Patty Bouvier

"Some days at the DMV, we dont let the line move at all. We call those weekdays."

- Patty

Patricia Alvarine "Patty" Bouvier is the younger of Marge's cynical chain-smoking twin sisters, who works at the Department of Motor Vehicles or (DMV) and has a strong dislike for Homer. Patty is a lesbian.

Biography
Despite the similarities between her and Selma, Patty has been shown to be more jaded than her sister, particularly towards relationships. Marge once said that Patty chose a life of celibacy, but Selma had it thrust upon her. Patty's decision to not have relationships has been implied to be due to her then-closeted sexuality. She is more vicious to Homer than Selma is, and unlike Selma, who experiences brief moments of kindness to Homer, Patty has no pity for Homer's well-being. Two exceptions occurred, however. The first was when Patty came out of the closet as a lesbian, sucked up her pride and asked Homer (who was legally allowed to perform marriages) to perform the ceremony. The second was when both Homer and Patty were disgusted that Selma got into a relationship with Homer's father Abe, and they decided to work together to break them up.

Relationships
Patty has come out of the closet as a lesbian (She exclaims "you could see it from space!"), and hints of her sexual orientation have been dropped many times; as she is seen coming out of a burlesque house. She is also seen saying "There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality", when Homer runs past her, naked and screaming, and hiding in a closet with Smithers on a parade float in a gay pride parade where the two of them chanted, "We're gay! We're glad! But don't tell Mom and Dad!" When Homer heard about Patty's coming out, he sarcastically exclaimed "Patty's gay? Here's another bomb. I like beer!" It is also implied that she has feelings for Edna Krabappel as she pictures Edna while kissing Homer in order to break Selma and Abe up in the episode Rome-Old and Julie-Eh.

Skinner
Patty once dated Skinner after he was brought home by Homer. He is initially intended to date Selma, but he fell for Patty instead. Skinner planned to propose to Patty, but she refused, preferring to stay with Selma, who was on a date with Barney. It is unknown why she dated Skinner, as she is seem to be a lesbian as a teenager. "

After Patty comes out of the closet, Marge is hurt that Patty had hidden her sexuality for years (though there were obvious signs), but learns to respect her sister. Patty wooed a tenured professor of Yale University away from her husband. It is shown she is attracted to Edna Krabappel. Selma says "I can't face prison" and Patty replies "I can." Long before coming out, Patty had dated Principal Skinner. She refused to marry him, claiming she was too devoted to Selma as a sister to leave her alone. However, she did consider Principal Skinner a gentleman and had seemed to take it hard that she could not marry him, ending their relationship with the words "Good night, sweet principal." Patty, like Selma, has also had an honest sexual fixation on MacGyver for many years, although this aspect of her personality was phased out in later years.

Patty's only notable relationship with a woman, however, was with Veronica, who was a professional golfer. However, it was later discovered by Marge and revealed during Patty's wedding that Veronica was in truth a man.

Personality
Both twin sisters tend to be cynical and are noted for their addiction to tobacco smoking. They have a strong, mutual (and reciprocated) dislike for their brother-in-law. She (along with her sister) were born before Homer and Marge, but their birthdate has not been given. It is presumed they are in their mid to late 40s.

Unlike Homer, who usually makes a perfunctory (if not particularly sincere or committed) effort to be polite to his sisters-in-law out of respect for his wife, Patty and Selma have no hesitation in treating Homer with open rudeness and contempt. There were several instances where they did not seem to care when Homer faced a life-threatening situation. For instance, when Marge rushes to the hospital after receiving a telephone call that Homer had suffered a heart attack at work, Patty and Selma (instead of going to the hospital and comforting Marge in her time of need) remain seated at the kitchen table, continuing their activity of cutting coupons, gasping in amazement at a five cent discount and behaving as though nothing was wrong. They later attempt to set up Marge with a (rather sleazy) friend as a replacement for Homer, regardless of the fact that Homer was still very much alive. Her bad traits have not gone unnoticed by the populace of Springfield and even their family, her mother even stated that "[they're] a sort of evil", having raised them her whole life.

When Homer fakes his death, and Patty and Selma show up holding a tombstone inscribed with "Homer J. Simpson. We are richer for having lost him." This gift as well as the fact that they been saving for this since Marge's wedding causes her to angrily throw them out.

Patty's favorite brand of cigarettes is identified as "Lady Laramie 100s", and her habit had started "before they were even born". The sisters share an apartment at the Spinster Arms apartment complex and work at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Usually sticklers for rules, they have, on occasion, acted unprofessionally in the course of their jobs, usually when Homer is involved. They allowed Otto to regain his driver's license during Otto's brief tenancy with the Simpson family due to their mutual dislike for Homer.

