8 Reasons ’80s She-Ra Was a Feminist Badass and You Should Be Hyped for Her Netflix Series

Of all the blessings 20gayteen has bestowed upon us, nothing has gotten me quite as hyped as the news that Noelle Stevenson would helm a Netflix reboot of She-Ra. I’ve been a fan of Stevenson’s since she was posting slash fan art for free on Tumblr, and only grew to admire her work more through Nimona and Lumberjanes. And I’ve been a fan of She-Ra since — well, since forever. She was my introduction to women warriors! Up until I met her, I only ever liked “boy” toys because that’s the only way a little girl like me got to play with swords and lasers and wear cool armored costumes. I knew She-Ra for years before I was even introduced to Wonder Woman. (She-Ra came out in the spring of 1985, when Wonder Woman was getting turned to clay in DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which she remained literal dirt for an entire year before regaining her human form and returning to the comic book world.)

She-Ra came to me through my sister, Jenn, who liked fashion and ass-kicking. Jenn got the She-Ra action figure and the She-Ra castle and She-Ra’s trusty unicorn steed, Swiftwind. She took turns riding She-Ra around on Swiftwind and riding She-Ra around on the beast form of her arch-nemesis, Catra. (My sister’s queer too.) She-Ra toys came with a brush and a weapon. One minute, Jenn was fixing She-Ra’s hair; the next, She-Ra was running Ken through with her jeweled sword. (He stole Barbie’s Camero.) It wasn’t long before I was begging to play with She-Ra and then devouring the cartoon and saving my allowance to buy her gear at K-Mart. She-Ra wasn’t like Jem of the Holograms, or Smurfette, or any of the other cartoon girls I saw on TV.

There’s been plenty of kerfuffle this week about Stevenson’s redesigns of the characters — which, by the way, are awesome — and it might have led you to believe that the original She-Ra is a just relic, a corseted victim of misogyny who was erased from the He-Man universe after her show was cancelled because Toys R Us couldn’t figure out which section to put her toys in. But nothing could be further from the truth! She-Ra was a gateway into feminism! And it holds up, even today! It’s not perfect, of course, but it’s honestly still revolutionary.

Here are the eight most feminist things about the original Princess of Power.


1. She-Ra was just as tough as He-Man.

She-Ra was a warrior, even before she became She-Ra. (She was kidnapped as a child by the evil Hordak, and ultimately became the leader of his army because she was such a badass.) He-Man was muuuch more muscley than her, but she was just as strong as him, and as fast, and as agile, and as skilled at fighting. Plus she was smarter, and more empathetic, and her sword — which was the same size as his in the cartoons, though slightly smaller than his action figure’s — had an extra jewel and could turn into literally anything. A parachute, a rope, a torch, a magnet, a boomerang, handcuffs, a shield, a bow, a… space helmet. When He-Man wasn’t He-Man, he was the simpering Prince Adam. When She-Ra wasn’t She-Ra, she was still a competent, capable fighter named Adora.

2. And she had a tougher mortal enemy.

He-Man’s arch-nemesis, Skeletor, was a buffoon. He spent every episode trying to figure out how to take over Eternia and failing like a coyote trying to catch a roadrunner. She-Ra’s arch-nemesis was a fascist dictator named Hordak who already ruled Etheria with an iron fist, an enormous army (that included a variety of robots and tanks), and a merciless temper. In fact, he allowed Skeletor to look after his ship one episode when he had to go off to do whatever dictator business, and Skeletor wrecked everything.

3. All of the humans in She-Ra’s Rebellion were women…

There’s actually never been another leading female cartoon character with a cast of supporting female characters as big as She-Ra’s. And they really did call themselves “The Rebellion.”

4. …except one man named Bow, who was a constant damsel in distress.

Bow gets captured basically every time She-Ra takes him anywhere. Usually he just sits in his cell and sings until she arrives to rescue him.

