The mysoginy in regards to Penny

[Bunion]

Which one of the writers was the complete mysoginist? Or was it all of them? I lost count of how many times Penny was slut-shamed, not to mention the constant jibes at her intelligence. Once again, the guys are excused for their non-stop attempts at getting laid. Except Sheldon, of course.

[Tensor]

Not quite sure who it was.  Could have been all of them, or they just thought it funny.    Sheldon was shamed for not trying to get laid, which is a form of reverse slut shaming.  

[Mario D.]

7 hours ago, Bunion said:

Which one of the writers was the complete mysoginist? Or was it all of them? I lost count of how many times Penny was slut-shamed, not to mention the constant jibes at her intelligence. Once again, the guys are excused for their non-stop attempts at getting laid. Except Sheldon, of course.

I think it was most of them because there were a couple of female writers in the group. This was bothersome to me throughout the life of the show.  Penny's sexual history and promiscuity was always injected into the dialogue even after Leonard and her were engaged and later married. Sheldon. of course, was the main culprit and how Penny managed to not slap him upside his head is a wonder. However, I believe their worst and most disgraceful dialogue was when Penny jokingly says being "in a motel with a 34 year-old guy named Luther" when she was supposedly a teenager. This went a little too far for me

[chucky]

5 hours ago, Mario D. said:

However, I believe their worst and most disgraceful dialogue was when Penny jokingly says being "in a motel with a 34 year-old guy named Luther" when she was supposedly a teenager. This went a little too far for me

Totally agree. I lost any respect for the writers from season 7 until the end!!

[Mario D.]

1 hour ago, Molecules said:

Penny should have been revealed to have a higher I.Q. than Sheldon. Think it over. Penny played chess for the first time and  beat Leonard. Many things bore Penny: a true characteristic of geniuses. Also, some self-medicate, perhaps as Penny does with alcohol.  as recently displayed in the Hemmingway PBS 6 hour series. There are a multitude of examples in many episodes of Penny quickly coming up with problem solutions faster and better than any other cast member. Penny even inspired Sheldon and all the cast members to evolve, improve, reach goals. Q.E.D. Discuss.

Your analysis is quite enlightening. I had never considered Penny in this manner. But looking back it is quite possible. Also, she overthinks things as do the other geniuses on the show including her husband. She also picked up her sales job easily and became quite prolific at it. With this insight I wonder why she could not master her acting craft.

[Mario D.]

7 hours ago, Molecules said:

Great points, well written. Concerning acting, it seems like acting requires talent and luck: a big break.  In the series we were shown Penny's acting talents: A Street Car Named Desire, Penny acting like she wound not resist Leonard  if he moved in (but he was already there from the pilot episode-Our babies will be smart and beautiful). You don't have to push hard, if they were 'already gone'. I like to think Penny's acting skills aided her success in Pharm sales. Penny should stay earshot from any musical, but wouldn't it be interesting if Broadway put on a musical-comedy where all singers were tone deaf.  Also special kudos to Kaley Cuoco. It must be hard to be an actress playing a gradually improving actress.

Good points on her acting. And Kaley does deserve special mention as an actress as her performance in "The Flight Attendant" has shown. Playing Penny brought her celebrity status but it also held her back from expanding her acting talent.

[NeckShotLime]

16 hours ago, Molecules said:

Penny should have been revealed to have a higher I.Q. than Sheldon. Think it over. Penny played chess for the first time and  beat Leonard. Many things bore Penny: a true characteristic of geniuses. Also, some self-medicate, perhaps as Penny does with alcohol.  as recently displayed in the Hemmingway PBS 6 hour series. There are a multitude of examples in many episodes of Penny quickly coming up with problem solutions faster and better than any other cast member. Penny even inspired Sheldon and all the cast members to evolve, improve, reach goals. Q.E.D. Discuss.

Hehe Penny being a genius all along would have been quite the twist!! 

Maybe she was bored as a teenager and prefered drinking ,stealing horses and tipping cows because she was'nt intellectually challenged in high school ? Seems unlikely but hey , who knows ?? 

