Note: All porcine-related puns should be taken as intentional and are free to be laughed at as appropriate. Miss Piggy is also NOT standing over me with a loaded bazooka and a knife, forcing me to edit the title of this to her satisfaction. No. Of course not...
Except for Janice of The Electric Mayhem, that is. But let's be honest...is Janice REALLY the first person you think of when you hear 'female Muppet'? Yes most of the Muppet gang is made up of dudes (though, granted, most of them are frogs, bears, and whatevers so we can't exactly cry lack of diversity) but overshadowing them all is a glamorous pig with a fondness for karate and melodramatic vocal numbers. She is such a dynamic personality that the imbalance of the guy-girl ratio never really slaps you in the face. She is also the most enduring female character. Girls have come and girls have gone (like Skeeter and Lydia, among a few) but Miss Piggy is still around and as popular as ever.4: She's no damsel in distress...
Oh sure she'll play the shrieking, fainting maiden as long as it seems romantic to her (everything's a drama to Miss Piggy) but eventually she can keep the charade up no longer and, with a mighty "HIYAAAAA!" she rolls up her sleeve, wades right in, and puts those dangerous-looking high heels to good use. Half the time she is the one getting Kermit (her hapless love interest) or his buddies out of trouble with a well-placed karate-chop.3: She's a plus-size gal...
In this age of 'tolerance' and 'body positivity' it is hard to find a role model in this that doesn't swing from one end of the pendulum to another. Either we're 'fat shaming' and throwing ugly slurs at any girl who doesn't fit the 'skinny but curvy' model of beauty (no matter whether she's a real lazy couch potato or if she just happens to have lousy genes) or we're 'skinny shaming' and throwing it back in their faces by flaunting our weight...but only if you have it in the right places, mind. Sheesh. Well enter Miss Piggy, a woman who wears her weight with pride but doesn't look down on others for their shapes. She is utterly unconcerned with what others think about her in that manner. In fact, she hires someone to jog for her while she horks down chocolate and writes books on love advice. She doesn't take any nonsense from her fellow Muppet members whenever they make cracks at her weight, but she doesn't really let it affect her or stop her from wearing whatever she wants and trying anything she takes a fancy to.2: She's an unapologetic primadonna diva...
Oh does Miss Piggy ever hog the spotlight! I heard an interview with Jim Hensen and Frank Oz where they said that they never intended for her to be such a big part of the show. She was just going to be a chorus pig. But, while they were filming their first episode, Miss Piggy clearly had other ideas and put a bug in Oz's ear. The Muppet Glee Club was singing 'Temptation' and Oz had the idea to make Miss Piggy saunter up through the ranks in a (what she thought was) sultry manner and tackle Kermit to the ground. The rest is history and has resulted in one of the best-loved glamor pigs in all of media.1: She's part of the gang for better or worse...
Whether or not she will ever succeed in securing the eternal love and affection of her beloved Kermit, Miss Piggy will always be an integral part of The Muppets crew. She's funny and dramatic and very much loved as her own character. She's rough and short-tempered and tries so hard to be chique and glamorous that we all simultaneously laugh at and identify with her. She likes who she is and she's not going to jolly well change just because someone doesn't approve. She knows she's awesome and anyone who disagrees is wrong.
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