Sexism in Bojack Horseman

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]So, here's the thing about sexism in Bojack Horseman. I wouldn't say it's the most prevalent issue addressed in the show as a whole, but there's honestly still some very fantastic commentary in this series about casual displays of misogyny from men on the street, from men in power over women, from the government, and even from some men who mean the best. I'd like to specifically thank Ooloud Heum 305 for their comment.

[00:00:25]Excellent nickname by the way as it was the entire inspiration for this video topic. So thank you specifically and thank you all once again for being the best most insightful audience. There was a wonderful discussion in the replies along with that comment as well. So thank you everyone for being super willing to discuss the show with me.

[00:00:44]First off they do a lot of wonderful work portraying how rooted in the world's culture sexism is and how it has developed throughout time specifically in America. But it can be likened to many other countries historically as well, of course. But in Bojack's ancestry alone, we get a really clear picture of how women were relegated to a specific lesser role in the household and were often treated far less fairly than the men of his family. His grandmother, Honey Sugarman, largely acted as the perfect housewife for much of her life. Doing, loving, and a bit challenging, but never argumentative.

[00:01:20]supportive of whatever lie her husband concocts about working so that he can cheat on her and endorsing of those typical roles that women and men were believed to need to play at the time for a successful family. And it of course isn't her fault that she falls into and often perpetuates these ideas. This is what she herself was taught, the values that she was raised on and anything else was viewed as unnatural or immoral. So if you wanted to be a good person or more specifically a good responsible woman, you need to be an excellent faultless essentially emotionless wife.

[00:01:57]Always perfectly happy, perfectly content, and perfectly silent. However, these values are also expertly shown to run counter to how humans are actually supposed to operate to the needs and wants of our own psyches. Sure, Joseph may occasionally do on her before running off to a secretary, but generally she's alone at home with the children, doing all of the work to raise them. And as we know, this is not an easy task by any means. No matter how she feels waking up, no matter what doubts crowd her mind from her relationship or her choices in life, possible dreams that she may have passed on, she's still forced by the expectations of the men around her to go about her day as if nothing is different, as if there is nothing at all going on inside of her. And whenever Joseph does decide to return, she slaps a smile on her face, pretending that she doesn't feel anything, but completely satisfied and happy. instead asking him about his day and working to comfort him and lift him up. He expects support from her and is not expected to return it in any way. Frankly, he doesn't even know how. The feminine mystique, as coined by Betty Fredane in her legendary book of the same title, was very much present in this era during and following World War II, where women were shown to be naturally gratified and pleased by being solely a wife and mother and nothing more. They're not encouraged to actually be people, explore themselves, and really discover their own identity. That is reserved solely for men. The identities of women, however, are tied to their body and their anatomy, and they don't become individuals. And despite the fact that it is glaringly obvious that only being those roles for other people is not going to fulfill you if you don't have hobbies or interests or a personality of your own. Women were often expected not to want anything more than this. And as a result, with all this time suppressing her own emotions, Honey doesn't even really know how to deal with major emotional issues like the grief and loss that comes with losing her own son in World War II. It's so tragic how she begs Joseph on her knees to fix her, to show her how to be better and how to deal with that pain that is roing inside of her. because she flat out has been taught that she is fundamentally weaker than him, that he will always take care of her as long as she takes care of the children. And it's because of that that she doesn't really know how to take care of herself. She doesn't even really know who she is besides a wife and mother. And now one of those titles has been majorly affected by the death of one of her children. And even though she perceives him to be able to handle these issues for her, as if he knows better, he equally has no idea what he's doing in this space, outwardly stating that he was not raised to be able to be empathetic to women, to support and comfort them, and downright refuses to learn for the future. Men during this time were often uninvolved in the goings on of the household and as I said earlier were largely only concerned with their own fulfillment upon return from work as the bread winner which entitled them to impeccable treatment once they were at home. He grows angry at her for her very involuntary reactions to her mourning, becoming increasingly threatening and frightening as a figure, not remotely understanding one bit of what she's feeling, even though his son died, too. Amazing. He still can't find it within him to empathize with her here, and instead just berates her for not being able to handle it, even though she had no capacity for knowing how to handle it in the first place. So instead of actually engaging with her, treating her like an equal, a partner, a [ __ ] person, he just labbotomizes her, removes a part of her brain to correct her behavior. He, on the advice of what I'm sure was a reputable doctor at the time, diagnosed her simply with hysteria and decided to remove any semblance of her actual personality to solve this fictitious problem. This is really important commentary for a very glossed over history of psychiatric abuse in the United States. Labbotoies were often performed as quick pessimistic solves for patients that were deemed hopeless in their condition, often wrongfully.

