The Adorkable Misogyny of The Big Bang Theory

This is tag two, take one. Mark.

The Big Bang theory is the most popular show on television

It centers on four male friends who are characterized by essentially every Hollywood

stereotype about geeks and nerds in existence. "Alright, just a few more feet and...

Here we are gentlemen The Gates of Elzebub." "Good Lord!" "Don't panic. This is what the last 97 hours have been about."

Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj all lack most of the traits traditionally associated with leading men in Hollywood.

They're not conventionally handsome. They're not confident, and they're definitely not athletic.

What they are, are dorky insecure fanboys who are plagued with a wide variety of anxieties,

illnesses, and awkward personality quirks.

They also happen to be the perfect embodiment of a media trope which I call: The Adorkable Misogynist.

Adorkable Misogynists are male characters, w hose geeky version of masculinity is framed

as both comically pathetic and endearing.

"Wait, wait, what's on top of them?" "Wireless webcams! Wave hello!"

And it's their status as nerdy nice guys that then lets them off the hook for a wide range of creepy,

entitled and downright sexist behaviors.

"You may want to put on slacks"

"What? Ew. Stop it! No! Leave me alone."

Now in order to help explain how this convention works we will need to take a quick trip back in time to the 1980s.

The year was 1984.

"Say 'Cheese!'" "Cheese!"

And one of the most popular summer movies was a film called Revenge of the Nerds.

These weren't the first socially awkward nerds to grace the big screen,

but they did help popularize this type of character.

Over the next few years this geeky guy archetype quickly gained traction in Hollywood.

And by the 1990s it had become something of a mainstay in comedy entertainment.

It's worth noting that this type of character is nearly always white-- though there are a few rare exceptions.

"Caught ya sweetums!"

The Hollywood Nerd is almost always positioned in opposition to the expected norms of Macho Manhood.

This is usually accomplished through the juxtaposition with the jock archetype.

When contrasted with hyper masculine guys who perform a crude,

aggressive form of manhood, our geeky hero gets to be framed as the better,

smarter, more sensitive alternative.

He's the misunderstood nice guy.

"Hi Betty."

"I'm not kissing a nerd."

He was unfairly bullied and mocked by his peers.

"Hey, not every guy's born with blonde hair and a chin you can crack walnuts with."

"To catch babes, I had to use my imagination."

He's presented as the clear underdog in the manhood competition.