Feature

Femininity and the Spinster  
The representation of the single 
woman in The Simpsons    
Jo Johnson

The image of the spinster is therefore characterized as culturally and sociologically deviant. The fact that she does not desire to procreate or marry goes against the long-held heteronormative view of society. Not taking into consideration the fact that these women may actually prefer to live independently, reasons and validations are needed to justify such a life choice. Effigies of dull, unattractive, asexual feminine failures consequently mar the image of the spinster in the media. With the stereotypical view that she must either be physically or mentally unattractive, or barren and unable to procreate, the spinster is relegated into an existence of sociological redundancy.

I would therefore like to examine this argument with reference to The Simpsons, which is notably associated with the idea of characterising the cultural and gender roles usually dismissed in popular animation. With Springfield’s traditional and almost backward view of the role of women, does this explain the abundance of desperate single female characters, or is it simply a direct reflection of the representation of single men?

The Outing of Patty Bouvier

In her text Spinsters in Sensible Shoes (1995), Chris Cuomo points out the common misconceived unification between the spinster and the lesbian. According to Cuomo ‘the concept of the spinster has historically enabled the invisibility of lesbians and lesbian sexuality’ and ‘the significant overlap in stereotypic conceptions of spinsters and lesbians’ (Cuomo 221) lead to worthwhile analysis on how and why these representations intermix.

There are two characters in The Simpsons that possibly best portray the role of the Spinster; Marge Simpson’s sisters, Patty and Selma Bouvier. Both sisters are culturally coded as stereotypical spinsters; they are dull, drab, and asexual and their ridicule of Homer bestows them with feminist attitudes. Unlike her sister Selma, Patty, the chain smoking, gravel-voiced, vice ridden, asexual epitome of spinsterhood incarnate isn’t trying desperately to find a man, neither has she expressed the desire to become a mother. As Marge explained in the episode Principal Charming “Patty is the one who chose a life of celibacy, Selma just had it thrust upon her.” (Principal Charming)

When it comes to the characterisation of Patty and Selma, the emphasis is on the grotesque. “You think you know fear? Well I’ve seen them naked!” (Homer Alone) This emphasis immediately removes any trace of femininity, and in the case of Patty, her right to be seen as a strong independent female, is quashed by the constant reminders of her repulsive physicality (both sisters are frequently seen with leg hair, facial hair and several unpleasant foot problems). As well as the traditional significance of diet in the representation of the spinster; Patty and Selma both displaying what Cuomo refers to as qualities of ‘the puritanical, health-obsessed or vegetarian lesbian-feminist’ (Cuomo  222), it is also interesting to note their choice of after dinner entertainment: watching Divorce Court TV.

This immediately functions to affirm, in particular, Patty’s aversion to marriage. This is a fact only strengthened in the episode Principal Charming when asked if they could baby-sit when they had already planned to go to a colleagues' wedding, Patty replies “We’ll leave before they throw the bouquet.” This overtly public shunning of the notion of marriage and the traditions of the throwing (and catching) of the bouquet is a very strong sociological statement on Patty’s behalf.

When discussing the danger of such a statement in the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, where Eglantine Price declares; “I live alone. It suits my purpose” (Cuomo 222), Cuomo brings up the notion that unlike Mary Poppins’ ability to fly away from sentiment and familial roles, Eglantine Price’s and in this case Patty Bouvier’s position in the ‘real world,’ creates a need to firmly establish their heterosexuality. Whilst this statement is mostly grounded in the cultural specificity of the 1960s and 1970s surrounding the cinematic releases of Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, it seems that even today, justification for both spinsterhood and lesbianism is required when representing either in popular culture.

In the same episode that Patty openly shuns the concept of marriage, she dates and is proposed to by Principal Skinner, a perfunctory attempt at establishing her heterosexuality. On the basis that the bond with her twin sister is so strong that no man could come between it, the proposal was rejected. Is this a sign of complete loyalty to her sister, who in future episodes consequently marries several times, or nothing but a coded way of avoiding the fact that Patty may just be more comfortable on her own? Is it so culturally deviant that a woman could be happier without a man that sibling bonds, although very strong considering they are twins, have to be used to justify it?

Not unlike the notion that spinsterhood can enable the invisibility of lesbianism, this idea can be stretched further and can use as a pre-cursor the notion that sisterhood, (especially such a close bond as twinning) can enable the invisibility of spinsterhood. The display of almost mass characterisation between the two sisters is present throughout the series. They walk, dress, talk and mirror each other as all stereotypical twins do. They are seen as one being, making each individual character’s actions almost indeterminable from their counterparts.

