Jem's Juxtaposition: Not All Women Require Monogamy

Jem a.k.a Jem and the Holograms is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, and the adventures of Jem and her band the Holograms. Growing up it was one of my favorite cartoons.  As a person who likes romance, drama, and musicals Jem was everything  I could have dreamed of in a series.

I was so obsessed with the show I had a Jem doll so that I could be connected to that world even when I couldn’t watch the show. But as I have matured, It’s hard to overlook some of the cartoons confusing and sometimes toxic relationship dynamics. Looking back on it, the lead character came across as a female cuckhold aka cuckquean. A female cuckold is a woman whose husband or boyfriend commits adultery with her knowledge.

Now you are probably thinking how did that observation arise from watching an 80s cartoon?  Simple, that is what it portrayed. Remember I said Jem was the alter ego to Jerrica Benton. Well, I forgot to mention they shared the same boyfriend, Rio. Rio and Jerrica were neighbors and childhood friends. After Jerrica’s father died they became close. One day Rio saw Jem and thought she was attractive, when she noticed this Jerrica started flirting back as her alter ego. Remember, I said a cuckquean is a woman who enjoys being humiliated by her husband or boyfriend's intimate interactions with other women?

That is the power of the media, as a child the weird love triangle added to the lure of the show. I tuned in every week to hear an amazing new song, watch a businesswoman hold onto her company, provide for underprivileged girls and play mind games with her boyfriend as she lures him into a love triangle with him, herself, and her alter ego. There were episodes where Jerrica would get jealous of Rio and his affection towards Jem. It was one song that I distinctly remember called “Who Is He Kissing” in which she ruminates on which persona he is in love with the most.

The reason why I call Jerrica a cuckquean is because Rio had no idea she was also her alter ego. So, in his head he was doing what typical cheaters do, be with more than one person without the other persons’ knowledge. But Jerrica had knowledge of everything. It seems like she enjoyed the thrill of humiliating herself with her alter ego. As the show progresses her reasoning for not telling Rio she is Jem, is for fear he might leave her for lying to and tricking him.

The show posed so many questions that it probably should have been a question-and-answer segment afterwards. I am grown with children, still wondering, why did she even go along with the ruse to begin with? Which brings me back to my first observation, was Jem trying to get a generation of women to be competitive side pieces, introduce them to cuckqueans’ mentality or showing us a dynamic of romantic relationship that we don’t speak of often in the mainstream?  Whatever the case may be, as the theme song stated, “Jem is truly outrageous!”