Steven Universe is a television show on Cartoon Network about a boy cared for by three alien women called Gems. These Gems have gemstones attached to their bodies that give them magical powers to fight monsters and save the Earth, as well as Beach City, the small city where they reside. Young Steven is only a half-Gem, half-human, and has the gemstone that his mother Rose Quartz passed on to him when she gave up her physical form to give him life. The three women/Gems who take care of him, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, have to teach Steven to use his powers and protect others in the ways he is meant to. The Gems can magically “fuse” together to increase their strength and fighting ability and succeed in their missions. At first glance, the
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Fusion is a way for two Gems to become one and gain strength, but they do so in a sacred, intimate, and physical way. Thinking about fusion in this way allows for the comparison of fusion to sex, and more importantly, allows for lessons on and discussions about sexual consent. Fusions appear quite often over the course of the show’s two seasons, but one of the most important instances of fusion is the discovery of forced fusions in one episode. All Gems shatter into shards when killed or “cracked”, and these forced fusions are solely made up of these broken Gem shards. In the episode “Keeping it Together”, Garnet is horrified at the unnatural forced fusions. “They were forced together, they were forced to fuse,” she says. “This is wrong.” Since Garnet is a healthy, natural fusion, she fears and is saddened by the unnatural fusions, and later becomes angry over their existence. She says, “Those Gems weren’t asked permission. Fusion is a choice. Those Gems weren’t given a choice. It isn’t right. It isn’t fusion.” This quite clearly serves as a parallel to consent in sexual relationships. Much like instances or rape, there’s no consent in the forced fusions of Gem shards. These specific fusions are displayed as unhealthy, wrong examples, in order to spread the message. Many positive examples of healthy fusions (parallel to healthy romantic and/or sexual relationships) do occur in …show more content…
The show tackles the idea of abuse head on in the relationship between two minor character Gems, Lapis and Jasper. In the episodes of “The Return” and “Jail Break”, the toxic, abusive relationship hits a breaking point. Jasper dominates over Lapis initially, keeping her in a prison cell for an extended time, then forces fusion on her in attempt to fight Garnet. Lapis fuses with Jasper, but then angrily fights against her and drags her under the ocean in the fusion, trapping both of them. A few episodes later, in “Chille Tid”, Lapis is seen struggling to keep control of the relationship, and Jasper. This one relationship demonstrates so many important real-life messages and ideas, including an additional message about unhealthy relationships, as well as one about abuse. First, relationships and sexual encounters built on hate, anger, or control are unhealthy, destructive, and downright dangerous to both those involved and those around them. Lapis and Jasper are highly incompatible and hateful, much like a bomb about to explode. They potentially could cause extreme harm to Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl (and almost do). Lapis and Jasper both have times of extreme pain and danger to themselves as well. The whole relationship causes pain and damage to everyone involve, with intense toxicity. The other main important message in this
Fusion is a way for two Gems to become one and gain strength, but they do so in a sacred, intimate, and physical way. Thinking about fusion in this way allows for the comparison of fusion to sex, and more importantly, allows for lessons on and discussions about sexual consent. Fusions appear quite often over the course of the show’s two seasons, but one of the most important instances of fusion is the discovery of forced fusions in one episode. All Gems shatter into shards when killed or “cracked”, and these forced fusions are solely made up of these broken Gem shards. In the episode “Keeping it Together”, Garnet is horrified at the unnatural forced fusions. “They were forced together, they were forced to fuse,” she says. “This is wrong.” Since Garnet is a healthy, natural fusion, she fears and is saddened by the unnatural fusions, and later becomes angry over their existence. She says, “Those Gems weren’t asked permission. Fusion is a choice. Those Gems weren’t given a choice. It isn’t right. It isn’t fusion.” This quite clearly serves as a parallel to consent in sexual relationships. Much like instances or rape, there’s no consent in the forced fusions of Gem shards. These specific fusions are displayed as unhealthy, wrong examples, in order to spread the message. Many positive examples of healthy fusions (parallel to healthy romantic and/or sexual relationships) do occur in …show more content…
The show tackles the idea of abuse head on in the relationship between two minor character Gems, Lapis and Jasper. In the episodes of “The Return” and “Jail Break”, the toxic, abusive relationship hits a breaking point. Jasper dominates over Lapis initially, keeping her in a prison cell for an extended time, then forces fusion on her in attempt to fight Garnet. Lapis fuses with Jasper, but then angrily fights against her and drags her under the ocean in the fusion, trapping both of them. A few episodes later, in “Chille Tid”, Lapis is seen struggling to keep control of the relationship, and Jasper. This one relationship demonstrates so many important real-life messages and ideas, including an additional message about unhealthy relationships, as well as one about abuse. First, relationships and sexual encounters built on hate, anger, or control are unhealthy, destructive, and downright dangerous to both those involved and those around them. Lapis and Jasper are highly incompatible and hateful, much like a bomb about to explode. They potentially could cause extreme harm to Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl (and almost do). Lapis and Jasper both have times of extreme pain and danger to themselves as well. The whole relationship causes pain and damage to everyone involve, with intense toxicity. The other main important message in this