A carefree boy, three female-guardians, and the first show created solely by a woman on Cartoon Network easily creates the premise for a feminist view of Rebecca Sugar’s, Steven Universe. The show portrays the story of a young boy who is raised primarily by three “mother-figures” that also act as mentors and guardians known as the Crystal Gems. Together, the quartet serve as heroes to the humans that inhabit the Earth and protectors to Earth itself from any harm. The evolving of the story between Steven, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst, as well and the world they interact with contains dialogue, context, and scenarios that illustrate a feminist/gender view. The Feminist/Gender theory in Steven Universe is illustrated through the diversity of female
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Particularly in Steven Universe, traditional roles of a man and a woman are reversed. This is mainly apparent throughout the relationship between Steven, the Crystal Gems (excluding Steven), and his father Greg. While the Crystal Gems serve as confident, wise, and skillful role models, Steven’s father Greg is often aloof and doubtful in his care for Steven, (Sugar 27) contrasting with the view of a nuclear, patriarchal family with a husband deemed “man of the house”. Within the show, there is an absence of the traditional male hero, with all of the protagonists identifying as female, obliterating the trope of a “helpless woman in need of a knight in shining armor”. Greg’s relationship with Rose Quartz, Steven’s mother who was the former leader of the Crystal Gems before she gave up her physical form in order to birth him, reverses the norms of roles in a relationship. Rose is much taller and simply larger than Greg, and serves as the mysterious, strong, independent love interest that is most commonly associated with men. Additionally, Steven himself breaks down gender norms in how he reacts to most of his daily conflicts with emotional response. He often chooses to compromise rather than fight and has more of a pacifist mentality. These perspectives are usually depicted as inferior and are associated with femininity, however, Sugar reverses these ideas of roles to disprove the stereotypical roles when seen through the Feminist/Gender
Particularly in Steven Universe, traditional roles of a man and a woman are reversed. This is mainly apparent throughout the relationship between Steven, the Crystal Gems (excluding Steven), and his father Greg. While the Crystal Gems serve as confident, wise, and skillful role models, Steven’s father Greg is often aloof and doubtful in his care for Steven, (Sugar 27) contrasting with the view of a nuclear, patriarchal family with a husband deemed “man of the house”. Within the show, there is an absence of the traditional male hero, with all of the protagonists identifying as female, obliterating the trope of a “helpless woman in need of a knight in shining armor”. Greg’s relationship with Rose Quartz, Steven’s mother who was the former leader of the Crystal Gems before she gave up her physical form in order to birth him, reverses the norms of roles in a relationship. Rose is much taller and simply larger than Greg, and serves as the mysterious, strong, independent love interest that is most commonly associated with men. Additionally, Steven himself breaks down gender norms in how he reacts to most of his daily conflicts with emotional response. He often chooses to compromise rather than fight and has more of a pacifist mentality. These perspectives are usually depicted as inferior and are associated with femininity, however, Sugar reverses these ideas of roles to disprove the stereotypical roles when seen through the Feminist/Gender