As a person who identifies in the LGBT community and with personal

connections to those who identify as trans* and genderqueer, I am often

skeptical of media that tries to represent these identities in an unbiased,
accurate, and fair way. As mentioned in the powerpoint, kids media is
commonly hetero-normative in expressing romantic orientation, and in my
opinion, has just recently begun to be less hetero-normative in doing so with
sexual orientation as well. Steven Universe seems to be the first childrens
show, and arguably one of the only shows (period), to recognize transgender
and gender nonconforming identified people. As Eli Dunn points out, Steven
Universe presents gender fluidity throughout their cartoon characters as a
positive way to learn about these less often represented identities. Even in
movies such as Lilo and Stitch and shows including Glee, which are not so by
the book when it comes to gender stereotypes, there is not much of a space
for viewers to ask questions and be challenged by pushing identity
boundaries. As it becomes more and more popular to have gay characters,
transgender characters, or gender-nonconforming characters like Eleven
from Stranger Things, the idea of respectful treatment has not yet become
as popular as inclusivity in itself.
The first episode we watched in class, The Answer, took me by
surprise with the bravery and rather ambitious story it aimed to tell. When
Ruby and Blue Diamond mold together, the society around them gets angry
and has a very hard time understanding. At first, I immediately thought
fusion solely meant coming together (versus the later-given meaning of
sex) and interpreted their fusion as a symbol of two genders becoming one,
or one gender becoming the other; I believed Ruby+Blue Diamond= a new
gem who was transgender. If they werent transgender, I thought there was a
potential that the new gem was gender-nonconforming. I believed the song
playing and the singing was a song about learning to accept who you are,
and after the rebellion leader accepts their new form on earth, I believed this
was them finding their community and the answer was self-love and loving
those who dont fall into an often-seen nor often-represented identity.
After discussion in class, however, it was interesting to find out that
performing fusion was the terminology used in Steven Universe for sex. In
the episode Alone Together, Dunn expresses the awkwardness of the donut
shop scene where it is obvious both the girl and boy workers feel
uncomfortable with being in the presence of the combined Steven and
Connie, which I had understood as a different yet comparable figure like
Ruby and Blue Diamond made. I immediately assumed Stevonnie was
another fusion that could identify as transgender, especially after the
uncomfortability of the donut shop encounter. Just as Dunn described, I
understood the representation of the pain of being misrecognized or
misgendered the second one walks into a public place, even if they accept
and love themselves (as learned in the more recent episode, The Answer).
The pain that transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals face
seems to be something most of us gender-conforming folks could not
possibly understand. In Borderlands chapter three, Anzaldua presents
readers with the idea of religion and how it often encourages us to kill off
parts of ourselves (p37). I believe this idea of religion can also be applied to
the idea of society and the lack of representation for nonconforming
individuals when it comes to our gender representation and even our sexual
and romantic orientations. Society encourages a split between the body and
the spirit and totally ignores the soul, potentially just as a transgender
individual might feel like they must choose between their body and their
soul. A gender-nonconforming individual might feel pressure from those
around them, whether that be verbally from their family or the lack of
representation in media, to kill off that piece of themselves.
Just as I began watching Steven Universe in class with a skeptical view,
Dunn acknowledges the fear that producers and other media professionals
face when trying to be gender-progressive and usually deem it as too
complicated for television. Steven Universe does a respectable job of not
specifying, but allowing viewers to interpret scenes themselves and taking
different lessons away from each episode.