The Adorkable Misogyny of The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory provides a perfect lens through which to deconstruct a popular media trope I like to call the Adorkable Misogynist. Adorkable Misogynists are male characters whose geeky version of masculinity is framed as comically pathetic yet still endearing. Their status as nerdy “nice guys” then lets them off the hook for a wide range of creepy, entitled, and sexist behaviors. This is the 1st of two video essays about gender on The Big Bang Theory.

Part 2 focuses on how the show relentlessly mocks its four male leads for not acting like “real men," and in so doing reinforces a whole bunch of regressive ideas about masculinity.

Yes, The Big Bang Theory was the most-watched scripted TV show in 2016 according to Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights...

PATREON: This video was made possible by support from viewers like you! If you’d like to see more videos focusing on the intersections of entertainment, politics and masculinity, please head over to my Patreon page and help fund this web series: https://www.patreon.com/popdetective

Rate this video 
Gender
What Is Politics?
No Religion Has a Monopoly on Truth: There's Beauty to Find in Every Tradition (And It's OK to Discard the Outdated Stuff)
Trending Videos
Project 2025 Explained in Schoolhouse Rock Style!
5 min - The song that could save America. Share widely. Written, animated and performed by Jason KravitsProduced and mixed by Sean Dixon with Jason Kravits, Christopher Walz, and Brian O’Neill
"Socialism Always Fails": A Dishonest Claim (3 Times It Worked)
12 min - "Socialism Always Fails" is a claim I hear frequently. More often than not, when someone deploys this quip, it's meant to end any further conversation about socialism so they don't have to contend...
October 7th: The Whole Story Finally Revealed
43 min - A new al-Jazeera documentary finally offers the most definitive story of that fateful day - and I talk through the shocking claims of real atrocities and false claims with journalist Richard...
Anti-politics: Hating Government, Ignoring Private Power | Noam Chomsky
5 min - Chomsky on conservatives focusing all their anger on the government, while ignoring private power.
How Wolves Change Rivers | George Monbiot
4 min - When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the United States after being absent nearly 70 years, the most remarkable "trophic cascade" occurred. What is a trophic cascade and...
Honest Government Ad | TRUMP 2024
5 min - The "real" US Government has made an ad about the 2024 election and it’s surprisingly honest and informative 🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅 👉🇺🇸 voters: 🔹 Check that you’re still registered to vote...
Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity
57 min - From Shakti Butler, the director of The Way Home: Women Talk About Race in America and Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible , comes a new film that asks America to talk about the causes...
Trending Articles
Thought-Provoking Comics
Black Lives Matter
Subscribe for $5/mo to Watch over 50 Patron-Exclusive Films

 

Become a Patron. Support Films For Action.

For $5 a month, you'll gain access to over 50 patron-exclusive documentaries while keeping us ad-free and financially independent. We need 350 more Patrons to grow our team in 2024.

Subscribe | Explore the 50+ Patron Films

Our 6000+ video library is 99% free, ad-free, and entirely community-funded thanks to our patrons!

Sign up for our Email Newsletter