Feminism and the Big Bang Theory

In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, the girls will be having a discussion about this sexiest scientists competition (or was it a photo-shoot, I forget) that Bernadette plans to enter. Her friend, Amy, will disapprove while Penny will support her:

Amy: Bernadette is a successful microbiologist. She should be celebrated for her achievements, not her looks. I mean, what kind of message does that send?
Penny: I think the message is – “Check out the rack on that scientist.”

Thankfully, even feminists knew it was a comedy and didn’t see red. But that’s not always the case. Take the time when Kaley Cuoco, the actress who plays Penny, was asked if she was a feminist. Her reply:

“Is it bad if I say No?”

Notice how defensive even a woman has to be with the f- word?

Debbie Chachra talks about a not in-your-face type of gender bias that hides under most people’s noses: the pride of place given to roles that involve the word “make”:

“The cultural primacy of making, especially in tech culture—that it is intrinsically superior to not-making, to repair, analysis, and especially caregiving—is informed by the gendered history of who made things, and in particular, who made things that were shared with the world, not merely for hearth and home.”

Step back and think of who generally plays the roles of maintenance and care-giving “merely for hearth and home” and it’s a light-bulb moment (or not, if you’re a girl). And as she says, tech culture just made things worse because we tend to forget this:

“The problem is the idea that the alternative to making is usually not doing nothing—it’s almost always doing things for and with other people, from the barista to the Facebook community moderator to the social worker to the surgeon.”

Forget educators; even surgeons are not makers! This respect for the makers may well be why the term “home maker” came about. What was it about a rose by any name…

Then again, some gender differences won’t go away. From the same episode of Big Bang Theory:

Amy: I simply pointed out that they would never consider doing an article ranking male scientists on their sexuality, let alone showing them in various stages of undress.
Bernadette: Because no one wants to see Neil deGrasse Tyson in a wet T-shirt bent over the hood of a Porsche.

Amen to that. On some fronts, guys will be guys and girls will be girls. All the feminism and political correctness of the world cannot overcome biology.