Elaine rations her contraceptive sponges

SEINFELD  (1990-1998).  due to PIV-centric sexuality, elaine needs contraceptives!  and in S7E09, her favorite one, the today sponge, is being taken off the market.  so she buys a case of them from the local drugstore and then has to ration them carefully because whats she going to do when they run out?  this is actually a very terrifying prospect, although its presented as being a banally humorous seinfeldian-style dilemma.

elaine is a grown woman experienced with PIV-centric sex, and likely prefers the today sponge for a reason: it does something that other contraceptives dont (but should), or it doesnt do something that the others do (that they shouldnt).  there are all kinds of possibilities here arent there?  considering that they all have various side effects, sound effects, user-friendliness, failure rates, and so on.  none of them are perfect, (or even perfectly tolerable) but they arent intended to be are they?

to conserve them, elaine resorts to formally interviewing prospective partners to determine whether they are “sponge-worthy” and if she should waste i mean use one of her valuable sponges to have PIV with him.  of course, this is extremely troubling isnt it, considering that the sponge, as a partial cervical cover and chemical spermicide doesnt protect against STDs.  but thats PIV for you, when you are female.  its not even sex.  no its not.  theres also an entire episode dedicated to the issue of women “faking it.”

a short clip from the “faking it” episode is below — unfortunately there are very few clips of this show available anywhere.  luckily, its in syndication nearly everywhere, so you can turn on the TV anytime night or day and see 8 seasons of dating disasters and no lessons being learned about men as a sexual class, at all.

analysis.

goal is to “land a man”.  yes.  elaine has nothing but bad dating experiences with men, but she just keeps trying, as if theres one out there out of literally millions in new york city that *isnt* going to be exactly like the rest.  she never finds him, but we know that shes going to keep on trying, forever.

normalizing reproductive stress and pain.  yes.  elaines favorite birth control method goes off the market; george doesnt even know what kind of birth control his sexual partner uses and assumes she “uses something.”  george has PIV with one of elaines friends using a “defective condom” and the friend “misses her period” and bonds with elaine over it, including details of “bad sex” — george insisted they do it in the kitchen because its the most hospitable room in the house.  when hearing that the friend missed her period, george is elated, screaming “i did it!  my boys can swim!” even though the friend (and elaine, vicariously) are devastated.

pathologizing menstruation.  [none that i can recall?]

pathologizing older women and menopause/fetishizing female youth.  yes.  george and jerrys mothers are both irritating and smothering; george (the fat bald guy) insists that his dating prospects have a full head of thick, flowing hair.  pfft.

normalizing simulated/exaggerated female pleasure from PIV and PIV-centric sex.  yes.  theres an entire episode on women faking orgasms.

rape and rape culture.  yes.  george compulsively lies to get women to date him; there are numerous references to mens PIV-entitlement (ie. are you “getting any” yet?); he-said/she said scenarios in various contexts.

rating: 5/6