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