worst. I do not understand the point of that character except to make the rest of them look a lot better by comparison. |
Anonymous
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It gets a bit better - they treat penny with more respect and get female geniuses.
But the underlying current is still there. |
Anonymous
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It does get better; there were a couple of seasons (forget which ones) in the middle that were awful, and very sexist.
It does improve and evolve. |
Anonymous
Penny does lose it with Howard. All of them evolve. They added Bernadette and Amy, who both have PhDs and help. I like how Penny’s EQ helps them evolve. Her character changes to be more intellectual too. I have loved it because there is quite a bit of ASD in the characters and it shows. It shows how friendships can help people with ASD form friendships and how it changes them- this is mainly evident in Sheldon and Amy’s characters. I agree with a pp’s comments that some of the middle years were not very good and relied on old tropes and sex. Some episodes are better than others. |
Anonymous
+1. |
Anonymous
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Yes. It does get better. It becomes apparent that Penny’s EQ is an important quality. They also add smart women. And at some point Howard is embarrassed at his past behavior.
While I can understand why you find it sexist, I think it was trying at the beginning to show how socially awkward smart people can be (that trend continues with smart women). And it demonstrates the power normal, pretty people have over geeky people for years. But they probably went too far with Howard, and then later backtrack, have him fall in love, and be embarrassed about his past life. |
Anonymous
| It's bad. I stopped watching because of the misogyny. |
Anonymous
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Well, Leslie Winkle is a female version of the guys: she's a genius with low EQ. She says hurtful things and she uses the opposite gender for the sex she feels she deserves from them. In fact, she's worse than the guys because unlike them, she goes out of her way to mock and insult Sheldon to his face over and over again.
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Anonymous
| I thought it got better, and then got worse again. They brought in these female scientists, but then turned Bernadette into basically Howard’s mom and Amy went from being a genius to a sex-obsessed moron who idolized penny. It was pretty gross what they did to the females in that cast. |
Anonymous
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You realize the sexism is on purpose to call it out much in the same way Archie Bunker called out racism.
The whole point of the show is that a community college graduate is the smartest person on the show. |