[00:06:31]This procedure regularly succeeded in making patients more agreeable and less anxious, but also notably more tame, less unique, less confident or outspoken. It removed crucial aspects of their personality and changed them irreparably. And we see this demonstrated with Honey rather viscerally postsurgery. That love toward her children and husband that was visible, that swinging and upbeat persona is completely gone. She is utterly robotic now, commenting as if she's completely detached from her surroundings emotionally. And while she's no longer crying, she's no longer the mother that Beatatrice, Boj's mother, once knew. They do an exceptional job in this show, illustrating how Honey is really no longer a figure in Beatatric's life after the surgery. And her final bit of advice about not loving anyone anymore.

[00:07:30]She is completely removed from herself and according to Joseph, now even unfit of taking care of their children thanks to her lack of judgment. thanks to his poor judgment. It is an utter tragedy any way you look at it. And the frequency with which this happened to women specifically throughout this time period is honestly very frightening. It was a widespread procedure applied to over 50,000 people in the United States and Canada by 1952. And it is much higher documented among women than it is for men. In fact, many men in citations from scientific studies praised the effects of the surgery even as their wives complained about being too docil, too bland. Its founder also won a Nobel Prize for its discovery. It's so important to publicize how awfully ordinary these were at the time and how destructive they were to not only individuals, but the relationships that they had with their family as well.

[00:08:31]Because honestly, I could totally see certain people today making a case for this surgery rather than actual comprehensive psychiatric care. Keep this dead, please. Surgeries like these are just so indicative of the lack of willingness to put money into rehabilitation programs in the United States, which is still a problem mostly with our prison systems. But it's much cheaper for this one-time surgery rather than to go through years of psychiatric care. And for men with no patience, also a lot faster. But as a result of all of this, Beatatrice, Bojack's mother, really began to grow to not see the value in any of these ideals. The picture of the loving wife, even loving at all, really. After her higher education, in fact, she's more staunchly opposed to her father's views than ever before, not wishing for a husband, even though that was the only reason he sent her to university in the first place.

[00:09:26]I'm not exaggerating. He literally says that out loud. See, even with this education, she's still not looked on with an equal amount of respect as the men around her. The expectations of marriage are still very much present. In fact, even more pressure is put onto her due to her being wellspoken and intelligent, which at the time was seen as unbecoming for a woman. So, despite that ambivalence because of how her mother was treated, she's still really forced to participate in these antiquated customs of her father's time.

[00:09:58]even hosting a party to debut herself to the public, to show her off as some sort of object inevitably won by the men around her. Another really fantastic bit of commentary about a really disgusting older custom. Having her as a horse leap over these hurdles and literally perform feats that liken her to nothing more than an animal is an excellent touch for how dehumanizing these parties really are. This is the exact reason why she decides to leave the party and sleep with Butterscotch. She feels constrained, harshly controlled and relegated by her father. So the only way to retain a sense of freedom is to disobey him, rebel a bit with this man who her father would obviously despise.

[00:10:44]And we really get to see how controlling he is after the debutant party where even after appeasing him by showing herself off at all, he still demands that she marry herself off to help his business pursuits. Even to him, his own daughter is merely a tool for him to get what he wants. It's indicative of how he uses every woman in his life. Not to mention that I am positive CrackerJack, her brother, would have had a corner office waiting for him. But she is never offered a job mysteriously to work for Sugarman Sugar. Only her husband is.

