Posthumanism and the creation of racialised, queer identities and sexualities: An analysis of ‘Steven Universe’

Autores/as

  • Marta Roqueta Fernández School of Oriental and African Studies

Palabras clave:

animación, ciencia-ficción, poshumanismo, racialización, género, sexualidad, diversidad funcional, Steven Universe

Resumen

This article analyses how the cartoon show Steven Universe both underpins and defies normative understandings of race, gender and able-bodiedness. By referencing theories from feminist, posthumanist, queer, critical race thinking and crip studies, these concepts are considered technologies whose components can be examined, disassembled and reassembled by the technical object that is the cartoon, which is considered a tool whose meaning is co-established by the audience. By using this conceptual framework to analyse the show’s narrative, as well as to create several surveys that seek to comprehend how people’s notions of gender and race may influence the narrative of the show, the article concludes that Steven Universe creates a queer narrative aimed at dismantling contemporary notions of gender, race and able-bodiedness. However, because the show relies on the components that form these technologies to trouble them, it may fall on stereotypical representations if it overlooks the imaginaries embedded on them.

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Biografía del autor/a

Marta Roqueta Fernández, School of Oriental and African Studies

MA in Gender Studies por la School of Oriental and African Studies de Londres. Ha realizado investigación en el ámbito de género, religión y cultura para la Universitat Ramon Llull. Beca de Estudios Feministas Nativitat Yarza (Fundació Josep Irla) por su investigación en políticas de prevención de matrimonios forzados.

Citas

Books and journal articles

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Dunn, E. (2016). Steven Universe, Fusion Magic, and the Queer Cartoon Carnivalesque. Gender Forum. An Internet Journal for Gender Studies, issue 56, 44-57.

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Online media articles

Brammer, J.P. (2017). Steven Universe Is the Queerest Animated Show on TV. Vulture. (http://www.vulture.com/2017/01/steven-universe-the-queerest-cartoon-on-tv.html) (14-04-17).

Bullock, L. (2015). Steven Universe And The Necessity Of POC-coded Pearl. Black Nerd Problems. (http://blacknerdproblems.com/steven-universe-and-the-necessity-of-poc-coded-pearl/) (15-08-17).

Glass, J. (2017). Rebecca Sugar Apologises For Steven Universe Racism Controversy. Bleeding Cool. (https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/07/16/rebecca-sugar-apologises-steven-universe-racism-controversy/) (15-08-17).

Kingston, J. (2016). “Bismuth” and Steven Universe’s Racial Coding Problem. Women Write About Comics. (http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2016/08/30/steven-universe-100-bismuth-undermined-by-racial-coding/) (14-04-17).

Mey (2015). “Steven Universe” and the Importance of All-Ages Queer Representation. Autostraddle. (https://www.autostraddle.com/steven-universe-and-the-importance-of-all-ages-queer-representation-281482/) (14-04-17).

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Riley H. (2016). All These Black Characters and 0 Done Right – How Steven Universe Fails Its Black Fanbase, Part I.. Medium (https://medium.com/@dtwps/all-these-black-characters-and-0-done-right-how-steven-universe-fails-its-black-fanbase-part-i-81e0b0b8c3fe) (6-02-17).

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Woerner, M. (2015). Steven Universe Guidebook Spills the Secrets of the Crystal Gems. io9. (http://io9.gizmodo.com/steven-universe-guidebook-spills-the-secrets-of-the-cry-1704470546) (24-08-17).

‘Steven Universe’ episodes

Coach Steven (2014). Steven Universe. Season 1, episode 20. Cartoon Network. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00G23JXNY?ref_=aiv_dp_season_select)

Cry for Help (2015). Steven Universe. Season 2, episode 11. Cartoon Network.

(https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00VU3MT8M?ref_=aiv_dp_season_select)

Earthlings (2016). Steven Universe. Season 3, episode 23. Cartoon Network.

(https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B01J8XUZCC?ref_=aiv_dp_season_select)

Fusion Cuisine (2014). Steven Universe. Season 1, episode 32. Cartoon Network. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00OD2WORS?ref_=aiv_dp_season_select)

Jail Break (2015). Steven Universe. Season 1, episode 52. Cartoon Network.

(https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00OD2WORS?ref_=aiv_dp_season_select)

Know Your Fusion (2016). Steven Universe. Season 4, episode 2. Cartoon Network.

(https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B01J8XUZCC?ref_=aiv_dp_season_select)

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Publicado

2019-11-11

Cómo citar

Roqueta Fernández, M. (2019). Posthumanism and the creation of racialised, queer identities and sexualities: An analysis of ‘Steven Universe’. AdMIRA-Análisis De Medios, Imágenes Y Relatos Audiovisuales, 2(7). Recuperado a partir de https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/AdMIRA/article/view/8243
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