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Albany, NY – In today's Academic Minute, Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus of the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, explains the iconic status of Marge Simpson.
Jessamyn Neuhaus is an associate professor of history at the State University of New York Plattsburgh where her research is focused on the analysis of popular culture in the United States. In 2011 she published Housework and Housewives in American Advertising: Married to the Mop. She holds a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University.
Dr. Jessamyn Neuhaus - Marge Simpson
It's the most iconic hairdo in show business: Marge Simpson's towering blue beehive. But there's more to Marge's cartoon coiffure than you might think. After more than twenty years on the air, Marge Simpson and blue hair continue to embody our contradictory ideas about women and family.
On the one hand, Marge is an ideal mom and homemaker, selflessly devoting herself to husband and children. The show makes light of Homer's failings as a husband and parent, but Marge's mothering and care for her home and husband is impeccable, reinforcing the stereotype that women, and only women, are capable of domesticity. Because Marge's place is always in the home, her character reflects our seemingly unshakable belief that women never their male partners are capable of homemaking.
But on the other hand, Marge's character also satirizes TV's "happy housewives." Most significantly, Marge's hair draws attention to and implicitly criticizes gender stereotypes. Why? Because it is so utterly unnatural. Marge's huge blue hair clearly marks her as a fiction, a cartoon character that simply does not and could not exist in real life. Just like the highly idealized moms and housewives on other TV shows, Marge is not a real woman, and her hair ensures that every viewer remembers it.
Like many female characters on television past and present, animated and live action Marge is a barometer of our complex attitudes about women's roles in American society, particularly when it comes to the home and family.