Leave it to a small group of angry men to try and ruin a good thing.
She-Ra, the ’80s cartoon heroine and offshoot of He-Man, is getting a Netflix reboot helmed by the cartoonist behind the popular and feminist Lumberjanes and Nimona. The character of She-Ra has also gotten a huge redesign, something a bit younger, less sexualized, and more akin to Steven Universe’s large, exaggerated shapes or Voltron’s clean, anime-like angular shapes. This has upset some dudes concerned about cartoons not meant for them, saying the new designs look too “boyish” and have lost the sexuality of She-Ra’s original incarnation.
Backlash against women-led pop culture reboots has been common in the age of Twitter. But this time, She-Ra fans have had plenty of fun ragging on these guys for their sexist tweets and weird YouTube lectures.
if you’re trying to make your girls look like boys for your show then you are not actually fighting for equality you’re proving that men is the superior gender and taken more seriously than a beautiful women, you’re only helping sexism not fighting it pic.twitter.com/9WSiq7wtuZ
— I am consumer (@Imaconsumer) July 16, 2018
Some YouTube creators have also taken to posting videos comparing the modern She-Ra to a man, swapping out the character’s hair to supposedly make a point that without curly blonde locks, she could look like a generic male warrior. She-Ra fans of all backgrounds were quick to push back.
“We promise the Care Bear reboot will have tons of boobs,” storyboard artist Kristen Gish wrote on Twitter.
Am I doing the She-Ra fanart thing right? 🙃#SheRa pic.twitter.com/0KZjkchZiJ
— ren nolasco 🗡️ armand’s lawyer (@ren_nolasco) July 17, 2018
Dear men complaining about She-Ra,
— Kristen Gish – Available for Work (@KristenGish) July 17, 2018
The animation industry has heard your complaints and we’re taking them into consideration. We promise the Care Bears reboot will have tons of boobs. You’re welcome.
https://twitter.com/jamesmarsh83/status/1019484635733118976
Totally saw someone from my childhood who literally beat me up for liking She-Ra while presenting as a boy. Now he has very strong opinions about She-Ra’s reboot design. It, apparently, was very important to him growing up.
— Olivia Hill (@machineiv) July 18, 2018
Fuck these men. So done with them.
As a Youth I literally got MADE FUN OF by other boys for preferring She-Ra to He-Man, so it’s pretty funny how those boys have grown up and now think they somehow hold domain over She-Ra??
— Graham Stark (@Graham_LRR) July 17, 2018
wait not “funny” what’s the other thing?
profoundly sad and idiotic?
¯_(ツ)_/¯
“The new She-Ra looks too much like a man”
— Hugs🧵🦄🩰 (@thedayofhugs) July 18, 2018
Meanwhile me, a teen girl, in high school and college: pic.twitter.com/BIENr6dKjy
Besides the backlash against the backlash, some of the She-Ra fan art has just been downright astounding.
New She-Ra pic.twitter.com/cZNgUmpFbJ
— Tobias Kwan (@tobieee) July 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/SheRaUpdates/status/1019335805490352129
Showrunner Noelle Stevenson has been well aware of the love being shown to She-Ra, and she’s thankful for the counter-protest.
“So overwhelmed by the outpouring of love today for She-Ra! Thank you so much for the fanart and kind words. I hope you love the show when it comes out!” she wrote on Twitter this week.
The She-Ra reboot returns to Netflix on Nov. 16.
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