Fall TV is finally here, and with it an improved Boob(s On Your) Tube! Here’s what’s new:
+ Boob(s) will now run twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
+ Boob(s) will now feature mini-recaps from other writers besides just me, including new folks and some of your Autostraddle faves.
+ Because Boob(s) will now be suplemented with other writing and also because I will soon have two awesome new interns to introduce you to, I’ll be publishing some more standalone critical thinking TV pieces this fall, including ones you’ve been asking for about often overlooked shows like Person of Interest.
+ Since last we talked, the Emmys happened and Empire aired a new promo during the awards and Cookie was looking at Marisa Tomei like this:
Bette who?
(Thanks for the screenshot, Nic!)
If you want to know where all the lesbian and bisexual women are going to be on TV this fall, Riese has written you a handy guide!
Steven Universe
Thursdays on Cartoon Network
Who run the world?
When Mey Rude tells you to watch something or read something, do it. Her taste is flawless. Getting to talk about stories with her, to hear her compassionate and insightful analysis of all the media she consumes, is one of the best things that’s happened to me since I joined the Autostraddle team almost a year ago. Back in March, Mey wrote about the season one finale of Cartoon Network’s super diverse and wonderfully queer Steven Universe, during which it was revealed that one of Steven’s moms, Garnet, is actually two Gems: Ruby and Sapphire, a married lesbian couple that is fused together!
During last week’s episode, “Sadie’s Song,” Steven coaxes his friend Sadie into performing at the Beach-a-Palooza Talent Show. Steven is equally enamored with her voice, her clothes, her hair, and her makeup, so Sadie’s mom teams up with Steven to glam squad Sadie. However, it turns out that Sadie only likes singing for the sake of singing (or swimming for the sake of swimming or playing softball for the sake of playing softball); her mom, however, goes over the top about every hobby she tries out and ruin’s Sadie’s fun. Sadie confronts her mom about it and her mom agrees to dial it back because she just wants Sadie to be happy.
When Mr. Smiley announces Sadie as the talent show’s special guest, she has this conversation with Steven:
Sadie: Ugh, how did I let this happen! I don’t want to do this!
Steven: You never did; it was always me.
He then goes on stage in Sadie’s clothes and performs one of my favorite Steven Universe songs to date: I can’t help it if I make a scene / stepping out of my hot pink limousine / I’m turning heads and I’m stopping traffic / When I pose they scream and when I joke they laugh … Everybody needs a friend / and I’ve got you and you and you / I’ve got so many I can’t even name them / Can you blame me? I’m too famous!
Oh, and hey, there’s a lesbian couple in the crowd!
More screentime than half the lesbians on live-action broadcast TV, tbh.
It’s not the first time Steven has explored the idea of gender and it’s a revolutionary moment on TV, and especially on a show aimed at children. Everyone is crazy for Steven’s performance! Below are Mey’s thoughts:
I (and a lot of other trans women I talked to on Tumblr) definitely are hoping for and leaning toward the idea of transfeminine/non-binary/trans girl (or a combination of those things) for Steven, and not just Steven-as a boy who enjoys wearing dresses for a performance. There have been a lot of Trans Girl Steven headcanons for a while, especially after “Giant Woman,” where Steven sang “If it were me, I’d really want to be a giant woman” [when he saw Pearl and Amethyst fuse into a giant Gem], and of course [the season one finale], “Alone, Together,” where we see Steven being extremely comfortable and happy fusing with Connie and becoming an androgynous person who very much is also feminine, is wearing what most people would consider “women’s clothes” and is read by a lot of people as a girl. Then, in this episode we see Steven wearing not only Sadie’s skirt and halter top and heels, but also putting on makeup, and being very comfortable in that outfit. And earlier, when they were going through Sadie’s closet, Steven was obviously enamored with her clothes in a way that most cis boys wouldn’t have been. I’m not delusional, and I know it’s not super likely, but if the show did reveal that Steven is trans, it wouldn’t be out of nowhere.
