Power relations

Taking into consideration what had been said about representation of genders in The Big Bang Theory, I would like to discuss the relations of power between male and female characters. Although we can say that there are stereotypes about both men and women in this show, there is one fact that puts male characters in the privileged position over the female ones: the female characters always seem to be defined by their relationships with their male partners. For example, as I already mentioned, the character of Bernadette seems to be liberated from all the sexist and stereotypical views, but at the same time, she gets married to the most sexist characters, Howard Wolowitz, who before their marriage tried very hard to be a womanizer, seeing women purely as objects of pleasure, discriminating them based on their looks. As Rachel Redfern wrote: "Howard played the role of a disgusting, probably should be on a sex offender list somewhere, horny aerospace engineer. His goal was to get laid and so he lied to women, hired prostitutes, chased them down in a park, and was in general, completely repugnant for laughs". ( Redfern: The Evolution of ‘The Big Bang Theory’,”). The fact that character like that married a woman like Bernadette jeopardizes her entire portrayal of dependant, strong, confident and smart woman. Furthermore, the fact that she makes more money and provides for the family often comes up as a laughing stock in a show, generating stereotype that it is