Once, when Homer had to apply for a chauffeur’s license to become a chauffeur so he could pay off a debt he owed them, they purposely failed him to show how much of a loser he was. On this occasion, however, Homer had the last laugh; saving their jobs by pretending their cigarettes were his when they were caught smoking on the job by their superior. Homer then forced them to wipe the debt clean to repay the favor, thus negating his need to earn a chauffeur's license and removing the power they had of Homer.

Like her twin sister Selma, Patty is an avid (and sometimes maniacal) fan of the 1980s TV series MacGyver. Regardless of her orientation, she also seems to be erotically aroused by the show and the character, euphemistically needing a cigarette after each viewing of the show. Jay Sherman once tells Patty and Selma that MacGyver is gay ; they respond by suspending him from the Simpson home gutter by his underwear. When Richard Dean Anderson tells them he hated playing MacGyver they kidnap him but eventually grow tired of him and get him to leave.

Patty also had one hint of being a transsexual, as evidenced by Otto asking "Have you always been a chick? I mean, I don't want to offend you, but, you were born a man, weren't you? You can tell me, I'm open minded." This may have been merely another joke about the fact Patty and Selma are consider very ugly.

Patty and Selma drive a 1973 or 1974 VW Thing.

Future
In the future, Patty gets a fluffy tail, because of plastic surgery. Patty and Selma still live together and are apparently both still single, as hinted by Selma threatens to stuff Edna Krabappel's hat down her throat if she catches the bouquet at Lisa's Wedding. It is presumed that they both die early, as they are both heavy smokers.

The Simpsons Game
Patty and Selma appear in the level NeverQuest in the form of a two-headed dragon who attack the Hobbit-like forms of Rod Flanders, Todd Flanders, and Ralph Wiggum. They also appear earlier on in Mob Rules as people Marge can use to protest the sales of the Grand Theft Scratchy videogame to minors

The Bouviers and the Simpsons
As children, Patty and Selma were apparently domineering towards Marge and ridiculed her ambition of becoming an astronaut, as well as assaulting her when she told them "no" which resulted in her having difficulty with telling anyone no. Their relationship seems to have improved over the years. As adults, the Bouvier twins have a friendly relationship with their sister and frequently visit the Simpsons. They seem relatively fond of their nieces and nephew, but seem to like them more when they were younger: "The older they get, the cuter they ain't." They have, on occasion, watched the kids when their parents were out of town. However, Bart and Lisa would rather not be around when their aunts visit. Their idea of bonding with Lisa includes tutoring her in the belief that men are pigs, using Homer as the prime example.

Their relationship with Homer remains one of mutual dislike (although Selma gradually grows to become more tolerant towards Homer and often experiences brief moments of kindness) which involves a continuous exchange of insults from day one. They unfavorably compare their brother-in-law to a caveman, suggesting him capable of trading Maggie for beer and a nudie magazine. In one episode, she or Selma said "Hello everybody except Homer"

Selma and Patty have occasionally expressed their common hope that Marge will eventually divorce Homer. They are often quick in pointing out his attempts at infidelity, and have unsuccessfully offered to help Marge find a replacement for Homer (although Selma eventually gave in and helped Marge find Homer after seeing how truly unhappy she was). The twins once went so far as to have a billboard built trying to convince voters to have Homer kicked out of Springfield.

Their dislike towards Homer has even led to push Homer off a bridge, although they half-heartedly claim they did this in order to get him to his surprise party, which was conveniently on a boat passing beneath the bridge at the time.

Homer also openly calls them ugly. One such incident is when Homer sees them working out and calls the sight nauseating. He once said he was blindfolded and "two sobbing trolls" threw him on to the lawn. Homer has also called them "Penis curling she devils" during a party Marge threw. Homer is known to show little care to what happens to Patty and Selma, except if it happens to Marge her upset, when as the reaper killed Patty with no remorse, when Patty and Selma foiled Homer to get his license, he smoked their cigarettes to save them from getting fired, but only did it because Marge was upset.

Character
Series creator Matt Groening said he suggested that Kavner voice Patty and Selma as characters who "suck the life out of everything...." Al Jean said Kavner makes Patty's voice more masculine and a lower register, while Selma's voice is a little sweeter.

Creation
Groening also said that he named the Simpsons after his own parents and two younger sisters; he has an older sister named Patty who is an art dealer.

Trivia

 * In The Blue and the Gray, Patty's hair is revealed to be actually red, the gray actually being smoke from her constant usage of cigarettes. Though flashbacks have shown Patty's hair being gray as child, it is possible that it was colored gray in the flashbacks because she was smoking at a young age. It isn't surprising, seeing as she smokes in flashbacks as well. But in Three Men and a Comic Book, she and Selma had grey hair, but that was probably their father doing that.