Selma’s heterosexuality and overt desperation to gain a male companion resonates onto Patty’s autonomy. She doesn’t stand out as a single strong woman independently from her sister, so she’s not so much of a threat to the heteronormative audience. They live together and they share a bedroom, they are each other’s sociologically required companions. As if to reinforce their heterosexuality further, MacGyver is used as a social medium to reassure the heteronormative audience of their sexuality. Since the press coverage of Patty’s proposed outing began, the fact that she could not find any eligible men in Springfield has been used to justify her switch to lesbianism. As one news site broadcasted: “Purple haired Patty decides to try romance with women after being snubbed by every man in Springfield.” (Menafn.com) Arguably the subtexts throughout the history of The Simpsons have suggested her homosexuality from the start, yet the way it was publicized could be seen to seriously demean any kind of sincerity in its intentions to represent sexual diversity.

This example of social ‘sugar-coating’ could however be a blessing in disguise. By creating justifications for Patty’s actions, it therefore renders her existence in Springfield “acceptable” by the heteronormative audience. The lack of eligible bachelors, Patty’s long running spinsterhood and the fact that its an animation, therefore rendering it ‘unreal’ to its audience, both serve to justify the usual inconceivable presence of a lesbian in such a family orientated show. Although the fact that it is the oh-so-familiar ‘stereotypical drab spinster turned lesbian’ plot line, which is in itself demeaning and repressive of any kind of advance in the representation of the lesbian within popular culture, it nevertheless allows such a well-known character to not only come out of the closet, but also celebrates and accepts same sex marriages.

Whilst Patty’s discovery that her fiancée was in fact a man, in the episode There’s Something about Marrying, served to affirm her sexuality to the audience when she shuns him, shouting: “Hell no, I like Girls!” (There’s Something about Marrying) Selma’s failed attempts at marriage have labelled her with a different trait stereotypically associated with the representation of the spinster; desperation.

Desperate Un-Wives

Walter Heape’s book Sex Antagonism states that there are ‘two classes of women’ the wife and the spinster and they have ‘quite different aims in life’ (Heape in Jeffreys 143). Although physically identical to her sister (apart from a slight difference in hairstyle), Selma has very different views on marriage and motherhood. She has been married several times and has given up her long quest for a baby in trade for the care of her lizard Jub Jub. Whilst Patty’s life choices were often dwarfed by Selma’s overt desperation and man chasing, Selma’s life is similarly dwarfed by her sister’s contentment with her single life.

Patty and Selma are seen as one being, making each individual character’s actions almost indeterminable from their counterparts. The very fact that they are and always will be, identical sisters, brings in cartoon terms an unbreakable character pairing. It is unlikely that we will ever see a permanent split of these characters, thus it renders it frustratingly impossible for them ever to gain their individual ideal lives. With the sibling tie binding them eternally together, their efforts for happiness will inevitably remain fruitless.

This fruitlessness is displayed by most of the single women of Springfield; Schoolteachers Edna Krabappel and Miss Hoover, the divorced mother of Millhouse; Luanne Van Houten and Ruth Powers: the Thelma to Marge’s Louise. All of the single women in Springfield have the same desperate goal. Probably best displayed in the episode The Two Mrs. Nahassapeemapetilon’s, the ratio of single women to eligible bachelors are slim to none. At a charity bachelor auction, we see man after man rejected without bid. Barney Gumble, Captain McAllistar and Moe Syzlak display the epitome of single Springfield men: alcoholic, grotesque, brainless or overweight. Ironically Homer Simpson embodies all of these characteristics. Contrastingly the single women of Springfield are mostly slim and attractive, a tradition upheld by most cartoon gender stereotyping.

It is Apu Nahasspeemapetilon that is the star prize of the auction; he explains, “Well, I have a doctorate in computer science. I run my own business of course. I do like to cook, I'm not such a good talker, but I love to listen. In my spare time I like to build furniture and then to have a discussion about where to put it in a room.” (The Two Mrs. Nahassapeemapetilon’s) He is every single Springfield woman’s dream date, and is subsequently shared between them until he is abruptly reminded of his impending arranged marriage.

It is consequently interesting to consider that traditionally, ‘In the case of cartoons, for instance, studies have consistently revealed that men outnumber women by four or five to one’ (Gunter 22). It is no secret that it is the male characters who dominate The Simpsons. With most of the storylines focusing on Homer's or Bart’s antics, they have no lack of male counterparts surrounding them. As Barrie Gunter goes on to explain, ‘women are presented in very stereotypical roles…’ males enjoy ‘a much broader range of occupations than females, with females most often portrayed in marital or familial roles’ (Gunter 22). This is consistently demonstrated in the characterisation and gender placement in Springfield. The married women are traditionally stay-at-home mothers, the single women are usually teachers (a familial acceptable role). If any woman fails to fit into this mould, she is either a lesbian (Patty), a desperate spinster (Selma), divorced (Luanne Van Houten and Ruth Powers) or a home-wrecker (Mindy).

