The '90s produced a lot of good TV, and a lot of those shows still inspire nostalgia
and frequent binge sessions from fans.
But even some of the best series of the era had their moments of missing the cultural
mark.
The result are some scenes that are just plain hard to watch in retrospect.
Here are some moments of misogyny you might've missed the first time — but will make you
cringe now.
The jock schlock
Thanks to the era's most unapologetically feminist small screen heroine, Jessie Spano,
there were plenty of moments on Saved by the Bell that took stabs at supposed gender norms.
Unfortunately, A.C. Slater was always right there to undercut her.
For example, in the episode titled "Mamas and the Papas," the Bayside bunch are made
to pair off in fake marriages for a school sociology project.
This culminates in Slater going nuts over Jessie wanting to keep her own last name in
her real marriage.
"This chick's crazy.
I bet you'd want me to have the kids too?"
How Slater managed to win Jessie's heart through all that open machismo remains one of the
biggest mysteries of that entire generation of TV.
"You macho pig."
"Oink oink baby."
Victim-blaming
The subject of Jen Lindley's active love life was always a little too taboo on Dawson's
Creek.
But the show's terrible treatment of her reached new heights when she was almost sexually assaulted
in the episode "Full Moon Rising."
After her Gram manages to stop their smooch-session from becoming full-on date rape, Granny decides
that's the perfect time to blame Jen for everything.
"You will treat me with respect and you will act like a lady."
"Have you no respect for yourself?"
The idea that it was her temptress-like behavior that started all this is shocking and a dangerous
example of rape culture, so yeah.
This is pretty uncomfortable to re-watch, thanks to the incident itself and Gram's shameful
reaction.
Field of vision
The fact that Elaine Benes was the odd woman out in a lot of her guy friends' misinformed
adventures on Seinfeld meant that sometimes she got put into situations that were less
than desirable for a woman.
One such incident happened in an episode titled "The Shoes" in which George Costanza is caught
looking at his prospective boss' daughter's cleavage.
"Get a good look, Costanza?"
He and Jerry then convince Elaine to bare her bosoms in front of the same boss to show
him that it's just a natural reaction to seeing cleavage within their so-called "field of
vision."
This all results in some excessive objectification of basically every woman on the show and advances
the narrative that men only act like boneheads around women because they just can't help
themselves.
Yuck.
"You can't control it.
We're like some weird fish where the eyes operate independently of the head."
Zodiac zinger
Yes, even on-screen children can engage in troubling "slut-shaming" behavior.
Full House might've been a family show, but in the episode titled "A Pinch for a Pinch,"
things got pretty adult in the barb department.
In the episode, DJ and Kimmy try to convince Stephanie to read their high school newspaper,
and things get a little heated.
"Check out my new column.
Madame Kimmy's horoscope."
"Horoscope?
What's that Kimmy?
A telescope that can only see YOUR face?"
A-plus on the zinger, Stephanie.
F-minus on promoting completely unacceptable language to talk about a woman.
Too much testosterone
Tim "The Toolman" Taylor was the father of three boys whose job was to spend a lot of
time grunting like an animal over power saws.
With that much testosterone going around, it's probably not too surprising that he spent
an exhausting amount of his spare time degrading his wife Jill.
But the worst moment of the show had to be when his brother and sister-in-law come for
a visit and he can't contain his thirst over his brother's wife.
A bad situation gets worse when he accidentally walks in on her showering and decides that's
the ideal time to compliment her figure.
"We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."
"Yeah, especially you."
As if all that wasn't weird enough, he then consults with his neighbor Wilson and explains
exactly why he can't contain himself.
"You expect family, your reaction to an 80 or 90 year old Grandma but Grandma never looked
like that."
It's basically the G-rated version of the "she asked for it" defense which is … gross.
Grabbing a spoon
Friends might've been there for all of us with rapid-fire jokes, situational humor,
and tons of delicious drama, but there were still a lot of moments that wouldn't land
quite so well on the modern cultural landscape.
Remember when Ross wouldn't let his son play with a doll?
Perhaps the most egregious example of this antiquated worldview came in the series' first
episode, when Joey spun out an elaborate metaphor about how women are food items just waiting
to be dined on by men.
"Let me tell you something Ross there's lots of flavors out there.
There's rocky road and cookie dough and bing cherry vanilla."
What's worse is that it all culminates in him telling Ross that getting back in the
dating game simply means grabbing a spoon and digging in.
The intention might've been innocent, but comparing women to sweet and soft desserts
only meant to reward men after they've sampled the buffet of life is basically pretty gross.
Thanks for watching!
Click the List icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!