aspiringwarriorlibrarian:

“You just like She-Ra because it’s gay and body diverse and all women!”

Yup. I do. And here’s why:

I don’t have to watch every character get trimmed down to fit into some feminine archetype or another. I don’t have to watch their relationships get pruned, rewritten, carefully tiptoed around lest they come off as gay. Without homophobia and sexism as a perpetual critical eye, carving and rearranging and judging, always judging, always eager to box and to correct and to exclude, characters and art have room to breathe and innovate.

Catra and Adora’s relationship would not be so rich if not for its ability to evolve and grow beyond typical the typical barriers assigned to two girls, to let romantic subtext happen because they don’t need to hide it or queerbait or make it one of a handful of specific gay tropes. The Best Friends Squad would not be so well knit if there was an executive looking over and saying “Glimmer can be affectionate but not that much” or “We need more emphasis on Bow just being a friend”. When Glimmer cuddles with Adora in the pool or holds her gently, I don’t see the crushing silence of those girls in high school, the reminder that this was going to be completely platonic or else, that box that must be maintained. I just see two people, expressing affection, and letting the chips fall where they may because it’s okay where they end up. 

The queerness and diversity of She-Ra is not a checklist, it’s a liberation. It’s freedom from all the tired old tropes and assumptions assigned to women’s personalities, aesthetics, and relationships both in media and out. It’s growth, it’s subversion, whatever you want to call it, it’s new and rich and ripe with potential.

So yeah. I like She-Ra because it’s gay. Die mad about it.