Seinfeld: 10 Times Elaine Was Slut-Shamed

Seinfeld remains one of the most popular and successful sitcoms to come out of the nineties. Elaine Bennes’ flawed but authentic character, in particular, was one of the things that made the show ahead of its time. She was truly a modern woman who defied society’s expectations: she wasn’t afraid of being frank about sex, putting her needs first, even being selfish at times while shying away from more traditional aspirations like marriage and family.

Along with Jerry, Kramer, and George, Elaine had casual sex pretty frequently and for the most part wasn’t judged for it, which was significantly progressive for television at the time. There were a few moments in the show however where the double standard briefly reared its ugly head. These are ten instances in which Elaine was slut-shamed during Seinfeld.

10 Going To Hell

Elaine and on-again-off-again Christain boyfriend David Puddy get into an argument about him not wanting to save her from eternal damnation in season 9 episode 16, “The Burning”. She insists that they go to a priest for counseling. The priest assumes that they’re a married couple and when Elaine tells him that they’re “just having fun” he informs them that they’re both going to hell.

He doesn’t shame them for having premarital sex any further than that and he even cracks a few jokes with Elaine. But Puddy is bummed out at this revelation, exclaiming “This is bogus, man.”

9 Marla

In season 4 episode 10, “The Contest” Marla runs out of Jerry’s apartment, apparently horrified about learning the fact that Jerry and his friends have been competing to see who can refrain from masturbating the longest. She bumps into Elaine while trying to hail a cab on the sidewalk and tells her “I don’t want to have anything to do with you or your perverted friends…get away from me, you’re horrible, horrible – all of you!”

All because Elaine participated in the contest along with the guys – it’s a pretty harsh reaction.

8 “I’m Easy”

In “The Package”, Elaine gets frustrated when she discovers her healthcare providers have labeled her as “difficult”. She explains the situation to Jerry, saying “I’m not difficult, I’m easy” to which Jerry replies, “why, because you dress casually and sleep with a lot of guys?” It’s a playful jab more than an attempt to shame her, but it’s hypocritical all the same since so much of the show’s plot is driven by both Elaine and Jerry’s serial dating.

This scene and the ones that follow in the episode also touch on another feminist issue. Doctors downplaying or dismissing female patients’ health concerns and even labeling them as difficult is a real-life gripe for lots of women, even in today’s times.

7 Spongeworthy

In “The Sponge”, Elaine tries to track down the last Today Sponges after they’re pulled off the market. Her quest comes to an end at Pasteur Pharmacy, which has a case left. She immediately tries to tone down her excited reaction when the pharmacist gives her a judgemental look and sheepishly tries to get as many of the sponges as she can. She eventually overcomes her embarrassment and asks for the whole case.  While the pharmacist doesn’t explicitly say anything to humiliate her, his disapproving tone of voice and facial expressions were enough to make Elaine side-step around asking for the case right away.

Obviously most pharmacists would not judge their customers and be happy to provide as much birth control as needed. But because of the legal gray area around conscious clauses, it isn’t unheard of for a pharmacist to refuse birth control to a patient altogether because of religious beliefs. So in a way, Elaine was lucky to get the birth control just dealing with the pharmacist’s side-eye.

6 Best Man At A Lesbian Wedding

While Elaine rides the subway on her way to a wedding, she makes small talk with an older woman who’s giving off ignorant vibes. When Elaine reveals that she’s the “best-man” at a wedding for two women, she walks off in disgust saying “My luck. I don’t talk to a soul on the subway for thirty-five years…I get the best man at a lesbian wedding” to which Elaine protests “I hate men but I’m not a lesbian!”

This exchange in the episode “The Subway” is homophobic more than anything, but slut-shaming isn’t just about criticizing a woman’s appearance. It’s also about criticizing women who are thought to go against society’s expectations of sexuality, i.e heteronormativity. By assuming Elaine’s sexual orientation and reacting with disgust, the woman certainly shamed Elaine in a very public way, even if the assumption was incorrect.

5 Practically Undressing

In season 7 episode 10, “The Gum”, Elaine, Kramer, Jerry, and Elaine’s ex-boyfriend Lloyd all go to the movies together. Not wanting to sit with her ex, Jerry and Elaine sit in the front, which makes them have to lean back in their seats to see the screen. As Elaine eats her popcorn she accidentally pulls off a button, opening her shirt. When she stretches her neck in the lobby, Lloyd assumes she’s being provocative.

He later mocks Elaine saying that she was “practically undressing” in front of him, telling them he’s going to stick around to see what she’d wear next. Meanwhile, Elaine is completely unaware of all this; it just goes to show you shouldn’t assume that the way a woman dresses (accidentally or otherwise) is for the attention of men.

4 Swing Joints

Later in the episode, Elaine gets sprayed by a hose on her way to the movie theater. When she gets there Lloyd sees her and says, “Whoa Elaine…once again you’ve managed to top yourself” before leaving with Jerry, who can’t see her because he’s wearing large prescription glasses. Kramer tells her she’s “too much” for wearing a wet shirt to try to get Floyd to notice her. Even after Elaine explains the situation to Kramer he says, “The Alex is a family theater, not one of your swing joints”.

Kramer isn’t normally judgemental of Elaine, and would usually understand a random circumstance like getting hosed on the street since he often finds himself in strange situations. In this episode, however, he became so invested in making sure Loyd didn’t have a mental health relapse that it consumed his whole personality for a while.

3 The Christmas Card

In season 4 episode 12, Elaine panics after realizing her nipple is visible on her Christmas card which she sent out to pretty much everyone. Jerry and Kramer try to reassure her that it’s no big deal, but later in the episode she returns to Jerry’s apartment, complaining that everyone at her office now calls her ‘Nip’.

Towards the end of the episode, Elaine’s boyfriend Fred grills her about the card and the button-up shirt she wore. Elaine defends herself, asking him if he ever missed a button before getting a call from her sister who also berates her for the card. Unfortunately for Elaine, no one else in her life shrugged off her barely-visible nipple besides Jerry and Kramer.

2 Recalling The Contest

In the Finale episode, everyone who’s ever had beef with Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine appears in court to testify against them. Marla returns and takes the stand lamenting how disgusted she was when she learned about how Elaine, George Kramer, and Jerry had a contest to see how long each of them could go without “gratifying themselves”.

She is visibly upset and her reaction is even more overdramatic than the first time she learned of the contest. The whole gang gets slut-shamed during this testimony, not just Elaine.

1 Judged By A Witness

In the same episode, we also see the return of the pharmacist, but this time he’s back with textbook slut-shaming. He takes the stand and says, “sponges… I don’t mean the kind you clean the tub with. They’re for sex…she thinks she needed a whole case of ’em”. The crowd groans in disgust. Everyone in the gang pays for all of their wrongdoing with public humiliation (and ultimately jail time), and Elaine is no exception. She has done some bad things throughout Seinfeld, but seeking out the last of her favorite method of birth control is certainly not one of them.

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