[00:11:20]It's such a shame to see how little control Beatatrice has over her life because ultimately that little bit of rebellion at her debuton party caused her to be tied to Butterscotch for the rest of her life. this man who she really didn't know and turned out to be utterly horrible to her. She was incredibly intelligent and likely could have had an amazing career of her own, but because of the expectations forced onto her, she was never really able to flourish. Instead, handing over a career to her husband, who is a rather insecure, mediocre, untalented man. And really the only reason she does actually decide to stay with him because of Bojack is due to the trauma that her father instilled into her when she was still just a child. That control that he holds over her is so prevalent for all of her life. Even if she, as a young adult, clearly wished to break free from it all. It's only in those little moments where she dances for the guests at her house parties that she's truly able to let go, to show her true self to others, and to be ultimately free, if only for a moment. Another ability of hers that she didn't really get to explore. She gets to forget how her husband controls her, how she feels completely trapped by her life, and to just dance with grace. She even after all this time, all this unhappiness, still respects her father and considers Joseph to be a real man, a good husband after he passes away. She even perhaps remembers him more fondly than she ever did in her life before. She becomes fully subsumed into this lifestyle, even though none of it ever worked out positively for her or even for her mother. At the end of the day, I think she still preaches these ideals and speaks positively and highly of them because she feels she has no other choice but to think that way or else her entire life is a mistake. Or else everything she has done is wrong. If she can believe what her father told her, then she did the right thing, even if it didn't work out happily for anyone. But there are of course moments of clarity where the true Beatrice actually shines through. Specifically with the whole Doll's House situation in the Free Churro episode where Beatatrice is said to be having another one of her episodes after witnessing that play. You see, Doll's House is a play largely criticizing the traditional roles of men and women in marriage. Nora, the main character, ends up leaving her husband, Tovald, after realizing that he only really loves her as a sort of foolish child and does not treat her with any sort of mutual respect. Doesn't even see her as an adult. He treats her as an object, a doll, hence the title, and only selfishly keeps her around to be subservient to him, to make himself feel better. He doesn't know her or what she wants and he definitely does not have her best interests in mind. Honestly, she doesn't know herself, which is why she ends up needing to leave him to no longer bow to a man like her father or her husband and to truly learn to be more than just an object that is toyed around with. And you really have to understand how ingrained in culture these roles were. as the original premiere in Germany was forced to change the ending to one where Norah stays with Tovald against the author's express wishes. People were so hesitant to portray any criticism or deviation of this accepted model in any medium.

[00:15:15]People were that afraid of going away from the norm. And it's really indicative of why so many people fell into this lifestyle. And as you can see, this story is remarkably similar to Beatatric's, who was controlled equally by her father and her husband for her entire life. And the ending where Norah builds up the courage to leave the husband who doesn't care for her, even though they do have children together, shows her a level of strength that she herself was never able to exhibit, and one that she deeply regrets not being able to muster, as she remained forever in that dollhouse. And much like her mother eventually came to rely on the need of misused medical treatments to dull her mind, Beatatric similarly sinks into substance abuse, regularly taking pills that calm her, drinking along with them to sedate her into a sense of indifference. also very common at the time Bojack was being raised.

[00:16:12]Specifically, the use of Valium, which was again marketed mainly toward women because ultimately she wanted more than this for herself, but just wasn't able to hold on to it due to the control of other men in her life. So, every day she has to wake up and dress in this role that she absolutely despises and never wanted to be, all while putting a smile on her face. I mean, she doesn't really do that last part, but that's because of being forced into that position. And so, this behavior is pushed on to Bojack as well. His father rants in the car about how women can't be depended on, how they're overly emotional, how their only true role is to make him lunch as he writes his neverending novel. And despite the fact that Bojack really dislikes his parents and tries to do away with many of the rather conservative and closed-minded things that they both taught him, his treatment of women is rather representative of his father's view. He uses them selfishly to pleasure himself, often not caring about his position of power over them or even really who they are as an individual. He regularly abandons them and gives them fake phone numbers with no regard for their emotions for him and takes advantage of the access his fame and power gives him. Most of the time, he doesn't even really know their names.