After the episode I saw a lot of people in the fandom talking about how much they loved that the show let Steven wear a skirt and heels but “they weren’t girl’s clothes, they were Steven’s clothes” or saying that “just because he wore a skirt doesn’t mean you should start calling him a girl” or “it’s so cool that the show showed that boys can like feminine things too,” which are all technically true (except for the “girl’s clothes” one, because they were Sadie’s clothes), but they also had a weird feeling of transphobia behind them. While I agree that boys should be able to wear whatever clothes they want, and that it’s good to break gender stereotypes, trans girls should also be able to come out, and it’s good to let trans girls embody gender stereotypes by wearing skirts and heels and makeup, and to insist that that wasn’t going on made me feel more than a little uneasy.
Your move, Jem!
Overall, no matter what was going on in this episode, we saw a boy or trans girl or person dressing in a way they wanted to, in a way that would normally get them laughed at, that would normally get them insulted and beat up, and hearing applause and seeing smiles. I want Steven to be a trans girl, I think that would be the most revolutionary and important thing the show could do with this storyline. But I’m also extremely happy with the episode no matter what. Steven Universe once again showed us that femininity isn’t bad, and that it’s something that all people can aspire to and be attracted to.
And this isn’t even mentioning the great story and message with Sadie and her mom, or the lesbian couple who appeared in several background scenes. This show is just so good.
It really is, y’all.
Gotham
Mondays on Fox at 8:00 p.m.
I’m looking for Alex Vause.
The only TV show that has managed to make me want to hurl it into the sun besides Skins Fire was the first season of Gotham. As I have mentioned here and there and actually probably everywhere on the internet, unceremoniously trashing Rene Montoya — one of the few lesbian Latina characters in TV history and DC’s only openly queer person of color in the cinematic universe — was a shit decision by a cowardly group of creatives who refused to stand up to their entitled straight white male fanboy base. And then they turned Barbara Kean into a bisexual psychopath by murdering her parents.
I don’t trust this show and I do not recommend getting emotionally involved with it!
I did, however, watch last night’s season two premiere to see if all the sweeping changes everyone was talking about were real, and shockingly they were. For example, Barbara has more agency and actual characterization in the first 42 minutes of season two than she did in the whole of season one. Honestly, she basically spent all last year sitting in her apartment waiting for Jim to come home from work, smoking the occasional joint and taking a lot of bubble baths, scissoring Renee Montoya every now and again. So it’s remarkable that she goes on a joy ride to cause hijinks in the city in this episode — especially because she had to BREAK OUT OF ARKHAM to do it.
Yes, she’s in Arkham, a co-ed prison for criminally insane masterminds. She’s got swagger in there! She’s not intimidated by the menacing inmates, and unlike Piper Chapman, it doesn’t take her two seasons to get her hands on a contraband phone. She does it almost immediately and uses it to call and harass Jim Gordon, which is exactly what I would do with my phone if I also lived in this universe.
It’s hard out here for a Batman villain, especially a bisexual one. Ask Harley Quinn. But it can be cool too. I love psychotic villains you can root for, because they’re so dang charming. Like Loki in the Avengers Universe. Like Mona Vanderwaal on Pretty Little Liars. I’m not convinced these writers will keep this kickass trajectory alive for Barbara, but it was nice for a minute.
Survivor’s Remorse
Saturdays on Starz at 9:30 p.m.
Get out of this bouncy castle; don’t you know what happened to Naomily after they jumped in one of these?!
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned the Survivor’s Remorse showrunner is Mike O’Malley (AKA Burt Hummel from Glee). I actually mean to mention it every week because there is something weirdly Glee-esque about this show, in terms of the balance it tries to strike with drama and comedy and the subversive humor it employs to tackle tough real-world topics. This year, for example, they’ve taken on racism, domestic violence, and now teen pregnancy — and it’s only episode five.
Also, O’Malley is way better at hitting that sweet spot than Ryan Murphy ever was.
