In 1985, Princess Adora emerged as the twin sister of He-Man, kidnapped and raised by the villainous Horde to exact their dominance over the realm of Etheria. With a raise of her sword and a shoutout to Grayskull, she became a heroine for that television age. Yet,She-Ra: Princess of Powerwas always considered in reference to He-Man. Prince Adam was the first man, so to speak, and she would always be the spinoff. In 2018, showrunnerNoelle Stevenson, leading a predominantly female writers room, takes He-Man out of the picture entirely to let Adora stand on her own. This newShe-Ra and The Princesses of Poweris now just as muchMasters of the Universeas it isSteven Universe.
In the landscape of kids animation, where including any sort of overt queer visibility is frequently discouraged, the 13-episode series is a re-education for the industry. IfSteven Universe, helmed byRebecca Sugar, is still the dominant force in the galaxy pushing against the restraints on LGBTQ representation, thenShe-Rais a worthy successor — which seems appropriate for the warrior woman wielding a sword of rainbow energy from atop a winged unicorn.
Sugar introduced LGBTQ characters and concepts as she redefined what sci-fi heroes can be. Her Gems, Earth’s defenders, merge together to form more powerful entities, ones that are commonly gender-fluid or identify as “they/them.” Stevenson, similarly, redefines our idea of princesses and, in doing so, gives us visibly queer characters.
According to one school of thought, homophobia is a product of misogyny; there are finite ideals of what men and women are, and anything that deviates from those definitions is considered blasphemous. In Etheria, when women thrive, queerness thrives.
Princesses are rulers, diplomats, and warriors. If they’re captured, they can usually get out of it themselves, either by sheer nerve, skill, force, or a magical control of a natural element — fire, plant, air, water, ice, etc. As She-Ra, Adora’s element is straight-up power, making her the most mighty princess in Etheria and the one destined to unite the disparate lands against the Horde. None of them pine after princes. The prince is an endangered species and without the omnipresence of his toxic masculinity, everyone else is given room to thrive.
Mistress of nets Netossa and tornado-weaver Spinnerella are two princesses who are visibly in love. They only appear in the finale, but they have an impact as they share an intimate embrace when the battle is won. Bow isn’t himself a princess, but the archer with two dads fights alongside them as one of Adora and Glimmer’s best friends. He’s the Hawkeye in heart-printed midriffs to their Princess Avengers, and his own femininity never undermines his power. He’s an adept arrow-slinger, able to fend off robotic arachnids while his teammates are incapacitated.
This clear visibility may seem fleeting, especially since we also don’t hear much else about Bow’s dads other than the fact he has them, and to some extent it is. But in reference to the bigger obstacles at play in the realm of kids animation realm, they feel impressive.Voltron: Legendary Defender, DreamWorks Animation’s last Netflix series, hit a few of these obstacles when showrunnersLauren MontgomeryandJoaquim Dos Santosconfirmed Shiro, leader of the Paladins, to be gay. They were applauded for including such a prominent LGBTQ figure in a property likeVoltron, but that applause turned to jeers when Shiro’s love interest was killed off shortly after his introduction in the penultimate season. Dos Santos didn’t (or, more likely,couldn’t) get into too many detailswhen addressing the subject on Twitter— you know, he still works for DreamWorks — but he alluded to the “boundaries” that are still in place when dealing with “this type of ‘action adventure/product-driven/traditionally boys toys.’” Licensed properties, at the end of the day, typically mean more executives are going to throw in their two cents.
The difference betweenShe-Ra’s success andVoltron’s stumble, while both are dealing with pre-existing brands, is that Netossa and Spinnerella were, at best, minor characters and Shiro is a primary protagonist.
“If we can find the positivity in any of this, it’s the fact that the ‘target audience’ for whom animation is currently being created for is evolving and growing daily and alongside it content and inclusivity is evolving as well… Maybe a bit slower than we’d like… But it’s moving forward,” Dos Santos wrote. “In the months and years to come, I think we’ll see some truly awesome strides.”
She-Rais still one of those “truly awesome strides” — and not just because the show introduces a same-sex couple and manages to keep them both alive.
In the same vein asSteven Universe, Stevenson’s writer’s room plays with gender fluidity and sexuality in ways that make sense for the story and for its audience. At times, they’re not even that subtle about it.
Adora and Catra are locked in a game of cat and mouse — Catra being the literal cat. They love each other, not always in a romantic sense, but by virtue of their upbringing, their dependence on each other as children training in the Horde and their firming relationship as teens. When Adora accepts her fate in picking up the She-Ra mantle, it puts them at odds. Their intimate knowledge of each other makes the game more intriguing. In one scene at a princess ball, Etheria’s play on a prom school social nightmare, Catra toys with Adora, knowing that distracting her will give her cohort enough time to plant heat bombs around the premises. Their metaphorical dance turns into an actual dance wherein Catra, donning a suit with an unfurled bow tie casually dangling around her neck, twirls and dips Adora, tossing her further off her game and turning the narrative tension into romantic tension.
Bow seems to hold a similar attraction towards his new boo, the pirate captain Sea Hawk. It’s never clear what the archer’s sexual proclivities actually are, nor does it really matter. He enjoys taking Princess Perfuma to the prom as his date, and Princess Mermista may have a secret crush on him. Bow’s cheeks still light up with the familiar blush of a first crush every time he sees Sea Hawk, a character who also plays with his femininity. If Bow’s the twink, Sea Hawk’s the Brooklyn hipster otter with skinny jeans, a Beeswax sculpted mustache, and bandanas for days.
It seems to go beyond just Bow’s idolization. The animation makes it clear: He’s man-crushing… hard. In another scene as Bow is plummeting to his death, Sea Hawk comes swinging in to carry him to safety as Bow’s face tints red and his eyes sparkle with the glint of that starry-eyed animation. It’s the same animation other shows use to denote romantic affection, and it makes an appearance with Perfuma, as well. Like so many others in Etheria, she heard legends of the warrior She-Ra. When she finally meets her, Perfuma’s face breaks out in a familiar glow.
Princesses aren’t defined by some archaic image of a Disney damsel, and neither is sexuality. It’s almost like sexuality is a spectrum, or something. Hammering this point home is the finale at the Battle of Bright Moon. In the kingdom’s darkest hour, all the princesses come to the aide of She-Ra, Glimmer, and Bow. As they lock hands, pooling their light and power, She-Ra’s sword fires a wave of rainbow energy. The blast, comprised of all the colors of each princess, wipes away the Horde’s tanks. It’s a literal spectrum, people.
Steven Universewas the first to bring this play on queerness and gender labels to the sandbox. It didn’t start as overt asShe-Ra, but the visibility grew over time. It began with subtler details, like Pearl’s dance to express her love for another female character, and eventually grew to feature prominent same-sex characters. It was a years-long battle, as Sugar previously described. This year, her team introduced the first same-sex marriage proposal and wedding in a kids animated series — and these strides are having an effect. They paved the way for Stevenson withShe-Ra. And now, with any luck, the Princesses of Power will continue to carry the torch until even more “truly awesome strides” can be made.
