Is Lisa Simpson really a true all-American feminist?

A homemaker?! I might as well be dead,” declares the eight-year-old, self-righteous little schoolgirl. It’s hard to find many people who’d name Lisa Simpson as their favourite of the clan. Even if they admire her demeanor, resilience and ambition, it’s far from credible to be full of praise for her.

It’s also a minority of people want to declare feminist tendencies. That deep, in-your-face belief that women and men are the same and should be treated so is often shrugged off with a “well, in the end, we are different”. Throw in a reference to Mars and Venus, and bam! Box shut.

So it seems that not many people (X), love Lisa (Y), or feminists (Z).

So if X + Y = shaking heads, and X + Z = shaking heads, does the simultaneous equation conclude that Y = Z, Lisa = feminist?

Probably not, but we are definitely onto something.

Lisa preaches, and bounces into annoying pretentiousness in a desperate attempt to prove her feminist ways. In one episode from 1997 she declares that she, as a girl, wants to join the football team. Turns out there’s already girls playing, and Lisa promptly loses interest. She has that irritating-ness (often associated with feminism) and this is what seems to irk a lot of people about her.

Her disappointment in Barbie-esque Malibu Stacey (who she was hoping would someday print a feminist newsletter) is another siren for her ideals. As the new talking Stacey doll is released, her first words are “I wish they taught shopping in school”

Lisa is dejected. “C’mon Stacey. I’ve waited my whole life to hear you speak. Don’t you have anything relevant to say?” “Don’t ask me, I’m just a girl” is the response. Lisa gives out to her friends who don’t seem to notice how sexist the comments are, and rants at Bart about how girls will grow up thinking how great it is to “look pretty and land a rich husband”, which leads a “vacuous” life.

It’s generally accepted that the feminist movement has come in three waves. The first is not one that Lisa would have much to battle with, as it involved fighting for things like mass suffrage and equal property rights. The second wave came in dealing with social inequalities, prejudices and public attitudes towards women. The third movement was during the 1990s and would have been the era that Lisa was part of. Lisa errs on the side of conservatism in terms of her behavior, but very liberal in her attitudes. In another episode, her “feminist heroes” appear – Simone de Beauvoir (philosopher), Lauren Becall (actress/model from the 1950s and proud Democrat), Lillian Hellman (playright), Margaret Mead (academic, anthropologist and writer) and Queen Elizabeth I.

Lisa is an activist, environmentalist, vegetarian, Buddhist… the list goes on. And on. But everyone has a breaking point of course. Just as Marge sat down to watch Itchy and Scratchy after campaigning against it, Lisa has her limits. She so desperately wants to be something - and that something is everything she idealises. She does her best, but as she battles with anorexia in one episode, the pressure of being a young girl seep through. “I know this obsession with thinness is unhealthy and anti-feminist…but that’s what a fat girl would say!”

The ultimate American feminist? She’s definitely up there. But is that a good thing? Maybe there should be more young girls like Lisa Simpson out there, but if there were, my God it would be an irritating place. Someone who says “Ooh! A political discussion at our table. I feel like a Kennedy!” mightn’t be the most popular girl to have round for tea.