So this week M-Chuck meets a pregnant 12-year-old teenager named Brittany living in a group home. Like super pregnant. Like nine months pregnant. Brittany didn’t realize she had any options because her group home mother is a devout Christian who believes her pregnancy is an immaculate conception. Brittany wants to keep her baby and M-Chuck wants to support her decision to do that, despite warnings from everyone in her entire family that a child cannot raise a child. M-Chuck won’t listen, though, and ends up throwing Brittany a baby shower on the Calloway estate, complete with ponies and bouncy castles and cotton candy. It isn’t until she sees Brittany hopping around in the castle — “I don’t see a sign that says pregnant kids can’t jump in here!” — that she realizes maybe her family is right.
She doesn’t regret trying; she tells Missy if her mom had subscribed to Cassie’s way of thinking, she’d “be in pieces in a medical-waste bin somewhere or adopted by white people who think Jesus loves all.”
M-Chuck has had a lot to do this season, and really only one of her storylines has revolved around Cam. It’s fresh writing for a lesbian character. I know I keep saying it, but I am super into this show.
Lost Girl
Sundays on (Canada’s) Showcase at 9:00 p.m.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to french kiss yourself?
Kind of?
O shit.
Isn’t it funny how the ultimate love triangle on Lost Girl didn’t turn out to beLauren/Bo/Dyson like the writers intended in the beginning, but actually Lauren/Bo/Tamisn and it’s not really a love triangle at all because there are only five episodes left and Lost Girl is rewarding all those Doccubus shippers who fought so hard to keep this show on the air so long? I think that’s a really rad and wonderful thing, and such a testament to the power of queer fandom.
… unless they end up murdering Rogue Lauren.
This week, Lauren and Bo make out a little bit. Bo is still getting used to Lauren sucking her chi if you know what I mean and I think you do. Tamsin accidentally busts it up. She’s got some mail at Bo’s; it’s a check from Hades for tracking down his daughter, so she stomps right back to him and tells him to die in a fiery explosion and stuff his money up his butt, etc. The thing is that Hades knew Tamsin would fall in love with Bo and that’s why he sent her after his daughter, because now that Tamsin has experienced true love and true rejection, she can harness that power and be a great leader in his coming war to destroy the world.
Obviously he is building an army. And guess who he wants to lead it? Bo, duh.
But Bo cannot be bothered with saving the world or dealing with her evil father at this moment because Lauren wants a smoothie and so Bo goes to the smoothie store to get Lauren a smoothie because that’s the most important thing to her in the world right now. Bae wants frozen fruit; bae’s gonna get frozen fruit.
Tamsin finally does find Bo and tells her that she’d rather be her friend than nothing at all, and oh also, maybe she could pretend to join her dad’s Dark Magic army to take him down from the inside before the series finale? She thinks that’s a pretty great idea. It’s no bananaberry blast with protein powder, but it’s good.
Oh, man. But what if BO DIES?
Carmilla
Tuesdays and Thursdays on YouTube
Well, I’ll never wear another shirt with animals on it if that’s what you’re wondering.
Written by Karly
Will the giraffe shirt reign of terror ever end?! Laura is still wearing it! This week, Perry comes back with no memory of where she’s been (or “bean” as Danny pronounces it. Those Canadians). Nobody brings up the footage of Perry’s obvious possession, probably because they’re still reeling from the Hollstein breakup and Mattie’s death.
Vordenberg swiftly orders our tiny heroes dead over the PA system. While the gang (with an unsurprisingly UNINJURED Danny) boards up the apartment, Laura takes a moment to finally reflect on her black-and-white worldview. How could she have expected Carmilla to be “good” when Laura put all her faith in Vordenberg and when she gave Danny the weapon to kill Mattie? But loud growling and screaming from across the campus interrupt her moping. Catmilla is having a go at the anglerfish’s blood so she can have the extra juice to kill Vordie, or to kill everyone. Exact motives are unclear. But the mobs keep her back for the time being.
And in this fan fiction, you and Carmilla have a threesome with Lophi.