[00:17:35]It's obviously extremely depressing to watch this behavior filter through these generations, even as it becomes less overtly malicious and verbalized. You can really observe in this show how the treatment and atmosphere surrounding it breeds repetition of the behavior, passing down subconsciously from parent to child and causing them to perhaps live more dissatisfying, unfulfilling, overly controlled and regulated lives, or to treat other women the exact same way. It is never a good idea to subsume an entire gender into a single role with no room for deviation or introspection.

[00:18:18]No human can thrive in that environment.

[00:18:21]And in the long run, no relationship or family can either, no matter how much preaching we might have on the internet right now about the value of traditional gender roles. None of those people have any [ __ ] clue what they're talking about, so just don't even bother. Really another place throughout the series where a ton of this behavior can be observed is within Dian's storyline where even as a child she was largely cast off for being a woman and her brothers were encouraged to succeed over her that they were innately better than she was. Her father was mostly responsible for this mistreatment in the household, but it's obvious that her mother criticizes her for leaving it behind likely endorsing those antiquated gender roles as well. And as a result, she becomes a very staunch, outspoken feminist in her later life, trying as hard as she can to speak up for her fellow women and to empower them to lead the lives that they really want for themselves. But the world pushes back harder than she really expected, causing her to become more and more jaded over time as society constantly beats her down. Like in Hank After Dark, when she tries to get everyone to see the truth about this very obviously malicious presence who is currently actively harming and abusing other women, and the world ultimately pushes back and ridicules her for it, responding only with more vicious remarks and hate because she has criticized one of their favorite celebrities, regardless of whether or not what she was saying had any weight, which it did. Even though there are multiple records, multiple accounts of people saying the exact same thing, nobody chooses to believe this group of people. Instead, giving the benefit of the doubt to the man and scrutinizing every life choice these women have made while putting their identities out in the public and bullying them as much as possible to get them to retract their statements. I mean, hell, they won't even say what he's actually accused of. Diane is the only one who is willing to speak up on national television and say the charges out loud because if they use certain words, it makes him sound much more incriminating and intimidating than he previously did. And they have to give him the most positive image in the media possible. And even other women in the industry who were perhaps willing to help her are ultimately controlled by their male bosses who force them to pull certain stories that would be unfavorable to their business interests or their personal interests. Honestly, despite the fact that Diane is very outspoken this episode and puts in an immense amount of work to try and affect the change that she's always wanted to see in the world, to finally see a vicious man actually held accountable for his actions, the world really lets her down. Instead, threatening her and sending her hate for simply speaking up about a very real and terrifyingly malicious pattern. Nothing changes and men like Hank Hippopouloolis are free to do whatever they want with the public accepting whatever hurried excuse they end up putting together for whatever they happen to be accused of or like in Thoughts and Prayers when she finally feels empowered after beginning to carry a gun with her for safety. And listen, I don't think anyone carrying guns on the street is a great idea, but honestly, her point about how she feels as safe as a man gets to feel walking around the city streets alone really hits home and does a fantastic job putting you in her shoes. There are genuinely dangerous men out there on the street, as we see in this very episode. And it's terrifying to think that just one wrong interaction or being near any man could lead to the worst night of their life. Having significant protection that comprehensively scares any man off must be an immense amount of comfort. And I don't really fault Diane at all for feeling safe with one, apart from the whole accidentally robbing the convenience store of it all. But as soon as this article about her new perspective on gun ownership gains steam and women do begin protecting themselves, it becomes a conversation about whether or not gun ownership rights is a worthy cause. As I said, I don't like everyone having guns super easily anyway. Like, just make it really hard with comprehensive background checks. That's all I'm asking. Doesn't mean no one can own a gun at all. Just, you know, make it a little bit harder.

[00:22:40]Actually, a lot of bit harder. But this is why this is what always ends up happening. It always results in major tragedies. But it is so accurate that the tragedies aren't given proper attention by the state government until one of them was perpetrated by a woman.

