SheZow: The New Gender-Bending Cartoon That Has Conservatives Outraged
Do you remember the cartoons of the 1980s? Filled with more macho bravado than one believed actually possible? The gender-reinforcing tropes of the late 80s and 90s are becoming obsolete, and I say good riddance. A new show on the children's network "The Hub" depicts a gender-bending action hero called SheZow. As you would probably expect, some conservatives are having pretty epic meltdowns over this. If they would just stop screaming about how everything is an injustice to them, they might be able to see that this is a good thing.
Photo of "SheZow" via NYDailyNews
SheZow is the hero version of the 12-year-old boy character who goes by the name of Guy. Guy uses a magic ring from his dead aunt to transform himself into a crime fighter ... who happens to be a girl. He simply has to say the magic phrase, "You Go Girl!" Basically conservatives are saying that cartoons that depict young boys turning into phantoms ... totally fine. Young boys turning into super hero girls however, well that's just a sick ploy by liberals to indoctrinate the nation's youth.
Ben Shapiro wrote on the conservative website Breitbart yesterday that "nothing says 'child-appropriate material' quite like gender-bending underage superheroes." Jeez Ben, sorry about that. I guess no one is as well versed on the "appropriate" age for becoming a superhero as you. Can you let me know if the age is 18 or 21?
Shapiro doesn’t think this kind of cartoon is right for kids aged 2-11 to watch. What is the metric by which he uses for determining what content is appropriate for children age 2-11 to consume? I mean My Little Pony is clearly a liberal fantasy about a rainbow colored horse utopia, so that’s out.
Adventure Time is about fantasy and a non-traditional family so no one should watch that ever, lest they wish to see the moral fiber of the nation destroyed.
The Nickelodeon show The Fairly Odd Parents prominently features aloof parents along with a boy who talks to fairy godparents with magical powers. An obvious thin-veil to hide liberal messaging of drug use and encourage parental neglect.
It looks like kids would just be better off not watching any cartoons at all and instead consuming some wholesome TV like Fox News or the SpikeTV, you know good old-fashioned American morals.
After all, why would we want to encourage our children to think outside binaries or use their imagination? I mean, adults don't have any imagination and look how happy most of us are ...
There are a lot of things that someone can spend their time getting upset about in this world. This cartoon shouldn't be one of them. Breitbart and Shapiro have invented outrage in the desperate hope to get those who still can't seem to comprehend that gender is indeed fluid riled up. Not only that, but seriously, Shapiro, what exactly is your problem with this show? Is it that it expresses an alternative version of the dominant white-heteronormative-male story arc that is so intolerable to you? Perhaps what conservatives can't seem to tolerate more than anything is the fact that the show wants to depict that which is considered feminine as stronger than the masculine?
