Feminist Viewpoint in TV Cartoon Sitcoms

The TV shows The Simpsons and Family Guy both have husband/father characters (Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, respectively) who are pretty much stupid and worthless human beings. Homer in particular is foolish, lazy, irresponsible, insensitive, and driven by his appetites—for beer, for doughnuts. . . . Yet on both shows, their wives love them and are infinitely forgiving. The wives, in fact, are endowed not only with infinite forgiveness and love, but definitely have a monopoly on the intelligence, wisdom, and common sense in their respective families.

In a typical episode, the husband, Homer or Peter, makes foolish mistakes that send the family (or the town or the nuclear plant) to the brink of disaster. Something somehow always saves the day, the guy apologizes to his wife, and she forgives him, 'cause she loves him. (Some of these characterizations might fit The Simpsons better than Family Guy, I feel I ought to admit.)

We'll leave aside the issue of whether it's realistic for any wife to be so infinitely forgiving and infinitely patient. (I, for one, have to wonder how it is that a point never comes when the wife has simply had enough, and I'm sure divorces have occurred with less cause.) If you want to look at older television, The Honeymooners might be seen in the same vein as The Simpsons and Family Guy and thus a predecessor of the newer shows: Ralph Kramden is always doing foolish things, getting himself in trouble in one way or another (and the creativity of the show is precisely to devise new ways in which Ralph can get into trouble).

So, when the husbands are worthless and the wives have all the intelligence, strength, wisdom—all the virtues—think about this portrayal of men and women. This looks to me like a feminist view of the qualities of the two sexes. Well, convinced as I am of this idea, one problem with it is that in both cases, the originator of the show is a man: Seth McFarlane in the case of Family Guy and Matt Groening in the case of The Simpsons. I'm not sure that this totally viscerates my theory because it's certainly conceivable that a man can take a feminist viewpoint.

On the other hand there's I Love Lucy, where the gender roles are the opposite. Lucy is very clever, but in a perverted sort of way. She concocts improbable schemes to get what she wants and to get around her husband, Ricky, who rules the roost like a traditional husband. However, her schemes always backfire, and Ricky has to forgive her. This looks like a reversal of The Simpsons and Family Guy. However, Lucy challenging the husband's supremacy in the marriage may still be feminist.

Okay, three where the wife has to forgive, one where it's the other way around. The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy are both from the 1950s, but certainly modern feminism has roots that go back much further than that.
Copyright © 2009 Richard Stein