With Carmilla not even in the background this week, Laura and I have to pay attention to the bigger plot development. So with Perry’s advice (she’s totally possessed, you guys!) they go over the dean’s records and they find out the dean wanted the anglerfish dead as well, and maybe she knew how to defeat Vordenberg. Next week Laura hopefully changes her shirt, Carmilla comes back (and revives Mattie? C’mon, please), and they finally figure out that Perry killed all those people.
Team TV coverage you may have missed
+ Faking It Episode 214 Recap: So Liberal With Her Scissors and Other Things
This week on Faking It, Lauren and Amy dress up like A and creep around the No-Tell Motel while their pals live it up in Los Angeles!
+ Uzo Aduba and Viola Davis Make History At The Most Feminist Emmy Awards Ever
Openly gay writers/directors Lisa Cholodenko and Jane Anderson took home trophies. Jane Lynch snagged another win. And Transparent pulled down three Emmys, too!
+ A Gay Girl’s Guide To Fall 2015 TV
Despite tepid reviews for most of this fall’s new shows, we’ve got plenty of new and returning lesbian and bisexual characters to be very excited about as well as quite a few lady-helmed productions.
+ Fan Fiction Friday: Jane the Virgin Stories, an Interview With a Fan Fic Pro and Even More Fandom Delights
Welcome to the all-new Fan Fiction Friday, now with even more features and fandom celebrations!
+ Mo Welch and Dannielle Owens-Reid Are Making Lesbian Webseries Magic with Plus One
“If someone had been like, “You are going to write a thing and it’s going to be fully produced and you are gonna star in it and it’s gonna be really good,” I would’ve been like, nah.”
+ Faking It Episode 213 Recap: Survey Says “Lesbian”
This week on “Faking It,” Reagan wants one thing, Amy wants another thing, Karma wants something else, Lauren wants a different thing but also a similar thing, and I want an iced tea. Unsweetened!
See you Friday!
Yeah, you guys really should have mentioned before that Survivor’s Remorse is Mike O’Malley’s show. Then I would have been watching it already. Burt Hummel has never let me down.
Survivor’s Remorse is so good! I haven’t been able to see the new season ’cause my mom doesn’t have Starz but I was able to watch the first season at home when Starz did a full week and I was SO SAD that the season was so short. I hope it keeps going and going and that I find a way to watch the new season.
Don’t you think you should drop Gotham?
If you take what happened with Rene Montoya, the fanboys and the creative team (I’m being generous here), I don’t think this show is gonna get better.
The idea of quality in representation totally fits here.
I think that she’s staying for one of Barbara’s season two lovers, who is Tabitha Galavan. A woman of color, a queer woman, a villain, and a named Batman character, the Tigress.
Yes, I did checked that one, but I don’t have high hopes for this show. Particularly when you follow the trend that seems to work so well on TV: you screw things up once, but you never learn a thing about the mistake you made.
Agreed! I love that this column has started calling out Gotham, but the signs are not good, and it would be in keeping with the site’s stated philosophy elsewhere to dial it back. I mean, we might actually have enough representation that we don’t have to cover every little terrible example.
It’s been frankly weird to see so much coverage for Gotham and so little for The Fosters, a show that actually does have quality representation.
they had this really half-asses excuse for dropping Montaya in one interview they said because they’re moving away from the police procedural stuff they don’t have as much time for the storylines of the cops. (which is also why they dropped renee’s partner). kinda meh.
I binged Suvivor’s Remorse this weekend, just so we could talk about it in today’s article. Seriously the last THREE episodes in a row- the one when the mom decides to get vaginal rejuvenation, the one when M Chuck sleeps with the actress pretending to be a plantation owner, and this last one- THEY WERE ALL SO EXCELLENT!
The show is smart, but also funny. And unapologetic in its blackness. Its also sneaky feminist a lot of the time (I keep thinking back to the mom vaginal rejuvenation storyline- I’ve never seen that topic handled in that way. It’s not a surgery I agree with, but Tichina Arnold knocked it out of the park in her monologues about this is about a woman who never really had a right to her own body claiming her power back. It moved me.)
