The
thought of middle school brings about uncomfortable and cringe worthy memories
most people prefer to forget about. Between the drastic physical, emotional,
and social changes, this period of adolescence is more realistically referred
to as, ‘the awkward stage’. Marked by the struggle to fit in with peers while
managing to keep your cool when in the presence of a your secret crush, this
stage is anything but smooth. Tina, the geeky oldest child of the Belcher
Family on Fox’s Bob’s Burgers, is
deep into this socially awkward time. Although she is boy crazy and just trying
to fit in, Tina is anything but the typical teenage girl. From her unusual
hobbies to her over-shared sexual fantasies, her personality and open sexuality
are extremely different from the norm at her age. Tina’s character is unique because
of the way she embraces her sexuality and feminist ideals, and challenges the
normative understandings of girlhood in a post feminist society.
The
animated sitcom, Bob’s Burgers, tells
the story of a blue-collar family which consists of parents, Linda and Bob, and
their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise. The entire Belcher family is a
pretty awkward and odd, but Tina definitely takes the cake for most unique
character. Voiced by male stand up comedian Dan Mintz, Tina’s voice comes off
as unemotional, low pitched, and monotone. This attribute helps explain why she
contributes so much of the show’s humor, as her voice is anything but that
imagined of a young teen girl. Her character can be summed up as quirky, geeky,
creative, and very sexually frustrated. She fantasizes about having a boyfriend
and spends the majority of her time writing erotic ‘friend fiction’. Tina has a
love for horses, gushy romance, and zombies, but her true obsession lies on
starring at the butts of her male peers, especially that of her crush, Jimmy
Pesto Jr.
In
a society deemed post-feminist, where men and women are considered socially equal,
Tina sparks conversation. Although Tina has constant immature sexual fantasies,
she also fantasizes about the independent, self-supported women she will one
day become. She continually expresses characteristics throughout the series
that position her to reject gender norms and act unlike typical middle school
girls. The idea of post feminism suggests that the feminist movement was
successful enough to warrant it’s own irrelevance. Meaning, women can make the
choice to be sexual objects and this is not due to pressure from their male
peers (Zimdars, 2014). This idea proposes that there is gender equality,
however the normative ideas of girlhood today suggest different, and Tina represents
this opposition to this norm.
From a young age, children are
socialized to fit into strict gender expectations. Young girls are brought up
to like pink, Disney princesses, shopping, makeup, and other things that entail
being a ‘girly girl’. They are taught to be polite and not talk about sexual
desires publicly, as these behaviors are only socially appropriate for boys
(Pierce, 1990). Playing the role of the girly girl and suppressing sexual
desires is what is socially acceptable and preferred by males. Regardless of
what post feminism suggest, females (especially young) are typically still the
object of the male gaze and less assertive than the normative male (McRobbie,
2007). Tina, on the other hand, embodies a unique outlook and personality
towards sexuality that embraces the ideas of feminism. She is open and honest
about her body and sexuality, has unexpected and hidden confidence, and
believes in herself to become an independent, strong women.
Tina’s
openness and honesty about her sexuality makes her unlike any other character
on TV today. Instead of suppressing her wants and being embarrassed by her
desires, she embraces them and makes them known. She consistently talks about
her body’s changes while simultaneously fantasizing about all of the butts
around her. From a quick look, it may seem Tina is just a representation of the
typical adolescent discovering their sexuality. When analyzing this in more depth,
it becomes apparent that Tina is a representation of the ongoing dialogue about
sex-positive feminism and the real life experiences of young girls (Valerie,
2014). In “The Frond Files” (Originally aired March 9, 2014), the principle
reprimands Tina because she wrote a story about Zombie football players, who
all happened to be in love with her. Tina reacted by saying, “Well I had a
dream I was being attacked by zombies who all wanted to make out with me, so I
screamed, then made out with them”. She was completely comfortable speaking her
mind and channeling her inner desires. Instead of agreeing with the principle,
Tina’s parents praised her honesty and attributed it to a completely normal
behavior of a teen. The Belcher’s openness and acceptance to Tina’s sexuality
is not common for parents of young teens girls, especially their fathers
(Vesey, 2012). Their relationship is unique and encourages sexual expression as
a means of exploration for their daughter.
