Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Area of Concentration

Gender Studies

Abstract

Cartoons offer significant teaching opportunities in the way they discuss and normalize identities. This thesis examines queer gender and sexual content in cartoons as examples of the power of positive representation, specifically looking at Cartoon Network’s popular animated series Steven Universe. Over the last several decades, cartoons as a genre have gone through notable thematic shifts in order to address public awareness of gender and sexuality. Contemporary animation is currently seeing a queer renaissance, where shows explicitly discuss and represent LGBTQ+ identities in their stories. In order to better understand how Steven Universe accomplishes this, I focus on the ways the show combats heteronormativity and restrictive gender categories through diverse examples of love and self-expression. Using a hybrid of media studies and literary analysis to provide a close reading of a selection of scenes within the show, I highlight how Steven Universe provides models for positive representation and encourages future cartoon creators to incorporate and normalize queerness in their shows.

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