But this last episode, with M Chuck working through her own stances on pro-life/pro-choice as it related to her being the child of teenage mom. It was funny, but also serious and sensitive. I’m really in awe of how the show handles these themes. I’m also in awe of how they handle M Chuck. I don’t think her character is “perfect” (is perfection really the goal anyway? I hope not), but she is perhaps the most full fledged black queer woman/ tv regular that I can remember seeing on television in at least 5+ years.
Yall, find someone with access to a Starz account and watch this show! If you like family comedies with adult sensibilities and humor, then This show is SO worth the effort.
I really wish Starz didn’t make it so hard to watch their shows :(
I finished Call the Midwife season 4 recently and I am SO MAD AT THAT SHOW. I guess I won’t say why so I don’t spoil it for anyone, but ARGH.
I have a theory and I want to ask but don’t.
Even stating the theory could be SPOILERS.
I have a theory…It could be witches-
Let’s create a spoiler zone because I want to hear your theory.
So, like, SPOILERS PAST THIS COMMENT, maybe.
But the Latest Comments side bar!
Wait it I may have a solution
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
Mary had no spoilers but a lamb
(p^q)->~r
My theory is that Patricia “Pasty” Mount is a lesbian or bi, gets caught and in some sort of boo-koo trouble and is there for written off. Something unpleasant like that.
And now that I think of it the former Sister Bernadette currently Shelagh Turner had a fertility issue related to TB. TV shows and stuff tend to be assholes and undo that because god forbid a woman “just” have adopted kids be fine with it without getting a “reward” for doing so. Endometriosis relate infertility is a thing in my family I take it personally when a character get “rewarded” with a child of their body.
If the cues for Shelagh leaving the sisterhood are any clue Nurse Miller’s going to become a sister.
I must have been out of it earlier because I completely misinterpreted your first comment! I thought you meant you had finished it as well and had a theory for future episodes. So, all I’ll say is definitely have some comfort food while you’re watching the finale. :( :( :(
It was so sad it made me mad at the characters who were actually happy at the end of it.
really appreciate this ad-hoc spoiler protector
ME TOO. I love that show but REALLY? REALLY??? There is a little bit of hope, though: https://twitter.com/lamb_tales/status/595920598808788993 (very vague spoilers if you haven’t finished season 4)
That is incredibly hopeful! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for that! I have been SUPER ANTSY waiting for the Christmas special before I can decide how I feel about all this. We all know how this usually goes, but I am still nurturing a tiny hope that This Show Might Be Different.
Heather, I will say it again, I am SO excited for you critical piece on Person of Interest. I’m pretty sure you can only make me love this show more.
Speaking of loving things that the Autostraddle community has convinced me to love, should I be watching Empire?! Maybe I’ve just been reading the wrong things about it, but from what I read when the first season started, it was sold as basically a genderflipped King Lear? Do I care at all about three dudes fighting to inherit Daddy’s fortune, even if Taraji is a goddess sent down to earth? I hear there are some queer ladies, but how much screen time do they actually get? Please help me! (With minimal spoilers, if possible!)
First of all:Also very excited about POI.
Secondly: Watch Empire. But watch the show without any kind of expectation, neither good nor bad and just let it take you on its journey.
I felt that it didn’t have that huge production value, that I’ve kind of gotten used to and was initially disappointed.
But it’s a well done family saga, and that I can appreciate.
A family saga that openly deals with homophobia and occasionally features gay Ladies, or gay actresses, or gay themes. Or all of the above. But without the mandatory sidekick or random token single gay character. Gayness is a recurring theme for the show and even when it isn’t you’ll see a few familiar faces.
Just give it a couple of eps and decide for yourself.
It’s got a few truly fantastic moments!
