CFP: Big Bang Theory and Gender Politics CFP (Collection of Essays)

From: Nadine Farghaly [[email protected]]

This is a CFP (Collection of Essays) concerning the The Big  Bang Theory and
Gender Politics

Since its creation in 2007 The Big Bang Theory has captured a steady
viewer-ship of nearly 17 Million people. After the first four seasons the
network added an additional three without hesitation. The show is more
popular than ever before and it stands to reason to analyze why this is the
case. Does its popularity stem from the show's quirky but lovable
characters? Can it be attributed to the clever mixture of science and
popular culture? Is it the combination of down to earth scientist and the
world of an aspiring actress? Who knows? There are many aspects that make
the show a success; however, there are certain facets that need to be
addressed since the presentation of the characters often is problematic.
Throughout its run the show has shown a remarkable capability to reduce
women to bed fellows, which do not necessarily need a brain and/or
self-esteem. Penny's (who, alarmingly enough, does not yet have a last name)
naivety from the first few seasons was hard to stomach for many viewers, and
it wasn't until the introduction of Amy Farrah Fowler that the cast was
equipped with a long-term female character whose function did not reduce her
to being eye candy or a sex object. Bernadette, however, plays into the
blond and dumb (even though she has a PhD) stereotype. Bernadette is
bimbo-ized even though she has the PhD and her counterpart Amy is
asexualized (though not masculine-ized) even though she "dates and enjoys
sex".

Most of the male characters in this show hardly fare any better. Raj's
inability to address women without being drunk, and Howard's desperate
attempt to find and shag a woman no matter the costs, as well as the latent
sexual desires both characters seem to harbour for each other opens them up
to a lot of criticism as well. Sheldon's inability to function in the real
world also requires some investigating. Society seems to have reached a
state where it appears to be impossible to have it all, the brains, the
personality, the social aptness, and the beauty to go with it. Recent TV
shows proposed that smart is the new sexy, but what if this attitude comes
with a price too high to pay? This depiction of perceived smartness to an
audience that may have needs to elevate nerds is complicated by that
smartness being depicted as flat and two-dimensional. At the same time, the
show also developed a kind of hierarchy for nerd-dom, some nerds are better
than others, some kinds of smart are better than others, but above all,
those nerds who can have sex are still better than all the other nerds.

This collection will focus on gender and sexuality and I welcome all papers
that are related to these topics.

Please send one page (around 500 words) abstracts to the following E-mail
address [email protected]

And include the following information:

Writers submit a 1-page synopsis of their proposed chapter to us clearly
stating:

[a] the research question

[b] the methodology

[c] the findings

[d] the bibliography (5 sources)

Deadline: 1st of June 2012

For questions please contact

Nadine Farghaly

[email protected]

Hope to hear from you soon.

Nadine