Recently I've been scrounging for anything good to watch on Netflix Instant. I started watching HIMYM because I had seen the first season years ago and remembered enjoying it. I watched the entire series in a couple of days. Its funny enough. There are some cool time jumps and over arching themes. There are some cool cameos and fun reoccurring bits. You get engrossed in the characters even though they never really progress or do anything. And at a certain point you realize. Wait. These characters are kind of horrible. Wait. This show is really misogynistic.The character Barney played by Neil Patrick Harris is horrible. He thinks women are stupid(except for his friends and mother) and wants to have sex with all of them. He treats women like objects. A reoccurring joke on the show is Barney using ridiculous pick up strategies to successfully hook up with women. 'Bimbo' is used a lot on the show. Barney is very exaggerated and over the top, the intention is to be funny. But he just comes off as an asshole skeeze. And a lot of times the show expects you to laugh when Barney takes advantage of a women. Like "good old Barney, he fooled another one, haha!"
A lot is forgiven within the show because Barney is played by a gay actor. There's like a reverse suspension of your disbelief. You don't think anything of the way he treats women because you know its fake. But when you think about it, its really awful. After seeing so many episodes in so short a time it became glaring.
The leads in HIMYM are shallow, petty, and narcissistic. The show has a severely limited view of women and relationships. As a whole it reminds me of 'Seinfeld' without any self-awareness.
Full Disclosure: I did watch the entire series. I enjoyed most of it.
Can totally relate to your post. I started watching this series on Netflix as well to while away the time, and had to stop because the sexism started to get to me. I hated the way women in this sitcom who try to follow their dreams are NEVER supported by their male partners--they have to choose between their relationships and their careers.
ReplyDeleteLily's character is especially antifeminist. When she tries to 'find' herself in the second season, she has to support herself as a grossly underdressed waitress in a Hawai'an bar. Is this sitcom trying to tell us that women who are not in a relationship have no other recourse in the 20th or 21st century but low-paid, demeaning jobs? Sort of, "face the wrath of the world if you dare to walk out a relationship and follow your dreams"?
And yes, I agree with a lot of comments online that such blatant sexism in this sitcom cannot be excused just because one of the main actors is gay.
I agree completely. I also believe that the show promotes rape culture. There are plenty of moments when Barney and Ted mention getting women drunk enough to have sex with them. In addition, the women with whom Barney and Ted interact tend to be portrayed as stupid and as objects. After the beginning of Season 3, the sexism, misogyny, and promotion of rape culture caused me finally to stop watching.
ReplyDeleteOK, so really late to this but I just started watching this on Netflix. And yes, the show is fun and entertaining, and it is also terribly sexist. But I actually don't get that upset about Barney, it's the other characters that bug me. So, Barney has a brother, who is basically the gay version of him. And his gay brother treats men just as Barney treats women, so, to me, Barney doesn't treat women like he does because they are women, he just wants to do whatever to get laid, and that woludn't change if he wanted to get laid with men. The problem is that we live in a sexist culture, and his atitude pepretades a rape culture and female objetification. But the other characters? Ted, Marshal, Lily and specially Robin? They are sexist as hell. Specially because they don't recognize it, in a way that Barney does. Barney's behaviour is clearly wrong, but the other's isn't. Their comments, putting Marshal down for perceived as feminine, for me, that is a lot more damaging that Barney's appalling lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteMy feelings exactly!! Barney isn't my biggest issue, it's the misogyny shown by the other characters. that pisses me off.
DeleteWait what? the show may have a total self-criticizing womanizer, but just because a woman chooses to love another person and make compromises for him because she MISSES him and has been with him for 9 years doesn't mean she is anti feminist. I also think that a man should do the same for her. I am sick of this hyperfeminist nonsense that just because you are a strong independent woman, the rules of decency or love, or commitment dont apply. I am not talking about the show, I have a LOT of problems with it, but this is not one of them. if you want to be a REAL woman or man, be loving and caring to those who care for you, and try to make a positive impact on the world around you, for that is TRUE strength and independence
ReplyDeleteHIMYM is equally misandrist though. It portrays men as being perverts and dumb.
ReplyDeleteMISANDRY IS NOT A REAL TERM. Women are inferior in society. Anything that is sexist against women makes it harder for them to be equal. Men are in a power position, and seen as superior to women. Media being sexist against men does not threaten their ability to be seen as competent or intelligent, as it often does with women. Saying "misandry" is like saying "heterophobia" or "minority supremacy." When something is said against the privileged person, their privilege is not taken away. When something is said against an inferior person in society, it perpetuates the idea that they are inferior and deserve to be so. Why are people so quick to cry out against sexism against men when they don't give a flying fuck about sexism against women?
DeleteYou completely missed the point of Barney's character. He is the ridiculous one, the butt of jokes, the worst of the group... because he is outwardly sexist. His sexism is intentional, and denounced in the show.
ReplyDeleteActually, for a majority of the show his behaviour is glorified.
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