#and like the whole episode of dipper being insecure about not being manly enough is just transgender: the show | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

abyssal-author-and-artist · 3 months ago

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oh shit i just realized i forgot to post the trans dipper essay

oh well, better late than never!

Introducing - Why Mason "Dipper" Pines is Trans and Why that Matters - an essay I spent more time on than I did my actual college project today

Mason "Dipper" Pines from Gravity Falls is trans. Trans masculine, to be specific. Do I believe this was intentional? No. Do I believe that there's a seriously convincing case to be made? Fuck yes.

So first off, he's just like me frfr, which is pretty compelling in and of itself. But that's not enough for a whole essay, so we move onto our second point - character designs. Dipper is designed like, well, like every modern-era trans man I've ever drawn who isn't goth. The shorts, the one shirt in the one color, the absolute insecurity. He even does the hunch of the back! Also, I think I heard somewhere that the vest is to make his shoulders look broader, which I'm not entirely sure is canon but I am accepting this whole-heartedly. It's such a trans move of him. He's too young (and it's summer so it's too hot) to wear a dysphoria hoodie so he picked a vest. (I say too young because dysphoria hoodies usually cover your chest and Dipper and Mabel probably haven't hit puberty.)

The second part comes directly from science. According to this article, and many others, sex in identical twins is complicated, but most identical twins will be born the same sex. There are cases where this isn't true (which might be the case for Mabel and Dipper) or they might be fraternal, which is also pretty likely. However, looking at them when they were younger (and listening to their very similar voices), it's likely they were identical and both girls. That's not to say I dislike trans Mabel - every trans woman I draw dresses like her, so I do love her being trans as well and them hitting the age of like. 10. and swapping genders is incredibly funny and adorable to me.

So, we can't reliably use the aforementioned evidence, then, can we? After all, identical twins can be different sexes, although rare, and we don't have any proof they are identical beyond their visual (and when they were younger, audible) similarities. Well, first off, I'd say that's pretty compelling evidence already. In a cartoon, especially one as detailed and beautiful-looking as Gravity Falls (the art is good and I will die on this hill), visual language makes up for a lot. And Alex Hirsh has gone on record saying that he very much wanted Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal for Dipper and Mabel respectively, to the point where he would have canceled the show if Kristen hadn't signed on, so I wholeheartedly believe every character (with the exception of Grenda and any other characters who had last minute va's picked) had their voice actors picked very specifically. I can't find whether Jason Ritter voiced younger Dipper, though, so that's a dead end.

Now, that's all well and good, but it's a lot of visual language, isn't it? Why don't we move into something more based in the writing itself?

So the first and most prominent example of Dipper being transgender is the episode Dipper vs Manliness. You know it, you probably have emotions on it, it's the episode where Dipper is trying his hardest to be a man's man. The episode was supposed to be about toxic masculinity and how to be a real man is to stick to your morals. It's a good lesson and in my opinion, holds up even in 2024. Pretty good. Does a great job of what it wants to do. Now, Dipper vs. Manliness has been dissected to hell and back already as a transgender allegory, so I'll keep this brief: the episode centers around Dipper being mocked for not being manly. While Mabel and Stan still see him as a man, albeit an effeminate one, it gets to Dipper. He proceeds to do anything to prove himself a real man. If viewed as a trans allegory, Mabel is teasing her brother and not realizing how deeply it actually hurts him (whether accidentally because she fails to realize how insecure he is over it or because she hasn't been there before, depending on how you want to headcanon it). As for Stan, I like to pretend he's supportive but regularly forgets Dipper was ever a girl, so he makes a serious slip up because of that (and/or he's regurgitating stuff said to him. That hits harder if you also headcanon trans Stan, which I am warming up to). Dipper proceeds to try and prove himself a man, crying when he takes even one more blow to his self esteem/sense of identity as a man, and eventually gets comfort from his family when they realize just how BADLY they messed him up. He is affirmed as a man and the episode ends. Everything that can be said, has been said - including that you don't have to act toxically masculine - or even masculine at all - to be a real man. Remember this part, it will be important later.

