Saturday, September 22, 2018









Image result for Steven universe wedding episode



For my cultural artifact I decided to choose an episode from one of my favorite cartoons running currently on cartoon network. If you are unfamiliar with this show it centers around a boy who is half boy and half gem trying to find his own identity, and break away from his mom’s shadow and dark past while being accompanied with his fellow crystal gems. These crystal gems are significant because they are all female and they can fuse together if they are truly in love. In this specific episode we have two gems that have been together for many years getting married. Ruby (red one on the left) and Sapphire (blue one on the left) are both female and they seemed to have switch each of their roles because throughout the episode’s ruby is seen as the tomboy while sapphire is seen as the one always wearing a dress, but for this special moment they reversed their attire. The picture on the right is Garnet (their fusion) and she expresses both of her unique sides by wearing both a wedding dress and a suit to express being both masculine and feminine. My cultural artifact says that gender expression is very fluid in a scene that any one individual can cultivate both feminine and masculine identities. I suppose it can reinforce traditional feminine and masculine ideas by placing the attire worn as one represents either gender. I believe the creator of this show is trying to push back on traditional ideas because she creates a fluidity and sense of freedom of how even though they are both female, one gem can wear a suit if she likes. It’s also beautiful how everyone is joyful of this commencement, no outside forces questioning or judging the couple. I feel like in many ways this kid show has impacted me, but like me and so many other people it just shows how even being female doesn’t exactly require me to be female all the time. For example, if I want to roll up my sleeves, or wear a long sleeve under my shirt I have every right to do so regardless of those trying to hold me back from doing it. My cultural object is basically a representation of love between two females who has swapped roles. My social world in the cartoon is one of acceptance that normalizes what most individuals have an issue with accepting today. The creators are most likely individuals who would like to change the mindset of the youth to be more accepting. The receivers are most likely the younger generation, since this show was meant for them but also it can prompt them to be more loving than the last generation. 
-Yasmine Felipe

1 comment:

  1. First off, I LOVE STEVEN UNIVERSE!!! :)
    And second of all, I think you did a great analysis of it! I think Garnet is a great representation of feminine and masculine and also going outside the gender binary. Another way you could also look this character is how they are in a same sex relationship. Often times people assume others in a same sex relationship, that there is a "man" and a "woman" in the relationship. I think that sapphire and ruby switching the roles and garnet being both in one is a perfect way to teach us to not think of same sex relationships in that way and to know that gender is fluid.
    Great Post! :)

    ReplyDelete

Blog #3 I suppose for my last blog post I wanted to continue my reoccurring theme of including cartoons and their strong impact on...