Tag: gender

zombieheroine:

I love
how Transformers: Prime treats gender and gender roles, both being subtly fair
in how it treats male and female characters, and how it also quietly
reconstructs gender roles. Sure, it has a clear majority of male characters,
but the writing or the language used doesn’t treat male and female characters
differently or enforce gender roles, and I appreciate that greatly.

Arcee is a
capable leader and a fierce fighter, and her arc is about learning to trust
again and letting go of bloody revenge before it destroys her. She
isn’t “overtly emotional” or scolded by her teammates even when her thirst
for revenge causes them harm, she’s a person who’s having a difficult time.
Everyone around her trusts her and she is both strict and supportive of her
friends.

Airachnid
is scary as hell and no one belittles her at any point. She is taken seriously,
and the thing between her and Arcee is also framed and treated like a truly
dangerous affair, not some silly girls’ slap fight. She is capable of terrible
things and they aren’t brushed off because of her gender.

Miko is a
tomboy, but this isn’t at any point brought up as an unusual thing, and her
gender identity is not put at odds with her behavior. The writing lets a girl
be gender non-conforming and still a girl without a question, and this is
hugely important. There is no one right way to be a girl, and Miko is allowed
to do that in her own way. And when her recklessness gets her or her friends in
trouble, the issue is putting others in danger, not how she needs to be more
girly.

June is a
mother and in a caring profession, a nurse, but she isn’t a one-dimensional
character slapped with a bunch of stereotypes. She is raising her son alone and
like any parent she simply worries. She also works a lot, and her skills are
valuable assets to the team. We also see the actual nature of nurse work
when she jumps into action in an emergency when Rafiel gets injured in the end
of season 1.

There are
also different versions of masculinity, and all of them valid. Sure, we have
our Megatron, our Dreadwing, our Breakdown, our Wheeljack, and to a certain
extend Bulkhead. But strong and sort of aggressive as they are, they are not
toxic. Their battle prowess, stoicism or aggression are not inherently tied to
their masculinity as they don’t use them to underline their identities, nor do
they lead to them looking down at others who are different.

In
Decepticons we have a clear majority of aggressive masculine types, but we also
have Knockout and Starscream. Knockout’s vanity and clear queer coding are not
issues to anyone nor is he a joke to other characters. The traditionally
masculine Breakdown is a close friend/coded partner of his, and Knockout is
also a skilled fighter, a good doctor and kind of scary as well (s2.ep19 Human
factor, anyone?). Starscream is the one everyone has beef with, but it’s
because of personal matters, and he isn’t mocked for his feminine attributes.
Traits like being scheming and cowardly are not linked with his effeminate
design but his ambition, and none of these are reduced to jokes.

As for
different masculinities, Autobots – our good guys, mind you – have vocally
pacifist and protective Optimus Prime who focuses on wisdom and defense, almost
like a maternal figure, but still the one capable of going against Megatron in
battle. I mentioned Bulkhead with the traditional masculine characters, but
additionally to his attitude and deeds before thoughts kind of way, he’s also
very empathetic. He hugs people and is very often the most openly emotional,
getting excited, angry and worried. Bumblebee is close to the action-y kind of
young male character, but his youth and inexperience are not ignored, and he
takes orders and advice from the older bots higher in the chain of command.

The
language used is also a part of this. The bots don’t refer to each other as men
or women. Troops is not synonymous with men. Not even the bad guys ridicule
anyone based on their gender or their ability to perform gender roles, which
would be a cheap jab and lazy writing.

There
isn’t one instance of “you’re a girl, this is dangerous!” or “but… but you’re a
girl, how do you know how to so this technical/brave/useful thing?”

Actually,
no one’s gender is brought up as a reason for anyone’s skills, be they male or
female. In the beginning I mentioned that the series does all of this “subtly”
and “quietly”, and by that I mean that no one ever makes a preachy speech about
this, which is something often seen when the show/movie/story wants to make a
point. But I’ve often found that when there’s a preachy scene about gender
roles or one scene of “girl power”, this is all there is, and the rest of the
show or a movie continues to do the very things it was trying to call out. I
prefer TF Prime’s way of never having that one scene or maybe an episode of
superficial textual critique, and just actually doing the reconstruction
consistently through the entirety of its run.

As a kid
I had a huge problem with gender representation in media, especially with how
girls in childrens’ shows seemed to come in two version: delicate, squeaky-voiced,
endlessly patient carers, or loud, obnoxious, bossy brats who need to learn a
lesson. I’m so glad things have changed for the better.