Women to Admire: Lisa Simpson

Lisa Simpson is the beacon for all lonely girl nerds out there. Here’s why the middle child of the Simpsons is a Woman to Admire.

If you’ve ever felt exceedingly small and yet full of righteous anger (and a lot of sass), then you’re primed to identify with Lisa Simpson. If heartbroken nerd girls had a patron saint, Lisa would be it. Of course, she probably already has a diatribe prepared against the whole concept of pop culture sainthood, but you get the idea.

Lisa Simpson is the howl of the sad girl, the awkward girl, the girl who is too smart, somehow. She is the girl who just can’t quite fit in.

Lisa embodies that uncomfortable feeling you get in the lunch room, when you realize you have no one to sit with. She is the shame and relief you feel when you go sit in the band room or library for your lunch period — again.

Admittedly, Lisa has a lot to deal with. She’s the middle child of the Simpson family, sandwiched between troublemaker Bart and baby Maggie. Her mother, Marge, is well-meaning and gentle, but also a bit of an enabler. Homer, her father, is similarly kind but also one of the greatest idiots in modern television.

Lisa is vastly intelligent and the moral center of the Simpson family. She loves her baritone sax, jazz, the environment, Buddhism, and being a vegetarian. In many ways, Lisa is the poster child for every left-leaning kid growing up in a conservative home.

Of course, no one is perfect. Lisa can be intellectually rigid, making it difficult for her to consider different points of view. She’s especially harsh to Bart and Homer, who are ultimately trying to do their best. Perhaps some of her political stances stem from a stubborn resistance to outside forces, too.

Plenty of Lisa’s storylines on The Simpsons deal with her learning how to manage her voice. For, though we admire Lisa for her values and her tenacity, she also has to learn how to live in the world. Having high grades and considering yourself to be a social outcast doesn’t give you the moral high ground.

Take “Lisa the Vegetarian,” the fifth episode of the seventh season. After visiting a petting zoo with a lamb, the family eats lamb for dinner (a poor bit of planning on Marge’s part, alas). Lisa realizes suddenly that lamb is lamb. The living creature she petted earlier will likely end up on someone else’s plate one day. Lisa abruptly announces that she will no longer eat meat.

This prompts ridicule and suspicion. Homer and Bart make fun of Lisa. At school, Principal Skinner calls Lisa an “agitator” and forces the students to watch a Meat Council film hosted by Troy McClure. Eventually, Lisa crashes Homer’s barbecue after guests make fun of her vegetarian gazpacho. She steals a whole roast pig from the grill, eventually causing it to be launched from a dam spillway.

Lisa and Homer fight, so she runs away. She stumbles across Apu’s secret terrace on top of the Kwik-E-Mart, where she meets Paul and Linda McCartney. They remind Lisa that she can’t force her views on others. She runs home to find Homer searching for her. The two apologize to one another and he gives his daughter a “veggie back” ride home.

So, we love Lisa not just because she has smarts or principles (though she’s got both in spades). We don’t love her entirely for her neuroses, though many of us can identify with that aspect of Lisa’s personality.

We also admire Lisa because she is complex, because she can be wrong, and because she comes to understand the value of getting along with people. Even better, she does this without sacrificing herself. What great role model is there for people, regardless of gender or age?

Editor’s Note: Every day in March, we here at Culturess will feature a Woman to Admire — both real and fictional — for Women’s History Month. Keep coming back every day to see who’s made it on the list.