Gender Discourse in American TV Series The Big Bang Theory

Abstract

This study highlights the issue of gender stereotyping with emphasis on the linguistic aspect. It identifies the male and female characters’ linguistic features based on Holmes’ (2006) theory of masculine and feminine style of interaction and analyses whether the characters conform or challenge the gender stereotype using Eagly’s (1987) Social Role Theory. The findings demonstrate that the protagonists employed the linguistic features as cited by Holmes (2006) in their interactions. The male protagonists are observed to fit the agentic role whereas the female protagonist is noted to fit the communal role, hence proving that they conform to gender stereotypes. It is also shown that social psychology factors such as normative social influence and the presence of others caused the protagonists to conform to gender stereotypes.