Reaching an audience of over 19 million on the first new episode of the new year is the popular television show The Big Bang Theory. Kaley Cuoco plays Penny, one of the lead female characters, who is portrayed as the stereotypical dumb blonde. Penny is lacking in intelligence but to make up for it she is shown to be beautiful, desired by men because of her looks, popular, and funny. In other words, what she lacks in brains she makes up for in looks and personality. In numerous episodes Penny's lack of intelligence is pointed out and laughed at. This is used to remind the audience that Penny is a dumb blonde and nothing more.
Penny can be contrasted with the other female characters of the show. Bernadette is a blonde female lead who is shown to have both brains and beauty. The voice that her character has is what balances her character out and makes her appear to be a dumb blonde even though she is actually intelligent. Amy is a brunette female lead who is depicted as overly intelligent but not necessarily sexy or pretty. She is shown wearing unflattering clothes and wears no makeup.
Although Penny is often portrayed as being dumb, is she really? The answer is no. She may not have had the highest grades in school but she is street smart, which referenced often throughout the television series. The reason Penny is portrayed as dumb is because of the group of men she hangs out with, Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj are four very intelligent men who are professors in science and engineering. These men are school smart and tend to discuss their work in front of Penny using advanced terms that most people do not understand unless they studied in that particular field.
Married With Children
Kelly Bundy plays the daughter of Al and Peggy in the 1987 television show Married With Children. Kelly is both beautiful and stunning but is lacking in intelligence. In one of her episodes she even states that all she needs in her life is her looks. She is a party animal who enjoys showing off her body and hooking up with guys. Married With Children has emphasized the dumb blonde stereotype through Kelly. Kelly has a tendency to lose her train of thought while speaking and both mispronounces and misspells words.
There are numerous other examples of the "dumb blonde" particularly in television comedies including Pheobe from Friends, Brittany from Glee and Jillian from Family Guy.
In my next blog, I will discuss dumb blondes as portrayed in advertising.
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