What Is Misogyny In The Big Bang Theory

Every night after our dinner my family and I would sit down and watch The Big Bang Theory on television. Those thirty minute airings had my whole living room roaring. We loved how awkward Sheldon was and how Leonard was always chasing pretty Penny. It was not until recently that I have noticed how misogyny is portrayed throughout the show. As I watch the episodes back I still laugh: however, I cannot help but to realize how the women, in particular Penny and Amy, are carried throughout each episode. For those who are not familiar, The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. Aired on CBS, this comedy is about four geeky, socially awkward guys interact with the world outside their laboratories. The four
Sheldon treats Penny as if their role is to stay at home. He “frequently places the women in maternal roles, demanding that they care for him when he is sick and comfort him when he is sad” (Sartain, 100). In episode 11 of season 1, Sheldon becomes sick and looks to Penny to take care of him. He made her tuck him into bed, rub Vaseline on his chest, and sing a song that his mother used to sing to him when he was sick. This shows that Sheldon views women as caregivers, or as my cousin, who was living with me at the time, once said, “belong at home.” Meaning, that I was to stay at home clean, cook, and take care of him. My cousin came down with a flu and tried to do exactly what Sheldon did. He asked me to cook and clean up after him, and I acted just like Penny. I cleaned up his dirty dishes, made him hot chocolate, and made him some soup. I did all of that without a “thank-you”, instead he said, “that's just what women do”. The tv show portrayed that it was Penny’s job to take care of the Sheldon and on countless of other shows the women cares for the man, and that’s what I did. I cared for him and he just expected it. Television shows, especially The Big Bang Theory, showed me that it was normal to fall in the stereotype of the girl. However, now it just motivates me to become better than being the homemaker. It pushed me to succeed in school and prove I had something more to offer. This episode shows that
A prime example is Howard Wolowitz. He “has an obsession with wanting to make sexual advances at women; doesn’t care an iota about their feelings or thoughts, but merely sees them as consumable sexual products” (The Sexism of The Big Bang Theory). In season 1, episode 7, Penny and Howard were having a conversation about one of Penny’s friends. Penny mentions that her friend would sleep with anyone who buys her things. Howard immediately ends the conversation by saying, “Yay! If you'll excuse me, I have some bar mitzvah bonds to cash” (Season1, Episode7). Howard was willing to use his mitzvah money in order to sleep with a women. By Howard only focusing on sex, shows the objectification of women. Howard does not care to get to know the women, he was attracted to her by her looks and only cares about sleeping with her. This depicts that women are only valuable for their sexual attributions. Time and time again, I have been judged based on my outside appearance. I was questioned on the ability to do my job and to play a sport based on my gender. There was plenty of guys in high school that talked to girls only to sleep with them. They had no other intentions than to fulfill their sexual desires. The Big Bang Theory characterizes Howard and the male characters to focus on women in a sexual manner. In addition, the show portrays