So, other trans moments for Dipper come a little sparser. Dipper vs. Manliness is the example for a good reason. But still, there's other moments. The short Voice Over from one of the short story compliation episodes is another one that's commonly referenced as a metaphor for voice dysphoria. Yes, Dipper's voice is cracking in ways common for a cis pre-teen boy his age, but the pitch and tone of his voice can also be seen as his more feminine voice peeking through. Taking the potion can be seen as taking testosterone or other hormones. Granted, this falls apart when you consider that Dipper is later discouraged from taking the potion, because that could be read as Dipper being discouraged from transitioning, but on the other side of the spectrum, it could be read as Dipper being affirmed as a real man despite his voice. From that perspective, his family prevents him from taking (possibly dangerous) homebrewed hrt. Also, the euphoria he gets when it does change his voice is just. Absolutely adorable.

Now, my favorite resource for Dipper acting trans is in the episode Headhunters. He's asking Manly Dan questions and Manly Dan calls Dipper a girl. And MAN the discomfort on Dipper's face. He immediately attempts to correct Manly Dan, but is shut down and the episode moves on. I think that for such a short moment, it does a good job of making Dipper seem trans, though. He is called a girl and feels extreme discomfort around it. He does not like being called a girl. He is not a girl. But he's not shocked or surprised or even really offended - he's resigned. He's used to being called a girl. Sure, he hates it, but he doesn't cry or scream or anything. Sounds to me like a trans man who's absurdly used to being misgendered but still hates it. That pain never goes away, but sometimes all you can do is flinch in discomfort, try to correct and move on, like the episode does.

For a (mostly humorous) video of more of Dipper acting trans, check out this video.

So I think we've made a pretty compelling point for Dipper Pines being trans masc here. Looks pretty good, yup, this is a great essay, let's wrap it up. Oh? What's that? The name of this essay?

Why Mason "Dipper" Pines is transgender and why that matters.

Well, let's dive into section two of this essay - why does Dipper being trans matter?

Someone could easily say it doesn't matter. Just fun fandom headcanons, that's it, wrap it up now. Nothing more to say. Dipper is trans and that's just a fun reading of his character.

But I don't think that's the case. I think that Dipper being trans means so much - to trans fans of the show, to fans who have never seen or spoken to trans people before, and to queer fans of Gravity Falls and similar shows. (I personally am a Steven Universe fan who really valued the representation there, so Gravity Falls and all it's queer coding means a lot to me.)

First and foremost, I'm not going to keep you in the dark as to why you're remembering my earlier point. As a recap, it was this: Dipper vs. Manliness, and by proxy, Gravity Falls as a whole, says that you don't have to be traditionally masculine to be a real man. For a show that spends a lot of time mocking a kid commonly headcanoned to be a trans man, that says a lot, and a lot of stuff I think more people need to hear.

You do not need to act like your gender to be your gender.

You do not need to present like your gender to be your gender.

You do not need to fit some rigid box that society enforces to be who you are.

If you are a man, you are a man, trans or cis, regardless of how you act. (And the same goes for women and nonbinary people! You don't have to fit a mold.)

You don't owe anyone anything.

You don't owe people masculinity. (Or femininity or androgyny for that matter.)

I think that's part of the reason Dipper vs. Manliness ages so well. Dipper reads as trans, especially to queer fans, and his story in that episode tells us that we don't have to be someone we're not for people to take us seriously as who we are. At the end of the day, the really masculine thing is staying true to you - a sentiment echoed and reversed in The Last Mabelcorn, where the most feminine thing you can do is to stay true to yourself. I can't find it right now, but I could swear that there's a That GF Fan video explaining my point a little better. The point is, there's nothing that makes you more of whatever your gender is than staying true to yourself.

Additionally, if Dipper really is trans and someone sees themself in him, that can help them explore their gender or explain it to other people. Young kids who have never interacted with trans people before can see Dipper and grow up to connect the dots - or grow up to have him crack their eggs.

I know I'm new to the fandom and I was already out before watching the show, but he really helped me explore my gender. I like dressing like him - he's very relatable, even though I'm old enough to be in college now. I see him as a very anxious, slightly paranoid trans kid, and I see a lot of myself in him. He has a lot of issues, and a lot of issues that aren't trans specific but definitely hit harder when you are trans. He makes me feel seen on a level that I never thought a cartoon character could do.

