I haven't taken a look at Saved by the Bell since being influenced by feminism. Growing up, Jessie was the character I identified with most, and I always applauded her efforts, and the way she would spit "sexist pig" and "chauvinist pig." The (obvious) sexism she fought against must have seemed legitimate even to me as a little kid. Now that I think of it, I seem to remember Slater's efforts to make all her feminist/"feminist" stances melt away. Like kissing her or whatever, as if her response to sexual arousal proves that she's "really a woman" inside who doesn't mean all that silly stuff about chauvinism and sexism...

Ah, saved by the bell. I remember that. I didn't watch it, because I thought it was boring as hell, but I remember seeing an episode or two. What you're describing sounds typical of many modern childrens' programmes - of course feminism is stupid because who the hell would want men and women to be equal? It would lose them audiences!

I never thought she ruined it. She was actually my fave character out of all in the show.

There were episodes where she had successfully persuaded her friends to listen to her. Like the one episode about animal cruelty and drilling. She was the one who protested against a drilling company and managed to convince everyone... uhhh yeah, don't ask me why i remember this haha.

Or the time she boycotted the beauty contest and called it sexist, complaining that the contest objectified women and didn't allow male contestants, so she convinced Screech to enter and he won!

There's many other examples but right now I'm burnt out.

Don't forget Andrea Zuckerman on 90210. She was the valedictorian, an outspoken feminist and crusader for the rights of others. She was also clearly 30 years older than everyone else in the cast, dressed in appalling fashions, other characters found her behavior off-putting and she ended her freshman year of college married with a baby.

Lachristag, I half agree with your post, and I thank you for bringing up this discussion. On paper, your argument makes sense, but my experience with Jessie Spano was different than yours. Despite the efforts of other characters to cut Jessie down, I always identified with her, and I loved that she wasn't afraid to say something when she felt women were being exploited or belittled. Of course, she was a little annoying, and her "I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so...scared!" outburst while addicted to caffeine pills will go down in history as the funniest melt-down ever for me, I still remember her fondly and think she was at least a minor step forward for feminist representations of young women in television.

That character seems like an extension of the backlash. I used to watch that show when I was 6, but dont remember that particular character at all. What awful tv shows! This is WHY we need women tv show writers. Mercy on us all if their was ever a repeat of that crap!In general I think 90s tv sucked.

Seriously! I've always hated the way Saved By the Bell portrayed the feminist character. Slater was always a sexist pig, and I thought it was completely ironic and unrealistic that Jessie dated Slater despite that fact. I would never, EVER want to be with a man who tells me to "put on something cute and move it into the kitchen."

yeah, i remember that. I think we'd do well to remember that pop culture has far from outgrown that type of backlash-y feminist character.

coincidentally, I also recently heard (was it from feministing?) of a website called askelizabeth.com, wherein elizabeth berkley, aka jessie spano, gives adolescent girls advice and some strange brand of girlpower that includes buying lots of makeup, obsessively washing one's face, and considering lip-gloss to be "the juice of life". there is also much talk of boys and relationships.