Much of America as we see it has slowly come to accept the LGBTQ community. The biggest accomplishment to note is that states across the country are slowly but surely granting marriage equality rights to same-sex couples. However, the struggles of the queer community doesn’t stop at marriage. An issue often overlooked within the terms of the queer community is how exactly LGBTQ characters are portrayed in our favorite books, movies, and shows.
Queer characters in television shows that are targeted to a more mature audience are more likely to have a much higher inclusivity, and when looking at shows targeted towards children and tweens, the representation is less blatant. This is because those outside the queer community often equate the identity directly to sex, which is most likely why LGBTQ characters are avoided in children’s programming–but this misconceived notion hurts youth more than it helps due to eventual identity issues and lack of acceptance of queer youth.
As we all know, representation matters, and representation includes reoccurring, positive, and blatant representations of queer characters in children’s cartoons that can help children feel comfortable about who they are and how they identify, as well as create a more accepting world for all children.
It wasn’t until 1933 when the first known effeminate male stereotype was shown in cartoons. Flip the Frog’s last episode “Soda Squirt” can be explained by The Big Cartoon Database as: Flip opens his own drug store, complete with a soda fountain, in Hollywood. On the opening night, all of Hollywood ‘s biggest stars come out to enjoy Flip ‘s new treat. There’s a spotlight and a red carpet. The four Marx Brothers drink with individual straws from a single soda. Flip makes a total fool of himself over Mae West. A delegate from San Francisco (who makes Liberace look like Tom Cruise) shows up swishing his handkerchief, and Flip mixes him a “Mickey” that turns the fruitcake into “Mr. Hyde”! He wrecks the place, and scares the Hollywood celebs away! Flip squirts him with “Pansy Spray,” which returns him to normal. This stereotype is commonly called “The Sissy” and is used to degrade gay men as weak and weird because of how they “act like women” which is a problem very prevalent in our society.
Eventually tropes of effeminate men would bleed into the higher ranks of animation, becoming a key characteristic for supervillains. Perhaps the most noticeable trope of Disney’s most popular villains would be femininity in men. TVTropes is a good directory for any trope in existence, the database calls effeminate villains the “Sissy Villain” trope defining it simply as, “Due to social stigmas against male femininity and ‘unmanliness’, there’s a strong tendency in fiction to assign effeminate traits to villains…” With high regards to their look, lisps, high voices, and theatrical nature, villains like Scar from The Lion King and Jafar from Aladdin to Stewie Griffin from Family Guy and Him from The Powerpuff Girls–these characters are what many queer people grew up with today.
And as a queer person who personally grew up with all of these characters, I can’t express enough the need for more representation in children’s media. Seeing a gay person on television as a kid would’ve been an incredibly positive thing for me, and would’ve absolutely allowed me to accept my sexuality at a younger age. There are, however, a few shows that are making great strides towards representing queer people in children’s media.
The Legend of Korra, for example, was successful in finally including a canonically queer couple between two women of color in its season finale in 2015, it also hit a road block in only being able to display it when its slot on television was moved to online only. The show however, appealed to the now slightly older audience of Avatar: The Last Airbender, to which to story of The Legend of Korra follows. There is one show in particular that has really pushed the boundaries for queer characters everywhere, and the queer community as a whole. Cartoon Network’s show Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar. It’s not only the one show on Cartoon Network that has a woman behind the genius, it’s also the only show successful in really showing truly remarkable queer characters and themes without being offensive or too over the top. The show focuses around nonbinary, female presenting gem-based aliens and a young boy born from one of those gem based beings, as it follows him and the crystal gems through adventures around the city and missions through gem destinations.
It’s shows like these that are proving to viewers worldwide that queer representation in children’s media is not only okay, but should also be promoted and accepted, so that our queer youth can finally feel comfortable in accepting themselves, because at the end of the day, children are going to feel like they’re queerness is ‘wrong’ if they’re never shown in media that it’s right.
https://www.cbr.com/canon-lgbtq-characters-in-kids-media-matters/
I gotta say, there are indeed some valid points made within the post. I agree that the earlier the exposure of positive LGBTIA+ representation within children’s TV shows and movies, the more likely there would be an inclusion of people within the LGBTIA+ community in our generation and future generations.
