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Who here remembers She Ra? The character debuted back in 1985 as a part of the Masters Of The Universe series in order to appeal to young girls in the same way He-Man appealed to young boys, but the character hasn't been seen since 1987. Now, in 2018, She-Ra has not only made a comeback, but she's made an inclusive step in the right direction for all youth-aimed television.
Netflix rebooted the character in 2018 in the series She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power.
Season 1 Trailer | DREAMWORKS SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWERyoutu.be
Growing up as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, you felt the struggle in watching all of the characters you loved play out their extremely heteronormative personal plotlines, and knew it wasn't you being represented on screen. And then, when we began to see ourselves, often our characters would die. But decades later things are starting to change, because of the fight of a million writers and artists.
"It's something that various people have fought really hard to include in their stories, with various levels of success," Noelle Stevenson, an executive producer of the series, says. "Sometimes people get a hard no and they can't do the story that they want to do, so they do what they can to get around that."
But the characters Netossa and Spineralla are two queer women in a relationship with each other, who were introduced very early on in the series.
I know I'm late to this, but She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is so openly queer I feel like I'm going to burst i… https://t.co/i2BlmMg1Ms— Kara Schlegl (@Kara Schlegl) 1542760381.0
every character on She-Ra is canonically queer, in this essay I will—— ᶻᵃᶜʰᵃʳʸ (@ᶻᵃᶜʰᵃʳʸ) 1542562202.0
Cartoons, 1980s: Hey, rainbows! Cool! Cartoons, 2018: We are the last bastion of defense against the oppressive fo… https://t.co/p1iztMFv9G— Alex Zalben (@Alex Zalben) 1542568646.0
Omg She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on @NetflixUK is SO AMAZING. It’s like a queer, body positive, girl power, a… https://t.co/ZHlmAbKNnK— Lottie ☃️ (@Lottie ☃️) 1543161974.0
"As a gay woman, it's something I think is really important to feature in kids animation," Stevenson continued. "Just to show the richness of experience in the world and the different ways that characters can love each other. It's something that I hope is just a very natural and a very inherent part of the show."
If you listen closely, you'll also hear references to a character with two dads, as well as several background characters who are queer, including one pair drawn to resemble Stevenson and her partner.
I'm about six or seven episodes into She-Ra and it's incredible: it's fun, good-natured, funny, it does representat… https://t.co/miVR1jCXEO— David Thomas Moore (@David Thomas Moore) 1542578180.0
I was watching she ra with my sister and she said “glimmer is exactly my body size, it’s so weird” and I said “why?… https://t.co/WckPMfzrDs— 𝕛𝕒𝕪𝕒 💙𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒- (@𝕛𝕒𝕪𝕒 💙𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑔𝑒-) 1542337790.0
Me: queer-coded villains are overplayed She-ra: Catra turns up unannounced at the hero's prom, in a suit, with a b… https://t.co/0IeI5N31P8— John Kane (@John Kane) 1542577658.0
This episode, seriously... https://t.co/3C1LdS0zEc— John Kane (@John Kane) 1542577996.0
The conversations starting from the reboot are important, as She-Ra was once seen only in relation to He-Man.
By taking him out of the picture, we get a clear visual of just how bad*ss women and female-driven stories can really be.
One of the things I just realized in she-ra is how important bow is kinda from a representation standpoint As a ki… https://t.co/2gOrNqBIFV— ❄️peg❄️ (@❄️peg❄️) 1542498874.0
In a girl show who is a boy that casually enjoys feminine things is really important for kids like that I've said… https://t.co/K6jt9BVF71— ❄️peg❄️ (@❄️peg❄️) 1542498875.0
@pearlhouzuki This is making me realize how much I would’ve loved Bow when I was a little boy who shared interest w… https://t.co/OkyJ57gRSp— #1 Fan of Fun (Ethan) (@#1 Fan of Fun (Ethan)) 1542500823.0
i still haven't wrapped my head around how much representation there really is in she-ra.. like so much of it is ju… https://t.co/L5bfoaiatf— chiya @ she-ra spoilers! (@chiya @ she-ra spoilers!) 1542236484.0
It gives our queer hearts hope.
wow can you believe every single character in the new she-ra is queer? https://t.co/L0Ngyxkj9H— Rowan Ellis 🌈 (@Rowan Ellis 🌈) 1542402298.0
From a femme lesbian who can magically grow flowers, to an evil gay dad trying to raise his goblin child by himself… https://t.co/ku0Kwmnx9C— Rowan Ellis 🌈 (@Rowan Ellis 🌈) 1542402861.0
I was sort of joking about this, but the more I watch the more I believe this is 100% true tbh— Rowan Ellis 🌈 (@Rowan Ellis 🌈) 1542628038.0
Just dropping by to say that the new She-Ra isn't just good because it has good representation and shit. It's actua… https://t.co/Pfvn8A6uWB— Mark Serrels (@Mark Serrels) 1542583731.0
There are so many ways in which it is good. Pretty much all the ways a kids show can be good, She-Ra is good.— Mark Serrels (@Mark Serrels) 1542583819.0
I don't know why straight people are complaining about the lack of representation in She-Ra. Even if she's not expl… https://t.co/VsH4BDBPEc— Alexandra Erin (@Alexandra Erin) 1542433661.0
Korra: two girls holding hands for two seconds is queer representation Steven Universe: a gay wedding is queer rep… https://t.co/98wLcZV37T— Supership ‘79 🏳️🌈 (@Supership ‘79 🏳️🌈) 1542412263.0
Keep the queer coming forever and ever and ever.
H/T: Twitter, Den Of Geek