Ok, your assessment that Empire is a gender flipped King Lear is a good starting point to gage your interest. It is about three dudes (and Taraji, their mother who is fresh from a 17 year jail bid/ rock of the family) fighting for control of the dad’s company. I find both Lucious (the dad) and Terrance Howard (the actor who plays him) to be insufferable.
That said, arguably the main protagonist son Jamal is gay- and that is perhaps THE central conflict of the first season. So there is some good, well explored central queer plot lines, even if not lady focused.
There is also Tiana, the girlfriend of one of the brothers (think Rihanna-esque, but her brand is less “bad girl” heavy). She is bisexual. It plays out over maybe 1 or 2 episodes- so not very central. BUT they promoted her to a series regular for this upcoming season, so there is potential that there will be more there. They are also adding Marrissa Tomei in this Bette Porter from the L Word style power lesbian/investment banker (?) as a reoccurring character. So the queer lady ante has definitely been upped.
I really, really, really cannot stand Terrance Howard (I know I said it before, but it can’t be overstated). Taraji’s portrayal of Cookie is like nothing else on tv right now as far as I’m concerned. The show really is hers, so that makes all the boys more palatable for me. It’s very campy high drama (think 80s shows like “Dynasty”) meets relatable family conflict/drama (think, not quite “Friday Night Lights” or “Parenthood”- maybe more “Brothers & Sisters”?). And FUNNY. So you would have to decide if that genre sounds like your taste.
It’s also about a black family, which let’s be real, that is such a rarity. And it’s about a black family and their queer child, which is basically unseen.
Plus, yes, you are right- Taraji is a goddess sent down from earth.
That’s my pitch!
This was very thorough, thank you! The King Lear part doesn’t worry me, I love Shakespeare, and if Empire is a family drama with Shakespeare-level intrigue, that sounds great. It’s really just the excess of dudes that concern me. Oddly enough, that was my main concern before starting Person of Interest too, and then I ending up absolutely LOVING PoI, so maybe I need to adjust my thinking a little and remember that even dude-heavy shows can maybe not be terrible :P
No problem!
FUN FACT: Every episode in the first season is named after a line from Shakespeare :)
Oooooooh it’s like a game! Guess the play!
@c-p I just had to tell you – I just watched the first episode, and I think I’m sold! I fell in love with Jamal pretty much immediately, Cookie made me laugh from her very first line, and Gabourey Sidibe as Becky is amazing. I hate pretty much everyone else, but that’s okay. The dialogue could be better, and the plot kinda felt too mechanical, like everything fell into place too easily, but that happens in pilots, so I’m sure it’ll get better. What REALLY surprised me though was Jamal’s song intercut with the scenes of Lucious beating him up – shit that was powerful, I did not expect Empire to nearly bring me to tears, but it somehow managed that too.
So anyway, thanks!
Oh YAY!!!! I’m glad that you at least found the pilot enjoyable and worth your time. I’m agree about Jamal- I had fell in love with him almost right away and Cookie from her first line. In fact, yes, the Cookie/ Jamal/ Becky trifecta is golden!! (If you stick with the show, also be on the lookout for Porsche- she is Cookie’s assistant and comes later)
Oh man, I almost forgot about all the baby Jamal scenes in the pilot!! That’s when I knew I was going to stick with the show. I hadn’t seen anything like that before on network tv- especially in a show’s pilot, which can so important to a who’s DNA and myth is. The fact they took that time to dedicate to Jama was SO POWERFUL. My goodness.
Anyway, glad you enjoyed it last night!
I think it borrows more heavily from Lion in Winter than King Lear, but is a hell of a lot more fun than either of those. Sort of a Lion in Winter/Dynasty hybrid.
Yeah, the show is an outright black US present-day version of The Lion in Winter, the play and then film based with a surprising degree of accuracy on the family of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Fwiw, it’s fantastic movie–one of Kathryn Hepburn’s best roles.
The show is surprisingly faithful to its source, but the scene of Jamal being thrown in the trash is actually something that director Lee Daniels’ father actually did to him as a small child.
The latest Lost Girl episode was really good.