I loved the chess scene ( " you playing chess like Bobby Fischer! " ) , led me to believe she was a quick study ( or it was simply beginner's luck and Leonard really sucks at chess lol ).  Too bad the writers didn't remember that in the later seasons , they could have used that to find her a new hobby or a job she actually liked but i'm digressing. 

I hated the episodes where she was dumbed down for cheap laughs. 

I loathed the slut shaming of Penny  ( funny how the writers were able to forget that Howard was a sleazeball, bordeline creep but never let go of Penny's sexual history for instance.  ) 

 

 

 

[chucky]

5 hours ago, NeckShotLime said:

Hehe Penny being a genius all along would have been quite the twist!! 

Maybe she was bored as a teenager and prefered drinking ,stealing horses and tipping cows because she was'nt intellectually challenged in high school ? Seems unlikely but hey , who knows ?? 

I loved the chess scene ( " you playing chess like Bobby Fischer! " ) , led me to believe she was a quick study ( or it was simply beginner's luck and Leonard really sucks at chess lol ).  Too bad the writers didn't remember that in the later seasons , they could have used that to find her a new hobby or a job she actually liked but i'm digressing. 

I hated the episodes where she was dumbed down for cheap laughs. 

I loathed the slut shaming of Penny  ( funny how the writers were able to forget that Howard was a sleazeball, bordeline creep but never let go of Penny's sexual history for instance.  ) 

 

 

 

I have to agree. Penny has street smarts. A lot of times that was better than book smarts.

Edited April 12, 2021 by chucky

[NeckShotLime]

2 minutes ago, chucky said:

I have to agree. Penny ha street smarts. A lot of times that was better than book smarts.

Yep , streetsmart and emotional intelligence, she's definitely much more than a " good natured simpleton" or " a blond monkey"

[chucky]

2 minutes ago, NeckShotLime said:

Yep , street smart and emotional intelligence, she's definitely much more than a " good natured simpleton" or " a blond monkey"

Definitely not a blond monkey or a simpleton.

[gwhh]

On 4/9/2021 at 1:39 AM, Tensor said:

Not quite sure who it was.  Could have been all of them, or they just thought it funny.    Sheldon was shamed for not trying to get laid, which is a form of reverse slut shaming.  

Best Sheldon line.  Penny has a lot of money tied up in promiscuous futures. 

[HeWolf]

On 4/8/2021 at 11:46 PM, Bunion said:

Which one of the writers was the complete mysoginist? Or was it all of them? I lost count of how many times Penny was slut-shamed, not to mention the constant jibes at her intelligence. Once again, the guys are excused for their non-stop attempts at getting laid. Except Sheldon, of course.

If anyone associated with TBBT was misogynistic it was Chuck Lorre. When it comes to this topic TBBT pales in comparison to Two and a Half Men.

I'm not so convinced the guys were excused. Howard was an acknowledged sleazeball. Raj was desparate, pathetic, and an ass. 

It's a sitcom and the writers frequently went for the low hanging fruit. Sex starved nerds; dumb Penny; promiscuous Penny; Amy's 'lesbian' yearnings for Penny, etc.

BTW: The only one that ever referred to Penny as a blond monkey was Penny.

Edited June 7, 2021 by HeWolf

[chucky]

29 minutes ago, HeWolf said:

BTW: The only one that ever referred to Penny as a blond monkey was Penny.

She was referring to her opinion of what Sheldon thought of her.

[HeWolf]

9 minutes ago, chucky said:

She was referring to her opinion of what Sheldon thought of her.

She was referrring to what she believed Sheldon thought of her. 

Sheldon had no hesitation in seeking out Penny's wisdom on topics in which he believed she had some expertise. In matters of science she was completely out of her depth. As little else matters to Sheldon this relegated Penny to the shallow end of the intellectual pool. He felt the same way about Leonard (should be teaching history), Howard (one of the Oompah Loompah's of science), Geologists (the dirt people), and anyone associated with the humanities.

