Steven Universe

Steven Universe, although technically a television show made for children, is a fantastic example of diverse, intersectional, feminist media, as it showcases a rich and diverse cast of important and actualized female characters with a variety of races, body types, personalities, and even sexualities, who drive the show’s action.

Although the title character that the show is centered around, Steven, is a young boy of somewhat ambiguous race, Steven is far from being the hero of the story. Rather, he is portrayed as childish, foolish, naive, and having an extremely short attention span. The three other main characters that surround and take on mother-like roles towards Steven are typically the characters that get shit done and save the day, often fixing catastrophes that are byproducts of Steven’s idiocy or obliviousness, and help Steven to grow and mature. These are Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Although they are technically “gems” (a supernatural non-human race within the show), and are thus actually genderless, they consistently present as and are referred to as female. The three are all extremely different from each other, and none fit the mold of a conventionally attractive female within mainstream corporate media.

From left to right: Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet

Although technically non-human, Garnet is a character with dark skin, a square afro, and thick lips, and is generally considered by fans to be black. She is informally the leader of their group, and is strong, stoic, rational, and soft-spoken. Amethyst is raucous, carefree, and something of a hedonist, and has a chubby body-type not often seen on leading female characters in mainstream media.

Even the side characters feature well-written, interesting, and diverse women. Sadie, an employee at the local donut shop, is a short, stocky girl with a crush on her co-worker, Lars. Sadie is shown to be selfless and compassionate, but is also physically strong in comparison to her male coworker, and is able to lift and carry heavy objects that he struggles with, and even protect him from physical threat.

Lars (left) and Sadie (right)

Connie Maheswaran, Steven’s best friend, is a dark-skinned girl with thick eyebrows, an aquiline nose, and glasses, and has been confirmed by the creators of the show to be Indian. Connie is a quiet, introverted girl who is consistently shown to be more intelligent than Steven, through their adventures.

Connie (left) and Steven (right)

Queer relationships are also represented in the story of Steven Universe. Garnet is a character who is actually a fusion of two separate gem-raced characters, Sapphire and Ruby, who are confirmed to be in a romantic relationship. It is also heavily implied that Pearl had romantic feelings for Steven’s mother, Rose Quartz, who is no longer living when the series takes place. Unfortunately, one of the main scenes that shows this side of Pearl was censored from the episode that aired in the US.

Ruby and Sapphire

The idea of intersex or genderqueer individuals is even touched upon. At one point, Steven and Connie fuse to become a single individual, Stevonnie. Stevonnie’s gender is not explicitly discussed or referred to, but viewers could easily interpret Stevonnie as being genderqueer or interesex, as Stevonnie is explicitly a fusion of a male and a female individual. This type of representation and visibility is especially helpful towards individuals who may be struggling with their own performances and representations of gender, who identify as intersex or genderqueer, or who are born with Klinefelter syndrome.

Stevonnie

Even the cast behind Steven Universe is extremely diverse. Its voice-actors are vastly persons of color, and within the main cast, Steven is the only character voiced by a white male. The show is the first on Cartoon Network to be independently created by a woman, Rebecca Sugar.

Overall, Steven Universe is an extremely diverse, feminist- and queer-friendly show, particularly in comparison to other current mainstream media, that doesn’t skimp on including a wide range of intersectional and varied female characters.