"How I Met Your Mother"- An Insult to Women Everywhere?

     I know I'm catching the bus pretty late here, but this past summer, I discovered "How I Met Your Mother." Okay, okay, I know it's been on for years, but at least I found it now, right? I mean, it's a funny show, I must admit.  The characters are loveable, and the writers somehow make the over-the-top situations Barney, Ted, Marshall, Lily, and Robin face applicable to all of our love lives.  I was so enamored with the show for several weeks after this discovery that I was surprised to hear my mother's response when I was telling her how enjoyable the show was. It went a little something like this:
     Me: "Mom! I just watched "How I Met Your Mother!" It's such a funny show! I love it!"
     Mom: "I hate that show."
     Me: (Jeeeeez, Mom, harsh!) "What? Why?"
     Mom: "They way they act toward women is so demeaning. They objectify women so much on there, I just think it goes too far."
     So I took a minute to think about what she said.  You know what?, I thought. She's actually right (Don't moms always know everything?...ugh.).
     Please don't hate me!
     I decided to do a little research, and as it turns out, my mom is not the only one to hold this opinion. Then, I started to watch the show with a more critical eye, and I was convinced.  Despite the show's humor, "How I Met Your Mother" is notorious for is blatant degradation of women.
     On the show (which is actually shot from a strong male gaze), Neil Patrick Harris plays Barney, a womanizer who constantly is on the lookout for an "easy" girl to take home.  By the show's standards, most girls are "easy" and conform to a certain look.  Almost every girl I've ever seen Barney take home has had big breasts and a small waist, and she has had an exceedingly ridiculous lack of common sense.  Barney manipulates these women with ease, and the other characters rarely contest his technique or the value of the women he snags.
     I found a blog called "Feministing" that had a brief article supporting my views, and the piece contained a great video montage of times women were devalued on the show. It's about the "Bro Code," and interestingly almost all of the tips are about how to get women. I couldn't find a better montage on YouTube, so take a look at the video and the blog post here. 
     This is what I took away from the video: all women are bimbos who will believe anything men say, they exist to provide entertainment (corollary "b" in the video, anyone?), and they should be treated as objects to get into bed with--nothing more.  Hey, at least he plans to use protection.
     To be fair, there Marshall and Lily are a couple on the show that exemplify a fairly healthy relationship, yet the show focuses more on the womanizing ways of Barney to, in my opinion, get the ratings they need. There's simply more mischief for a single character.
     Another interesting thing I found was a post on a blog called "All My Lies Are Wishes". This post introduced the Bechdel Test for media.  The test determines a female presence in shows and movies based on three questions:
     1) Are there two or more women in the show with names?
     2) Do they talk to each other?
     3) Do they talk to each other about something other than men?
     I applied this test to "How I Met Your Mother," I concluded that although there are two female principle characters with names, they do talk to each other, and they sometimes talk to each other about subjects other than men, it doesn't overshadow the fact that the other minor female characters, who appear in only one or a few episodes (Barney's ladies, Ted's girlfriends, etc.), give women everywhere a bad name.
     Sure, there's a female presence.  Two strong women are indeed in the show. But are there only two strong women in the entire world? NO. Is every other girl out there a stupid woman easily fooled and overly willing to get in bed with a stranger? NO. Does this provide for good entertainment? Sure...But, in the end, if shows keep portraying women in such a degrading fashion, females will never be able to completely gain the respect they deserve.

      For those of you who want a little more proof, here's a video of the tricks Barney uses to pick up his women.