[00:22:56]Then suddenly guns are a huge problem that are easily banned entirely despite years of political gridlock preventing that very legislation that many people desperately wanted in this country because suddenly men are unsafe on the streets. Huh? Go figure. This country literally does hate women more than it loves guns. And I think that statement has aged increasingly well over time.

[00:23:20]Quite honestly, even with Bojack, Diane really can't even get the not remotely complex and very basic ideas about feminism across as he fundamentally struggles to listen to women in any words that aren't coming out of his own masculine snout. And it leads to Diane eventually forcing herself to give up on him and let him preach his nonsensical buzzwords on national television with meaningless shirts that ultimately say nothing. Even when he later recognizes his mistake and drafts her to write for Filbert, her textured writing of a man who is deeply flawed and rather villainous, ends up serving the agenda for the patriarchy, contributing to people like Bojack feeling more comfortable with the person that they are, the one who abuses and takes advantage of other women, leading them to not feel like they even have to change. Her discussion about normalizing behavior with regard to Filbert's character is extremely important to the series as a whole. We know and have spoken extensively about the comparisons between Bojack and the Filbert character and how it comments on how Bojack Horseman as a show was received in real life. But Dian's perspective about how it normalizes abuse and reprehensible treatment from men is particularly critical to address. Filbert is a complicated, selfish, often rude man whose blatant alcoholism and mistreatment of others is excused by the show's presentation of him as some sort of ingenious hero who is fighting for good at the end of the day. He even has a love interest with almost zero personality at all. Basically existing only to serve as someone for the main character to love and bounce lines off of. And even with Diane aboard the show writing subtext that is supposed to show the audience how this is a destructive harmful attitude for all involved. Many men simply see themselves in Filbert.

[00:25:14]Don't read into any subtext at all and use it as a justification for the person that they currently are so that they don't have to put the effort into changing. They're fine because Filbert does the same thing and he's a hero.

[00:25:27]Overall, Diane's journey throughout the show paints a very disturbing picture of the effect that this world has on those who truly yearn to do good and make an actual change. Specifically, women who try to uplift other women around them.

[00:25:41]How it beats them down repeatedly causes them to doubt who they really are or if they're the problem and can always surprise them with how little it thinks of them, how little their opinion is actually able to affect in the grand scope of things. It's definitely difficult to watch at times and of course extremely frustrating, but it's so vital to illustrate the common patterns of our system, our media that uphold this patriarchy and these problems that perpetuate abuse and mistreatment and inequality. But despite all of this, even with this very sort of cynical look on where America is, you can really feel the anger and frustration from real women who are writing on this show, which is good because they have a right to be frustrated with how things are going. I mean, the episode about abortion is more relevant than ever now that Roie Wade has been repealed. But in the end, Diane is able to affect actual change by inspiring young girls like her to be confident in who they are, to explore their own identities, and is able to help others feel less alone and perhaps controlled by the men in their life, help them retain their agency, recognize themselves as individuals and equals, counter to what traditional gender roles instill into people. It's just so heartwarming that after a lot of these episodes about Diane really trying to affect change and failing, to be able to realize that her opinion does actually matter and people do care about her perspective, that she can make that change in the world, just not in the way that she initially thought. We need positive messages like this in this show. And as much as there is great satire and commentary that will frustrate the [ __ ] out of you, they make sure to resolve things on a rather hopeful note. But most integral or perhaps interesting to this argument and the one that was actually suggested in the comment is the whole Cabracadabra situation. The idea to begin the company was Todd's, but Emily was largely the one driving the logical aspect of the business and how it operated. She kept it grounded in reality. Not to mention that she likely coded the earlier versions of the application. They didn't need her as a coder anymore, but they certainly needed her as a supervisor.

[00:28:06]Anyone who could advise them and keep them focused on the main reason they began this service in the first place, to provide a safe space for women. The minute she leaves, that core value immediately begins going down the drain.

