I love "Bob’s Burgers."
Some of you may be thinking, “Hm, she loves 'Bob’s Burgers,' I’ll have to eat there someday.” Well I’ve got some bad news for you: That would be impossible.
"Bob’s Burgers" is an adult cartoon on the FOX network that is brilliant, hilarious and one-of-a-kind. It is a show about a mom-and-pop burger restaurant that produces amazing burgers, but still struggles to get by. The Belcher family runs the restaurant: Dad, Bob; mom, Linda; and three kids, Tina, Gene, and Louise.
The family has a loving, free-spirited and progressive dynamic. All of them support each other’s dreams and decisions; whether it be Bob’s restaurant, Linda’s synchronized swimming, Tina’s “friend-fiction,” Gene’s fart music, or Louise becoming an evil dictator. There is no judgment, only love.
These qualities of the show have had many of it’s viewers claiming that it is feminist. Here are some quotes from the show to support that claim:
“Dad, if you believe you’re beautiful, you will be. I did.” -Tina Belcher
"Women do not want to be tricked into having sex.”- Linda Belcher
"This is why I’m only friends with women.”- Gene Belcher (After seeing two boys wrestle.)
"I don’t need a boy to pay attention to me, I’ll pay attention to myself.” - Tina Belcher
While these are just a few, if you watch the show you’ll see two co-parents (not just the mom or dad doing all of the work) raising a two independent daughters and a son who is not afraid of emotions or wear a girl’s bathing suit.
Personally, I think all these things are wonderful and it’s great to finally have a TV show with characters so comfortable in their own bodies. It is a progressive show.
However, as a feminist, I can’t help but notice one thing: Linda and Tina, two of the strong female characters, are voiced by men, John Roberts and Dan Mintz.
The show is produced by two men: Loren Bouchard and Jim Dauterive. Out of the five voice actors for the ⅗ female dominated family, only one of them is actually a female. The show that has people crying “FEMINIST” is dominated by males.
I get it. Having a man’s voice come out of a woman’s mouth can be funny. However, there are many women with deep and/or raspy voices that could have voices two female characters just fine.
There is an increasing awareness of sexism in Hollywood. There is the pay gap, the sexualization of women, flat female characters, and more men in the business than women. Personally, it is hard for me to see the progressive show that "Bob’s Burgers" is have such little female representation behind the scenes, especially with all of the inequalities taking place in Hollywood.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love the show. The characters have so much more dynamic and diverse personalities than other shows aired on TV. I do believe that is is important that it is on, showing the world what it’s like to have a supportive and caring, functioning family. Even though no one from the show has actually outrightly stated that "Bob’s Burgers" is feminist, many portray it as just that. As a feminist myself, it’s hard for me to be completely convinced it is a feminist show with little to no diversity in the making of it.