5. She-Ra’s gal pals all had cooler powers than any of He-Man’s friends.

There’s Queen Castaspella, who is a sorceress; Flutterina, who flies; Double Trouble, who can disguise herself as anything; Queen Frosta, who shoots energy-like chill beams from her hands; Princess Glimmer, who manipulates light; Madame Razz, who casts silly spells; Mermista, who controls water and sea creatures; Peekablue, who has super-sight; Perfuma, who controls plants; and on and on!

6. The Rebellion existed to install a matriarchy on Etheria.

Queen Angela is the rightful ruler of Etheria. There is no king! A king is never mentioned! Her throne was stolen by Hordak, and She-Ra and her Rebellion are fighting to reinstall her so she can bring the qualities of female leadership back to the planet. (Fairness, compassion, cool-headedness, etc.) Etheria before Hordak was Themyscira (but with men who were never victims or perpetrators of toxic masculinity).

7. She-Ra always passed the Bechdel test.

Every episode of She-Ra features She-Ra talking to at least one of her other lady friends about basically anything besides boys (unless the boy in question is Bow, and she needs to talk out a plan to rescue him — again).

8. She-Ra and her friends were action figures, not dolls.

It’s actually one of the reasons the series only lasted two seasons. Mattel did not want She-Ra shelved with Barbie, but toy stores didn’t have any other toys in the “girl” section that were made for fighting fascism, and they sure as heck weren’t going to mix girl dolls in with Han Solo. She-Ra and her many many many friends were shoehorned in between pink boxes of dolls that existed to teach girls to be moms and wives. Boys weren’t looking on the Barbie aisle for action figures, and girls weren’t used to buying action figures.


She-Ra never really did anything gay, but, like all powerful women who had a secret identity, she became a gay icon over the decades. I feel very confident that under Noelle Stevenson’s watch, in this new world where Steven Universe just hosted a queer wedding, there will be plenty of LGBTQ moments to celebrate in the new series.

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1719 articles for us.

12 Comments

  1. I used to run around the house shouting “For the honor of Grayskull! I am She-Ra!” with my stick Sword of Protection.

    She was my first crush and then came Wonder Woman.

  2. I was a huge She Ra fan and had tons of those action figures. I used to have a habit of licking Queen Frosta’s bodice, which man, I don’t even know. Could have been baby gayness or just me being weird, because I chewed on Barbie shoes too.

    I wasn’t as into He Man, but I did love the Sorceress from that show. Also let’s just pretend Fisto was a gay dude because it’s better that way.

    • Blast. Meant to embed the video.

      And here’s a nice article about Two Nice Girls – http://www.afterellen.com/people/22431-where-are-they-now-two-nice-girls

      Their song “I spent my last 10 dollars (on birth control and beer)” was a favorite drinking song with my queer circle of friends in college (1990-91 ish) – my first friend to come out introduced the rest of us to it. Re-listening to it, it has some bi-erasure probs, but baby-bi me really loved the song and going to see them play in some dive gay bar in Cleveland was a revelation.

      #Olderstraddlers

  3. I was She-Ra for Halloween when I was 6. I wish I had a picture handy to share with you all because it was epic. I also had She-Ra’s castle plus a bunch of the action figures and I’m still kind of mad that my mom got rid of them.

  4. The she-ra circle of life:
    Step 1) obsess over she-ra as a tiny child feminist
    Step 2) repress queerness for a quarter century
    Step 3) come out in your 30s, wonder how you missed that you were a super gay kid
    Step 4) get stoked to watch she-ra reboot with awesome partners

    Thanks 20gayteen!

  5. It’s amazing how She Ra illustrates real life!
    Picture number 1:
    Having a bro as your lab partner, it’s you who puts in all the work.
    Picture number 2:
    Your sub boss and big boss chilling at the company summer party, probably discussing your future.
    Picture number 3:
    You and the crew all dolled up and ready to go out.
    Picture number 4:
    With the gay BFF at the gym on Sundays.
    Number 5:
    Reaching to bridge the pay gap.
    Number 6:
    Trying to recreate one of those tasty recipes with your gal pal.
    Number 7:
    Your straight friend trying to convince you to do a pilates class, when you have a strict lifting schedule.
    Number 8:
    3D Prints of you and the gang at Comic-Con.

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