Queen Penelope

[Louise]

"just threatening to castrate him like when she was in Jr. Rodeo still would have been funny."

How on earth is that funny? That's horrifying, and I would say that even if Howard wasn't my favorite character. I'd say that even if the character in question was one I disliked.

Would it be funny to joke about mutilating a female character's labia or ovaries? It's the exact same thing. Castration literally means surgically removing the testes.

Is "I'll cut off your clitoris" funny? No? Would kicking a female character in the vulva be funny? No.

That's not "feisty" or "sassy", it's horrifying, and so is breaking someone's nose and giving them two black eyes just for being slightly annoying.

I think I'm done here.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

How on earth is that funny? That's horrifying, and I would say that even if Howard wasn't my favorite character. I'd say that even if the character in question was one I disliked.

Would it be funny to joke about mutilating a female character's labia or ovaries? It's the exact same thing. Castration literally means surgically removing the testes.

Is "I'll cut off your clitoris" funny? No? Would kicking a female character in the vulva be funny? No.

That's not "feisty" or "sassy", it's horrifying, and so is breaking someone's nose and giving them two black eyes just for being slightly annoying.

I think I'm done here.

Sometimes a threat can be tongue in cheek and not carried out literally! Anyway I think what you really object to is Howard getting punched which is fair enough.

[devilbk]

How on earth is that funny? That's horrifying, and I would say that even if Howard wasn't my favorite character. I'd say that even if the character in question was one I disliked.

Would it be funny to joke about mutilating a female character's labia or ovaries? It's the exact same thing. Castration literally means surgically removing the testes.

Is "I'll cut off your clitoris" funny? No? Would kicking a female character in the vulva be funny? No.

That's not "feisty" or "sassy", it's horrifying, and so is breaking someone's nose and giving them two black eyes just for being slightly annoying.

I think I'm done here.

Threatening to castrate any of the guys is a fairly empty threat. They have no balls to begin with.

[Idle Miscreant]

See, I object to the notion that those are the only two options: being a helpless damsel in distress, or being actively aggressive. That's a false dichotomy, to me. I can take care of myself without kicking people in the nuts. There's a middle ground between being passive and going Junior Rodeo. I never said that women need to be rescued, I said that I, personally, do not relate to Penny and I acknowledged that this is an unpopular opinion, here. I don't automatically relate to a character just because we're both female.

I will stop now, because I know this is not the right venue for that viewpoint, and I respect that.

Louise dear fellow, I've never felt many people here actually relate to Penny (except maybe PJ?) although I could be utterly gobsmackingly wrong...They seem to relate to Sheldon more, or merely a form of proud 'outsiderness', which is why everyone gets so enraged about the chaps (Sheldon and Howard in particular) being made to feel ashamed of being different, where we're all HONOURED to be so, and the chaps USED to feel this way too. Well, Sheldon did.

Also there's about a 40/60 bloke/female ratio, so I'm not sure whether our genders play much of a part here.

Personally, my pittance on the topic, is that I've never seen Penny as particularly "female" at all. When I think of Penny, I think of chaos, and alcohol, and generosity, and slovenliness, and kindness and a bit of a temper...but that's about it.
I don't, for example, see her shoe interest as "feminine". She likes shoes, Howard likes belt buckles and dickies, Sheldon likes plaid and suits with more than one colour...
I also don't see Sheldon as "male" either...which is probably why I object to his increasing portrayal as a boring heteronormative bloke who goes on dates as quite repugnant.

My opinions on gender are a bit odd though, I admit...

I didn't like her punching Howard either. But I also didn't like how they wrote Howard in that episode. I felt it was a trifle OOC. He usually knows when to end a joke. He makes a charming play for a woman's affection, she (usually) rebuffs him, and he accepts it gracefully. They made him press the issue again and again in that episode, and he was making Penny uncomfortable. Again, she never usually is with Howard, because she knows he's a good chap. I personally just feel the whole episode was a bit dodgy.

Ach! Look at us all expecting humanity and consistency out of a sitcom!

[Louise]

I think that perhaps this show/fandom/whatever has become so upsetting to me that it's not healthy, and it's best that I take a break for a while. I do not apologize for the opinions that I hold, but I apologize if I've created any unpleasantness.

[Tuesday Pajamas]

I get upset over the destruction of Sheldon and Penny, so I can appreciate a Howard fan would feel the same way about his treatment. There are differing opinions even within an alternative fandom like ours. And you are welcome here at any rate, so please don't feel that you are not.

[Louise]

I get upset over the destruction of Sheldon and Penny, so I can appreciate a Howard fan would feel the same way about his treatment. There are differing opinions even within an alternative fandom like ours. And you are welcome here at any rate, so please don't feel that you are not.

Thank you, that is very kind of you and I do appreciate it, a lot.

[Idle Miscreant]

Pic spam!







I bloody love that last one but it's too small...

[Toad]

Well all I know is this has forced me to think about who and what I relate to on the show and the nature of violence in sitcoms, real or implied.

I love Penny and I love Howard, but it's sort of like when you have two friends who don't get along with each other that well. It can be difficult and messy and you maybe turn a blind eye to some things just to maintain the love you have for both of them.

I don't know if that makes any sense.

[Louise]

Pic spam!







I bloody love that last one but it's too small...

You are a peacemaker, Gripe

That scene with the foot-pumice always cracks me up because Leonard is watching with interest, like maybe he has a foot fetish, lol.