More Tamsim, Evony and Acacia (Linda Hamilton) are back. No Kenzi, that was the down point.
Doctor Who came back this Saturday and Clara said she made out with Jane Austen (“a phenomenal kisser”). 1.!!! 2. That is enough for me to scream BISEXUAL. 3. Someone write that fanfiction immediately.
I bet kissing Jane Austen might be like sucking on a lemon drop — sharp and interesting, then sweeter and sweeter as you became more fond of one another.
omg
Why didn’t they actually show that happening?! Why can’t we have nice things.
Because Steven Moffat ?
Clara and Missy tonight…just saying!!
Trans girl Steven <3
I've been getting so excited about this theory lately with all the hints about how much of Rose is still in Steven and then we get moments like this. :)
I’ve never thought about it before but trans girl Steven would make so much sense. There was a time when I would assume a cartoon would never go there, but since Korrasami became canon I actually think there’s hope. I really do feel we’re at a tipping point when it comes to all ages media and queer characters.
What I loved so much about the last episode of Steven Universe wasn’t only that Steven got on stage in a dress. It was that it wasn’t played off for laughs or as something shameful. It was Steven getting a chance to experiment with something he found fun.
I think you could read that scene as Steven being a trans girl or genderqueer or questioning or a cis boy in a dress. I love that the show allows all those possibilities to coexist, and none of those possibilities have shame attached to them!
Oh Gotham, you disappoint me.
It’s kinda shitty how when bisexuals are evil or psychopathic characters we somehow magically acquire some personhood, or personality where we had none before only to lose it as monsters to be killed off, or in our reformation and penance, or we get just get straight up punished/de-powered like Stahma.
Bra I do some internalization too, as I have introduced my self as one of “those evil bisexuals” or as an evil double agent.
Personhood and personality type representation for all, plz.
Steven Universe is hands down my favorite show on television right now. As someone who is trying to tell queer stories for kids, this show is everything I want to do and more. While I follow a lot of SU fan Tumblrs, I clearly haven’t been paying enough attention to the trans side of things.
Trans Steven is a really interesting theory that makes a lot of sense given Steven’s half human/half gem status (the gem half being Rose Quartz and therefore female presenting). Honestly, I think it would make more sense that he’s actually non-binary (like gems actually are), and that he will continue to present and experiment with fluidity because that Rose Quartz/feminine half of him is real and very present.
What’s even cooler is that it’s all nbd. If Steven did decide he is trans or non-binary or genderfluid or whatever, I don’t think he would even have to come out because non-binary status is the norm in the gem world. Garnet didn’t have to come out as gay, she just had to reveal her fusion status. That parallel of a coming out narrative used the language of the universe of the show to bring up an important queer topic without actually talking about queerness.
I think we will see a lot more of Steven’s gender experimenting but in terms of the gem world, which means we will probably be learning a lot more about his connection (and embodiment?) of Rose Quartz and him embracing his female origins.
Mk, musings over.
Hi, fellow giant SU nerd here.
Something that has made SU so great and relatable is the character development that happens through relationships. As I see Steven and Connie get closer, I would not be surprised if they find themselves at the end of the series content to stay in their fusion, the non binary Stevonnie in the way that Ruby and Sapphire stay as Garnet. So there would be your non binary Steven.
I like what you said about Steven’s connection to Rose and embodying the female side. Another thought: steven hasn’t been poofed yet. Assuming he can retreat to his gem and purposefully choose his regeneration form, he could significantly change his gender presentation (or at least his styling) if he wanted to.
I love how queer this show is. It’s just delightful.
Do Americans pronounce been like bin or something?
Some of us do yes, but there’s a lot of us and a lot of regional difference.
And um region can apply to some very small areas and not just big ones in reference to the way things are pronounced due past enclaves of specific cultures.
I was wondering about this myself, as a Britisher.
Y’all say it like “bean” right?
Yep — depending on where we’re from, it’s usually either pronounced “bin” or “ben.”