[chucky]

3 minutes ago, HeWolf said:

She was referrring to what she believed Sheldon thought of her. 

Sheldon had no hesitation in seeking out Penny's wisdom on topics in which he believed she had some expertise. In matters of science she was completely out of her depth. As little else matters to Sheldon this relegated Penny to the shallow end of the intellectual pool. He felt the same way about Leonard (should be teaching history), Howard (one of the Oompah Loompah's of science), Geologists (the dirt people), and anyone associated with the humanities.

Agreed!

[Mislav]

On 4/12/2021 at 12:36 PM, NeckShotLime said:

Yep , streetsmart and emotional intelligence, she's definitely much more than a " good natured simpleton" or " a blond monkey"

Penny did not have emotional intelligence.

[chucky]

2 hours ago, Mislav said:

Penny did not have emotional intelligence.

Maybe so, but she had more than Dr. Cooper!

[TLW]

On 6/7/2021 at 2:43 PM, HeWolf said:

The only one that ever referred to Penny as a blond monkey was Penny.

 

On 6/7/2021 at 3:14 PM, chucky said:

She was referring to her opinion of what Sheldon thought of her.

Yes, but when he set up the file in his computer when he was going to teach her physics, didn't he name the file something to do with a gorilla? He only said it to himself but still. 

In a fanfiction I read, The Complete Package by SRAM. Amy gives Penny an IQ test and the results were 145 I believe.

[chucky]

1 hour ago, TLW said:

 

Yes, but when he set up the file in his computer when he was going to teach her physics, didn't he name the file something to do with a gorilla? He only said it to himself but still. 

In a fanfiction I read, The Complete Package by SRAM. Amy gives Penny an IQ test and the results were 145 I believe.

Yeah. I love that story as I do all SRAM's stories. 

[NeckShotLime]

15 hours ago, Mislav said:

Penny did not have emotional intelligence.

Yeah she did and Sheldon even acknowledged it. Whether you agree or not is irrelevant really.

[Mario D.]

18 hours ago, Mislav said:

Penny did not have emotional intelligence.

But she wasn't a simpleton either. However, Sheldon referred to all species that he thought lower than him like that.  Sheldon had emotional immaturity.  At 35 plus years old he was still a child in many ways. I think it was because everyone tried to protect and coddle him in his youth instead of letting him grow from childhood into an adult. I know it is only fiction but I have watched a couple of Young Sheldon episodes and if my 10 year old spoke to me like he does  to his parents I would have given him something to remember.

[TLW]

14 hours ago, Mario D. said:

But she wasn't a simpleton either. However, Sheldon referred to all species that he thought lower than him like that.  Sheldon had emotional immaturity.  At 35 plus years old he was still a child in many ways. I think it was because everyone tried to protect and coddle him in his youth instead of letting him grow from childhood into an adult. I know it is only fiction but I have watched a couple of Young Sheldon episodes and if my 10 year old spoke to me like he does  to his parents I would have given him something to remember.

In watching some of the recent episodes of Young Sheldon, it seems like the university is trying to cater to his every whim. To the point that Mary was not comfortable with it.

[chucky]

4 minutes ago, TLW said:

In watching some of the recent episodes of Young Sheldon, it seems like the university is trying to cater to his every whim. To the point that Mary was not comfortable with it.

Personally,  I haven't watched a single episode of Young Sheldon and I don't plan to start. The only part of the show I have seen are the commercials that come on while a show I  am watching is on. 

[Mario D.]

6 hours ago, chucky said:

Personally,  I haven't watched a single episode of Young Sheldon and I don't plan to start. The only part of the show I have seen are the commercials that come on while a show I  am watching is on. 

It's ok Chucky   You are not missing much. To me Sheldon as a 10 year old is just as arrogant and obnoxious as he is an adult?  

[chucky]

7 hours ago, Mario D. said:

It's ok Chucky   You are not missing much. To me Sheldon as a 10 year old is just as arrogant and obnoxious as he is an adult?  

That's about what I get by the commercials. 😊