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Gene Belcher as “Queen Latifah” for halloween.

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Entry #14 Gene and Gender (as well as Feminism...Sorta)

Bob’s Burgers is one of few animated adult TV shows that carries on perpetuating feminist ideologies (although sometimes, it does this in subtle and unexpected ways). Many of the characters in the Belcher family happen to push feminism pretty constantly-- more specifically Linda, Tina, Louise and Gene. All of the family perpetuates the idea of feminism, even though it happens sometimes in ways that are goofy and unconventional, much like how it often happen with the shows brother character, Gene Belcher-- (something you won’t see on a more crass show I.E, I.E Family Guy). Linda supports Gene through his lack of “hyper-masculinity”, allowing him to keep his hair relatively long and is unalarmed when he often says and does things that would cause many parents to question and be alarmed (like when he says “I have birthing hips!” or wears sequined gowns and wigs in order to perform in a girl band he forms). These are a few actions that cause me to wonder if Gene could perhaps be gender-fluid, and if Linda and Bobs acceptance of his effeminate actions could be some sort of nod to intersectional feminism? Although this may be a little bit of a stretch, I still feel as though it is a definite possibility! (Baca Zinn, 2007)

(since this deals with intersectionality I have cited Baca-Zinn)

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A look at the body of Linda Belcher (and Tina)...

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Entry #13 Ideals of Femininity

According to Malcarida and Bolton, There are 2 contradictory ideals of femininity and they are the fact that:

1. “Women’s bodies should be heteronormative sites of pleasure” 

and 

2.  “Women’s bodies should be selfless sources of maternal nurturance”

And on the show Bob’s Burgers, one could probably argue that women’s bodies aren’t supposed to me looked in a sexualized manner (in other words, they do not adhere to the first aspect of contradictory feminine ideals). Almost every single woman on the show has the same type of build and appearance as Linda Belcher, the matriarch of the Bob’s Burgers Family. In terms of body type, they all have wide hips, fuller waists, and slim legs (lacking in shape) and when it comes to face they all seem to have wide noses, moderate eyes and slight chins-- features that many would argue aren’t traditionally attractive. This is interesting because usually all female cartoon characters are made to be conventionally attractive on some level or in way. This could be a sign of attentive writers trying to appeal more women and show them that its ok to not be conventionally gorgeous, or it could be a way for the writers to appeal to humor by show women who aren’t supposed to be extremely pretty doing foolish things on a TV show... there are many different ways one could read into this, leaving me to hope that eventually, the writers will clear this up.

(taken from our in class notes)

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Tina and Jimmy junior sharing their first kiss

finally!

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Entry 12 “The Paradox of Choice”

In an earlier episode of Bob’s Burgers, Tina is a part of an eventual love triangle with her long-time crush Jimmy Pesto Junior and her new crush named Josh. Josh and Jimmy junior both have crushes on Tina and decide that they both want to ask her to their respective school dances, forcing Tina to have to make a rather quick decision. In the end, Tina decides to go with her new crush making Jimmy Junior become slightly jealous. This episode explore a concept explored my Barry Schwartz called “The Paradox of Choice” which explores the idea that having more than one choice, is not necessarily always a good thing-- This is exactly what Tina learns when she gets to the dance and the boys try and have a dance battle for her affection. Immediately, Tina decides that she can make a compromise and love both of the guys. Unfortunately, they do not accept this idea and decide to both leave Tina. This proves Barry Schwartz’s theory about choice to be accurate, due to the fact that because of her greed, she lost both of her options in the end. Having more than one chance can at times hinder your overall ability to make a decision, and in turn cost you to lose both of your options. This one of few episodes where Tina actually has the ability to pick between two men vying for her attention; making the paradox of choice a rare occurrence upon the show. (Ansari, 2015)

Cited as Ansari for “Pardox of Choice” Reference):

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Entry 11 Age and Dating

In an episode of Bob’s Burgers during season 3 episode 18, we get introduced to Linda’s parents. Linda’s parents have been placed in a retirement community in The Everglades of Florida; however, it was eventually revealed that Linda parents had in fact moved into a community of old-aged swingers! In Aziz Ansari’s book “Modern Romance” he often talks about satisfiers and Maximizers as a concept-- citing that often, those of the older generation are “satisfiers”. Satisfiers are people who are perfectly satisfied with using the convenient option while maximizers (usually the younger generation) are all about seeking the best option. With Linda’s parents being swingers I wonder if they would be considered minimizers or maximizers... One could classify Linda’s parents as satisfiers due to the idea that they seem content “swinging” with the community of other elders around them, but they could also be classified as maximizers due to the fact that they attend swinging parties and get to be with as many partners as possible.  The use of multiple partners could be a way to seek out your best sexual option and to use this to your advantage! The use of multiple partners at such an old ways could also seem as a method of maximization due to the fact that it is a way that the elderly swingers could keep things “interesting” in their relationship (or seek out their best sexual option) without losing interest in your original partner... In terms of Linda’s parents and their situation, it is slightly complicated to figure out whether they are minimizers VS maximizers-- and I wish I could more clearly describe what they have. I also wish I describe it less uncomfortably. (sorry) (Ansari, 2015)

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Gayle with her cat-- the one the Bob accidentally bought an agent for.