Although
she is sometimes quiet spoken, Tina has an inner confidence that can
unexpectedly shine through. She knows what she wants and goes after it. In “Two
For Tina” (Originally aired March 17, 2013), Tina decides to take control of
her own destiny and ask her crush Jimmy Jr. to the school dance. Her parents
encourage her to do so and think it’s a great idea. Although Jimmy ends up
rejecting Tina, she does not see this as a failure. She realizes that
adolescence is a difficult time and does not take this personally, the opposite
reaction of most teen girls who would overanalyze all interactions with boys.
Time and again Tina takes the initiative with boys, surprising viewers as she
comes out of her shy shell. Tina admits, “You gotta kiss a lot of frogs before
you find your prince”, eluding to the idea that she is in control of who she
falls in love with, and will not wait around for attention from boys.
Her
appearance does not guide her behavior and rarely does the show focus on it. Tina
is not conventionally pretty or sexualized. She has big black square glasses, bad
posture, limp arms, and wears knee high white socks with long skirts. However,
she still gets the attention of boys and has them fighting over her without
changing her appearance to conform to hegemonic norms (Zimdars, 2014). Instead
of giving in to be the object of the male gaze, she makes males the object of
her gaze. TV critic Jon Christian writes, “She is preoccupied with their
specific physical attributes, subverting gender expectations (Christian, 2014).
This preoccupation is apparent when she often sneaks in lines about butts when
it is completely unrelated to the conversation. Tina says things like, “Tell
them to push their butts together”, “I had no idea there was so many butts
touching in baseball”, and “Just when I think I’m out, his cheeks pull me right
back in”. Rather than concentrating on her appearance, she is drawn to boys by
their physical assets, playing the opposite gender role.
Aside
from her outward and sometimes uncomfortable sexual demeanor, Tina’s
personality is one of kindness, morals, and belief in inner beauty. Because she
is in the ‘awkward stage’, she often daydreams about her aspirations to become a
grown independent woman. She does this when talking about her alter ego Dina; a
restless, hardworking, self-supported, food truck worker (“Food Trucker”
Originally aired April 15, 2012). Tina also dressed up as a ‘Mummy Mommy’ in “Full
Bars” (Originally aired October 7, 2012) and explained herself as a single
mother that is struggling to make ends meet working two jobs.. but she’s making
it work. Tina verbally reminds herself that she is a “Strong, smart, sensual
women”, and gives the advice to her father, “Dad if you believe you are
beautiful, you will be, just as I did” (“Two for Tina”). Even though her life
is heavily filled with erotic daydreaming, Tina knows who she is and strives to
follow her passions to be independent. When looking past her sexual fantasies,
she emerges as a mature girl for her 13 years, whose feminist ideals reject
hegemonic masculinity.
The
awkward stage of middle school was once described by Brittany Spears as, ‘Not a
girl, not yet a women”, and Tina is stuck right in the middle of it. Even
though she can be painfully uncomfortable at times, Tina remains true to
herself and does not give into the cultural and societal pressures of middle
school. She is an individual that challenges the normative understandings of
girlhood in today’s society and represents the social freedom women should have
in this ‘post feminist’ age. Although today’s culture is viewed as progressive,
young kids are socialized into gender norms that restrict freedom of expression
and desires. Girls are continually consumed by image and males initiate
relationships. Tina’s character on Bob’s
Burgers goes against behaviors of typical girls and sets an example of what
positive sexual expression looks like, in the most comedic and exaggerated way
possible.
References
Christian,
J. (2014). Why tina belcher is a folk hero for anxious young people. Retrieved
from:
McRobbie,
A. (2007). Top girls: young women and the post-feminist sexual contract. Cultural Studies, 21, 718-737. Retrieved
from:
Peirce,
K. (1990). A feminist theoretical perspective on the socialization of teenage girls
through Seventeen magazine. Sex Roles,
23, 491-499. Retrieved from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00289764#page-2
Valerie,
L. (2012). Seriously, though: tina belcher is my new best friend. Retrieved
from: http://strawberry-toothpaste.com/2012/12/04/seriously-though-tina-belcher-is-my-new-best-friend/
Vesey,
A. (2012). “Uhhh…”:negotiating tina belcher’s sexuality. Retrieved from: http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/08/29/uhhh-negotiating-tina-belchers-sexuality/
Zimdars,
M. (2014). Representing women. Personal
Collection of M. Zimdars, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
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