Bones a Feminist Perspective

My favorite TV show, or at least one of my top 3 TV shows, is Bones. Bones aires Thursdays on Fox and weeknights on TNT. It is the story of Dr. Temperance Brennan (played by Emily Deschenal, yes Zooey's sister), a forensic anthropologist (basically she works with bones) and her partner FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanez, that's right Angel). Brennan and Booth are accompanied on their murder solving missions by a squad of squints (scientists). It sounds a little dry but the emphasis of the show is on the characters and their interaction and relationships more than the murders, although there are some doozies.

So, as I said Bones is my favorite TV show and basically I was trying to come up with a way to write about it on the blog because I love it and got all of the seasons for Christmas. Originally I was going to talk about it from a Marxist perspective but decided that a Feminist Perspective is more appropriate.

For starters a Feminist Perspective is appropriate because without a doubt Dr. Brennan is a feminist. The second reason a Feminist Perspective and Bones are a fit is because Bones challenges many typically held beliefs about men and women in the work force. First of all, Dr. Brennan is a woman who is a genius. She is smarter than Booth and maybe even smarter than the other scientists she works with. She is also beautiful. This counteracts the stereotype that smart women are unattractive and vice versa. In fact the other female scientists on the show are beautiful as well. In the same vein, most male scientists are depicted as nerdy unattractive guys. Again Bones counteracts that (minus one or two minor characters). The male scientists are hott and fun. Another stereotype dispelled in Bones is men being payed more than women. Brennan make substantially more money than Booth. Brennan also goes out in the field. She is great at self-defense and she's a good shot with a gun. Brennan is not an object to be gazed upon. She is treated with respect and as a person. Bones is full of oppositional messages.

So I could go on for pages about Bones, how much I love it and the oppositional messages in it. I love Bones and I highly recommend it.

Here's a clip for your viewing pleasure! P.S. if you're squeamish you may not want to watch.