[00:28:20]And I don't think it's a coincidence that it's because there are no women in charge of the major decisions. Because listen, as goodnatured as these two are, Todd and Mr. Peanut Butter, they're rather, how should I put this? Oblivious about these issues largely. And I believe it's thanks to their own privilege, quite honestly. And again, it's not really their fault, but it's evident that they have no real care or understanding of what safety is for these women that use their service and need a third party to be able to provide that perspective again. And also maybe give them a few lessons cuz like what the hell did they do with this company?

[00:28:57]Todd came up with this idea rather off-handedly based on an issue that Emily was talking about and almost moved on to another one immediately afterward.

[00:29:06]Emily is the one who circled back and recognized the importance of this space.

[00:29:11]Whereas Todd really saw it as just another idea that could be a success, be fun for a bit. Again, I love Todd. I love him. But I don't think he really grasped the gravity of the atmosphere that the business created, only hiring female drivers and having an exclusively female clientele, and how important it was that it remain exclusive to women to preserve the safety of the space. And let's face it, he does expand it to men really only for monetary purposes. He kind of sells out to greed here out of ignorance and privilege. A very disheartening decision for such a positive character, but one that I believe is a very real signal for how those who are a bit oblivious to these issues can end up reinforcing or playing into them. Not only is there no real punishment to these two characters for their rather egregious choices, even if it is due to incompetence, but in fact, they're actually rewarded monetarily for their participation. I mean, Todd gives his away immediately, but it, you know, it it's worth stating, and the fan base doesn't really recognize it often as an awful mistake that was committed in the series. It's rarely mentioned, mostly because it does end up becoming rather silly and because these two are generally viewed as positive figures.

[00:30:31]Todd, more so, Mr. Peanut Butter can definitely be hated on. And whether it was intentionally stated by this show or not, it is a really fascinating symbol for how much men are allowed to get away with, especially in regard to their treatment of women and how businesses like these happen to thrive from the objectification and usage of women as sexual objects. I mean, Cabracadabra does better than ever after this change.

[00:30:55]I mean, no doubt to expanding their client base, but especially after hiring stripper orcas, it just explodes. Mostly in the male demographic. Shocker there.

[00:31:06]It's similar to Whale World in this universe. It's a place that profits off of the backs of these extremely hardworking women who are additionally often mistreated by the men around them.

[00:31:17]They are overworked, forced into addiction, and oftentimes ultimately have tragic conclusions to their stories, as we see in Bojack Hills. This is again very apt commentary on a real issue that is prevalent in these institutions, one that is indicative of a generational mistreatment of women throughout many larger corporations and outfits, not even ones excluded to the sex industry. And yet this business continues to generate money, replacing the women one by one and raking in the cash as it panders to actual children, distorting little girls perception of what a woman's role in this world is.

[00:31:55]That it is tied to their anatomy once again just like the traditional views taught us and trying to create more that fall into this cycle of abuse and manipulation of purpose. Honestly, there is just a ton of great commentary, more than I expected in this show about the traditional role of women throughout history, how difficult it can still be to break free of the inequality between men and women, even if it is more hidden behind certain rhetoric, and how much of it is supported by mainstream media, upholding the values to ensure they continue on into the future. It's extremely textured, too, showing how both men and women suffer from and can endorse and perpetuate it. Thank you so much again for this video idea. This was a really fun one to explore. I mean, not fun, it was really depressing, but I mean, it was interesting for me to research, and I applaud y'all for consistently finding new angles for me to view this show from. You guys are really smart and impressive. But you could probably get your suggestions made a little bit faster if you go to patreon.com/positvt because there you get all of the videos early and you can just personally chat with me about what you think is best for the channel, what you think would make good content, what you just want to see for yourself. Plus, it just means the world that you support me and this channel overall. Seriously, it's like a dream come true. But thank you for watching this video anyway. And I hope you have a wonderful day or night.

[00:33:24]Guaranteed somebody out there loves you.

[00:33:26]And if you don't know their name, then it's me because you were here and you chose to share this moment with me. I'll see you for the next one.