Representation of the LGBTIA+ community in cartoons has definitely come a long way. I’m glad that children who identify themselves as part of the community now have some shows like Steven Universe and Kora that validate and represent them better. Of course, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. I think that decades of stereotypes have generalized the LGBTIA+ community to the point where some people just accept it, but the animation industry needs to be careful about the impact of their media on their audience and who they’re depicting.
Wonderful work! As a queer woman of color who was raised in a very sheltered Christian household, there were absolutely no resources for me to be able to understand myself, and because of it I struggled to come to terms with my sexuality for a very long time as well. I think it’s so wonderful that children these days are able to establish at an earlier age through mainstream media that being cis or heterosexual isn’t the only thing you can be, and also come to understand that the spectrum of gender and sexual orientation is so much larger than what we’ve been raised to think. Seeing these children’s shows on television is a wonderful thing, and I hope that we can see ever more normalized representation in the future!
Great post Davis! Your insight and research on the representation of “the sissy” troupe was particularly interesting, I did not realize its first appearance in animation dated back to early Mickey cartoons. When you brought up Jafar, Scar, and Him and how many male villains are often queer-coded reminded me of discussions within my History of International Film course. We analyzed the prevalence of queer-coded male villains within early films, often portrayed as ‘effeminate’ and then meeting a brutal end. As you mentioned, these portrayals are not only inaccurate but extremely harmful to the perception and acceptance of LGBTQ+ folks. I imagine only seeing representation among villains can be extremely damaging and disheartening. Furthermore, these characters and their gender expression were played for laughs often, which trivializes the existence of LGBTQ+ folks. I think the newer content coming out as not only refreshing, but feels more authentic and I’m so happy to see it, considering the reach that much of this content has as well, both to kids and adults.
It’s never okay to make someone the butt of the joke for something like this. The way someone is should NEVER be a comedy. This article was wonderful, and there is a whole lot that I didn’t even know until now. I can’t even begin to imagine what it could be like growing up queer in a household that wouldn’t offer any form of positive representation. On the other hand, boy am I glad that we are making strides for the LGBTQ+ community in entertainment and kids shows. People growing up need positive reinforcement and representation, and more queer characters in common media is never a bad thing (except for when they are portrayed innacurately and in a harmful way).
Great Job! I’m glad that there are so many more children’s shows that include positive representations of LGBTQ+ characters now, because there were virtually none when we were growing up. I remember being unable to tell that characters like Him were queer coded when I was growing up, but my family was able to tell. These negative portrayals had real-world outcomes that influence people’s perceptions of queer people, which influences how people treat them. I grew up in a traditional Catholic household, so my family (and some of them still) were very anti-LGBTQ+, but honestly over the years and as media portrayals have gradually gotten more positive, I have noticed positive changes in their opinions. I appreciate shows like Steven Universe, The Legend of Korra, Adventure time, and various others for their positive representation because those shows are great for the next generation to see themselves and others in a more positive light. These shows make it a bit easier for the next generation to love themselves and treat others better, rather than feeling confused because of negative messages in the media like generations before them. We still have a ways to go, but bringing these things to light definitely help!
I totally agree! Growing up with the media telling me being queer is a punchline (especially the trope of girls going through a “lesbian phase” in college”), made it harder for me to accept myself as part of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m so glad that shows like Steven Universe and Korra exist to show young audiences that it’s okay and normal to be queer. I do think we have a long way to go, however, as many characters are still there as a “token” and have no individual character arc outside of simply “coming out”. I hope that over the next decade more shows (especially animated) will have more inclusivity and be a safe space for LGBTQ+ characters and audiences.
I agree. It has been so refreshing to see newer shows have started to have more positive representations of LGBTQ+ characters. It’s one of the reasons why The Legend of Korra and Steven Universe are some of my favorite shows. It’s not something that needs to be hidden at all. I think that when LGBTQ+ characters are not shown in a positive way it does more damage to a person in that community. Repressed feelings are never good especially in children.
Great job, Davis! I agree with you that LGBTQ+ representation in children’s media is lacking, and I’m glad that there have been a lot of recent releases that have good representation of LGBTQ+ characters, like Legend of Korra and Steven Universe, but also She-Ra and Kipo and the age of Wonderbeasts. There is still a long way to go in including more representation in children’s media, especially in media for younger children.