In general, therefore, few women… would have based the core of their identity on their paid employment. The minority who did so, were spinsters, widows, feminists or some combination of the three… Spinsters were expected to support themselves and widows might need to work, but men were expected to support their households. (Delamont 85-6)

Although written about women in 1893, little has changed in Springfield’s society. The incomes of the married couples come solely from the husband’s employment. It is only the single women who work outside the home, and although stuck in monotonous, unfulfilling jobs that they despise, they are nevertheless independent women. In contrast, when characters such as Marge attempt to go back into employment, they find that their family life stands in the way, reverting back to their past roles at the end of the episode in true cartoon fashion.

During the 1990’s, a countervailing message presented single women as neurotic, unhappy, and more desperate to marry than they had been in decades. For every magazine headline crowing about the fabulousness of single life, there was one questioning single women’s emotional fragility and whether they were “too picky”, too selfish, to make a commitment. (Kingston 201)

Whilst both the characterisation and the media view of the nineties single woman portray an ‘anxious to marry but no man is good enough’ spinster, the construction, not the behaviour of characters such as Selma Bouvier and Edna Krabappel, whilst compared to the ‘hysterically bored double-burdened desperate’ housewife such as Marge Simpson, interestingly display tenets of feminism, independence and revolution. Although desperately lonely and willing to reject all morals and dignity to find a husband, the fact that there are so many single women with good careers (albeit stereotypical) compared to the numerous unemployed male characters such as Barney Gumble, shines a small ray of hope on the otherwise dark, stereotypical society of Springfield. Ironically it is the unfulfilled singleton, not the married women who may hold the key to the advancement of gender within Springfield’s backward and clichéd cartoon culture.

Don’t ask me, I’m just a girl!

The conflation between spinster, lesbian and unwanted loneliness have been addressed above, yet there is one more stereotype that is harder to characterize in Springfield; the feminist spinster. While there are several examples of the desperate spinster and a larger than life example of the lesbian spinster, the feminist spinster remains elusive, buried in the stereotypically patriarchal society of Springfield. Amidst the frantic manhunt of the older generation of single women, it is interestingly the younger generation that hides the free thinking and morals of feminism. Although only being eight years old, Lisa Simpson, a ‘self hailed feminist’ may hold the key to this missing, widely stereotyped view of the spinster; ‘…the bulk of those who take an active part in the [women’s] movement are undoubtedly spinsters; a dissatisfied, and we may assume, an unsatisfied class of women’ (Walter Heape in Jeffreys 143).

Arguably not yet old enough to be concerned with boys, it is in the very construction of the cartoon that we can class Lisa Simpson as a spinster. In her permanent limbo of pre-adolescence, she has remained eight years old and single, for 18 seasons. In her pre-adolescent state, she displays unwavering morality amidst consistent ignorance and her vegetarianism and freethinking stereotypically classes her as what Cuomo refers to as ‘the puritanical, health-obsessed or vegetarian lesbian-feminist’ (Cuomo 222). Although she has experienced her first date, and future flash forward episodes have seen her forsake marriage when faced with the prospect of never seeing her family again, she is most typically portrayed as a single, determined, and occasionally presidential woman.

It is therefore worth exploring Lisa Simpson’s marital status at the time of her (future) presidency in the episode Bart to the Future. As Anne Kingston explains: ‘The confusion surrounding the meaning of wife in the first decade of the twenty-first century is most insidiously perpetuated in the depiction not of wives, but of women who are unattached’(Kingston 200). In her first speech as President Elect, Lisa finishes answering a question posed by one of the many journalists; “Yes, I am proud to be America’s first straight female President.”

As quoted in Jeffreys,

[Feminists were] normally drawn from those in whom the sexual instinct is not preponderant. Such women do not altogether represent their sex; some are rather mannish in temperament; some are ’homogenic’, that is inclined to attachments of their own sex rather than the opposite sex; such women are ultra-rationalising and brain-cultured; to many, children are more or less a bore; to others, man’s sex passion is a mere impertinence, which they do not understand, and whose place they consequently misjudge. (Carpenter in Jeffreys 107)

Whilst Carpenter’s view of feminists would today be considered ancient (it was first published in 1897), the same association of the unattached feminist to the lesbian, still prevails in her representation within the media. The fact that the first words we hear from President Simpson’s mouth (which serves to confirm and reassure the American people of her sexuality) immediately renders, and arguably belittles, her pre-adolescent feminism as ‘just a phase.’

