Women on situation comedies, or “sitcoms”, in the 1990s followed a particular pattern.
They were wives and mothers – either from the beginning of the series or at some point during
the series’ run; if they were single, they went through a few boyfriends before finding “the one;”
they were shrill and demanding, but also caring and supportive of those in their lives. However,
one character does not quite fit into this category – Elaine Benes, portrayed by Julia Louis-
Dreyfus on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld for its entire nine-season run. According to Maria Ward’s
“5 Things You Didn’t Know About Julia Louis-Dreyfus”, “[NBC executives] were concerned
the setup was too male-centric [and] picked up the show on the condition that a stronger…show more content… When Elaine asks to join, Jerry tells her she cannot
because “It's easier for a woman not to do it than a man.” Even though Elaine is heterosexual,
she is also very sexually-active and dominant in her relationships. In the episode “The Sponge,”
Elaine learns her favorite brand of contraceptive sponge is being taken off the market and
searches every pharmacy she can to find some. When she manages to buy a whole case, she must
ration them and screens her then-boyfriend Billy to ensure that he is “sponge-worthy.”
While many jokes are made about Elaine’s gender and sexuality, there are nearly none
about her race. The episode “The Wizard” focuses not so much on Elaine’s race as that of her
boyfriend, Darryl, who refers to the two of them as “an interracial couple.” This, coupled with
Jerry and George saying that Darryl is black, drives Elaine to find out for herself. She thinks she
gets her answer from various details, such as Darryl mentioning his family used to live in South
Africa (until they left “for obvious reasons”) and his neighbors blasting rap music, which Darryl
says he hates. This recalls the concept of “race music” from Lloyd Vayo’s article “Marnye on
