Yahoo News Big Bang Theory slammed for 'toxic geek masculinity'
A new book has slammed the "toxic geek masculinity" of The Big Bang Theory.
Written by Bridget Blodgett and Anastasia Salter,Toxic Geek Masculinity in Media: Sexism, Trolling, and Identity Politics claims the emergence of nerd culture on a mainstream platform has aligned geeks with "a type of toxic straight white masculinity that is rooted deeply in current cultural struggles".
Through the book, the pair use excerpts from the CBS comedy to support their argument that geeks – predominantly depicted as straight, while males – have become yet another example of a hegemonic influence group, excluding other societal demographics.
"Geek masculinity, with its absence of hypermasculine qualities and apparent association with 'un-masculine' traits, is often cast in popular culture as a marginalised masculinity," the pair note.
"The dichotomy is false: geek masculinity is not marginalised. It is instead an inevitable evolution of hegemonic masculinity in a culture where dominance and technical mastery are increasingly interwoven."
Blodgett and Salter use specific examples from The Big Bang Theory to demonstrate this argument.
The pair reason that season six episode 'The Contractual Obligation Implementation' – in which Sheldon, Leonard and Howard visit Howard's old school to encourage more women to pursue a career in the sciences – is an example of "empty feminism" because the plot does not address gender disparities in STEM fields.
Indeed, there are several issues with the episode as a whole. Firstly, Howard immediately likens trying to get women into STEM with trying to get them to sleep with him.
And, when the group fail to engage the girls in STEM, they call upon Amy and Bernadette; two brilliant scientific minds who just so happened to be dressed as Disney princesses.
What are the chances, eh?
Toxic Geek Masculinity in Media: Sexism, Trolling, and Identity Politics is out now.
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