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Entry #10 Poverty

This entry is more of a response to my prior entry on the Belcher’s family status; I would now be willing to define the Belcher’s as a family that might be barely making it --making it slightly above the poverty line. I watched a little further into the series and did some research (slight research) and was able to draw this NEW conclusion according to some mathematical analysis  done by a website called www.avclub.com, the Belcher’s are barely scraping by, due to the fact that they must live in New Jersey (where the cost of living is close to the price of living in California) and the proclaimed idea that they are having to pay $3,924 monthly as rent! Which is not ideal considering the fact that they do not often serve many costumers, other than Bob’s very close friend, Teddy. (Hughes 2018) Bob also happens to end up paying for dumb investments that cost him a lot of money himself, like the time he accidentally (and indirectly) hires a fake agent for their cousin Gayle’s cat to be represented in a commercial as well as the time he hired a con artist to give their son, Gene, baseball lessons because he could not afford to get him them through anyone else. These are examples of how Bob is often prone to being exploited by risky business schemes-- a risk factor for families that are poor or working class as stated in our lecture on poverty ( Knop 2018).

If interested in looking at this information for yourself: I have pasted the link below!

https://news.avclub.com/here-s-how-much-the-belchers-from-bob-s-burgers-pay-in-1798269675

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FEMINIST uuuuuuuuuh

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Entry #9 (Not so intersectional) Feminism

 Tina Belcher is supposed to be a thirteen year old girl on the show, yet as young as she is she seems to be a pretty iconic feminist. Although she may be unconventional --(or maybe even accidental in her approaches towards the concept)-- she still seems to behave in ways that make me believe that she is a feminist. Tina is very comfortable being able to express her sexuality and often expresses it through her imagination. Tina is often comfortable and open about expressing her thoughts; fantasizing about situations that involve her and one of her many male love interests, whether its through writing her “erotic friend fictions” (fiction about the people in her lives that involves a lot of butt touching) or fantasizing about lands where you can kiss as many boys as freely as you may desire. Tina also doesn’t see to let her sexuality define who she is, but she lets it be a strong part of who she is and doesn’t try to mask it. She dances sexually as a form of self-expression and doesn’t seem very ashamed when she does it. Tina is also rather unafraid of the judgement she may face due to her appearance; she expresses the fact that she understands she is beautiful and amazing through quotes such as: “I'm a smart, strong, sensual woman”  (Anon 2018) and also truly believes this fact. In my book, this makes her a solid example of a young, feminist, icon.

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Gene and Louise at one of their jobs-- the marijuana dispensary.

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Entry #8 A Classification

This entry is mostly about the reasons as to why we can classify the Belcher’s (Bob’s Family) as an everyday middle class family. First reason is that the Belcher’s children definitely have structure to their lives-- they go to school, and then home to work most everyday, unless it is the weekend or the summertime. On the weekends or in the summertime the kids get the opportunity to do certain extracurriculars, Tina is a member of a scout troop that often does wilderness survival things and Gene has attended a baseball camp --(although it was run by a con)-- and Louise, Tina, and Gene have all at some point gotten jobs as weed distributors (on accident). Extracurricular activities are something that are usually only available to children who have access to money or experiences necessary to attend them. I also consider the family middle class due to the fact that the kids have already been gaining job experiences (the job at the weed dispensary and the jobs they have at the burger shop). A third and final reason that the family could be considered middle class is because Linda Belcher (the Matriarch of the family) is also often present in the kids lives and help the kids with a lot in the family. Especially when it comes to comforting the kids and helping them out when the need it like the way that she helped out Tina by volunteering to chaperone her and a few classmates on a class trip. These are just a few reasons that lead me to believe that the family on the show is a middle class family as opposed to a poor/working class family. (Lareau 2007)

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Jimmy giving Tina a token-- some proof they are going steady.

You know it’s coming but it’s still beautiful 😭😭😭

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Entry #7 “Going Steady”

Tina, the oldest daughter on the show happened to finally be able to achieve her goal of being in a relationship with her longtime neighbor, who goes by the name of Jimmy Pesto Jr.; In a specific episode entitled “Bob Actually” they finally establish their relationship. In this episode it is Valentine’s Day and Tina is trying to figure out the proper way to celebrate it with Jimmy Jr.-- although Jimmy thinks that the proper way to celebrate it is by bouncing and performing on trampolines that have been placed in the gymnasium at around lunch time. At this point in the series, I think it would be safe to say that Tina and Jimmy had begun to “go steady” (as defined in our lecture on Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg). You see this because at some point in the episode Jimmy asks Tina if she would be interested in being his girlfriend; this being a way to make themselves exclusive. Jimmy and Tina also are fairly young, but the fact that they are doesn't mean much due to the fact that people of any age can go steady as a way to practice marriage. In addition to the following info that I presented, in a latter episode Jimmy gives Tina a flower from “Donations for Carnations”, as a way to express his interest in her (the act of giving a token). There is not much other evidence of going steady that I can present... (they are only in middle school and I am barely into season 4) But based on the previous information, I am convinced that they are going steady. (Ansari 2015)

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Andi and Ollie (voiced by Sarah Silverman on the show) The rare case of women voicing male characters on the show.

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Entry #6 Gender

(Knop 2017)