Although she is clearly a strong, independent woman--her voice is deeper and more confident--the immediate reassurance of her sexual ‘normality’ is billed before her administrative pledges. The heteronormative audience is subsequently comforted by the lack of ‘deviance’, especially when they are more used to seeing Lisa as a pre-pubescent eight year old girl. Returning to the stereotypical notion of the Feminist once more, Saul explains that:

Feminists are famous (perhaps notorious) for their concerns about standards of feminine attractiveness. Rejection of the pressure to live up to such standards has been important enough to feminism- or at least to poplar conceptions of feminism- that it plays a key role in the stereotype of a feminist as a woman who wears men’s clothes, eschews makeup, burns her bras, and rejects adornment and attractiveness of any sort. (Saul 140)

With Lisa Simpson embodying the character traits and aesthetics of a feminist, by the rejection of the typical standards of feminine attractiveness--in both her pre-adolescent and adult days she consequently constructs herself as a walking statement of her morals, beliefs and social ethics. Whilst her actions as President live up to the same construction as her character, the people surrounding her hold the same expectations for reassurance that the heteronormative majority of the audience watching The Simpsons require.

In conclusion

It is the same concept of ‘justification’ that governs all three representations of the stereotypical spinster. Patty’s sexuality is justified by the lack of eligible bachelors, the unmarried single women is seen constantly and desperately chasing after men, thus giving her life purpose, and finally Lisa’s feminist attitude can easily be classed as ‘just a phase’ as she is, and will eternally be, a pre-adolescent child.

In conclusion, it is through the conventions of cartoon gendering that when compared to the representation of married women--who still embody the generic, passive cartoon housewife--the single women are arguably shown in a more progressive, unconventional light. It is the single (albeit desperate) women that are nonetheless expanding the narrow role of the cartoon female. Characters such as Patty are furthering it still, with the representation of female sexuality.

…beyond the media coverage, unmarried women are successfully breaking through stereotypes that reduce them to a one-size-fits-all market demographic, carving out meaningful lives that don’t hinge on their ability to consume. Meanwhile, wives are facing the opposite challenge, and that is to take, at long last, their rightful place on the economic grid. (Kingston 235)

Consequently, the presences of single independent women are having a visible effect on the generation below them. Best portrayed by Lisa Simpson, the pre-adolescent generations are shattering the long standing clichés of the cartoon girl. She is no longer silent, passive and overtly cute, she is loud, passive-aggressive and individual. It is therefore in the image of the next generation of female characters, motivated as a result of the abundance of independent women, that the true breakthroughs in gender representation are being created.

Works Cited

Cuomo, Chris. “Spinsters in Sensible Shoes.” From Mouse to Mermaid. Ed. Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, and Laura Sells. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1995. 212-223.

Delamont, Sara. Changing Women, Unchanged Men? Sociological Perspectives on gender in a post-industrial society. Buckingham: Open University Press, 2001.

Gunter, Barrie. Television and Gender Representation. London: John Libbey & Company Ltd. 1995.

Jeffreys, Sheila. The Spinster and her Enemies; Feminism and Sexuality 1880-1930. Melbourne: Spinifex Press. 1985.

Kingston, Anne. The Meaning of Wife. London: Piatkus Books Ltd. 2004.

MENAFN.COM. 2004. “Marge Simpsons’ sister is gay.” 29th November 2004

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=CqvUeWeidDxmTC2LTChnVBNm

Saul, Jennifer, M. Feminism: Issues and Arguments. New York: Oxford University Press. 2003.

Episodes Cited

Bart to the Future. Dir. Michael Mercantel. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright. 2000 Sky One off-air recording: VHS The Simpsons ,Season 11. Twentieth Century Fox, 2000.

Homer Alone. Dir. Mark Kirkland. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright. 1992 The Simpsons, The Complete Third Series. DVD. Twentieth Century Fox. 2003

Principal Charming. Dir. Mark Kirkland. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright. 1991. The Simpsons, The Complete Second Season. DVD Twentieth Century Fox. 2002

The Two Mrs. Nahassapeemapetilon’s. Dir. Dean Moore. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright. 1997. Sky One off-air recording: VHS The Simpsons, Season  9. Twentieth Century Fox, 1997.

There’s Something about Marrying. Nancy Kruse. Perf. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright. 2005. Sky One off-air recording: VHS The Simpsons, Season 16. Twentieth Century Fox, 2005.