Honestly, here would be a good place to put a rant about representation in kids media - queer kids under the age of 12 exist and struggle. I liked a girl (before realizing I was trans) in fifth grade, so about 9 years old. There are kids who experiment with their gender when they're younger than that. We're here and we exist, and every single time a character in children's media is made and is prevalent, another kid is able to really see themself.

That's really the point of this section. Dipper is trans. That matters. People - mostly queer kids but people of all ages - see themselves in him. He's here and we see him as queer because it's validating. It feels so good to hear Stan affirm him at the end of Dipper vs. Manliness, because it proves that at the end of the day, you don't need to present as super masc or femme or androgynous to be who you are.

Gravity Falls, through coding Dipper as trans, sent a message:

You are seen. You are loved. You are valid.

Thank you for reading this all. Trans Dipper means a lot to me, and I love writing him and seeing him in general. I want more of him because Dipper being trans means the world to me.

I love you all. Have a wonderful day. Remember to stay true to yourself.

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lordofhunger47 · 3 years ago

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My top criticisms about Gravity Falls(this is not a hate message, I consider GF as a masterpiece although a flawed one and later I'm going to post about My top things I love about GF so please be civil)

1-Wendy Corduroy's complete lack of development:as much as I like wendy it is no denying she is underulitized,seriously they made us care for a supporting character,a mean girl cliche' in ONE episode,made her more than a blonde stereotype and made us actually care about her but couldn't done that to our badass red head who is one of the main cast with TONS of potential to grow like family issues,teenage rebellion,gluttony in work and having a bad taste in boys... to be more than a princess unattainable who makes teens around her to drool?!,Beside once you make it clear that she isn't going to end up with Dipper, that's pretty much it for the character. Too much of her characterization is built around being Dipper's idealized LI, and she not really relevant to the main plotline,Being super cool and talented isn't very interesting on its own(ask rey from sequel trilogy or ultrasmufs from WH40k, even alex said she was "too perfect" thus why there are so many unaired episodes centre around her which makes me sad for never airing)

2-Everything about Love God and Roadside Attraction:in Love God mabel didn't face her consequences,didn't learn any and worse Robbie got rewared for his ill-manner and insecurities and never even acknowldge his wrong doing toward Wendy and Dipper(hence why I love reading fanfics about robbie having his come uppence).

As for roadside attraction?giving Dipper The Last Jedi treatment of Luke Skywalker and making hypocrites out of Mabel and the girls since they LITERALLY condemned Dipper for the same thing they do on a DAILY BASIC ,beside they were the ones who pushed the whole "candip" thing.

3-using Ford as a scapegoat:I know he is faulty but lets not forget Stan also share the blame,sure he didn't mean to destroy Ford's project but he didn't told him in order to fix it either because he secretly hope that his accident would make Ford stay,he was petty in weirdmaggedon and while Ford is arrogant with messiah complex, Stan is implusive with victim complex and at least Ford TRIES to take responsibilty while Stan only did take responsibility when he tries to keep Mabel and Dipper out of this by FAVORITISM and HUMILIATION the fact that he do so after his father the water downed-american-ozai wannable only makes it worse(lets be honest if Dipper was gay,bi or trans everyone in media would scream for blood after seeing Dipper vs Manliness).

Besides,how would you feel if one of your relatives steal your identity,ruin your name and make a mockery out of your life's work??sure he was trying to have enough money to return you but what part of "stealing your name and mock your job" was necessary!?even a simple merch shop makes as much money as a tourist trap

4-Double Standard toward Dipper:I get that his character arc pretty much amounts to: "Stop being a pretentious twit, stop trying to act older than you are, enjoy being a kid while you can." The problem is that the show eventually starts beating on Dipper for wanting ANYTHING at all, and that he must always put Mabel first, even if she's in the wrong. The show seems to say that Dipper should take Mabel's approach to life, and although that might make him happier, he's just not Mabel. Instead of learning to pursue his goals in a less reckless way, he is dis-alluded from having goals period, and that can get frustrating to watch,I don't have a sibiling but I do know that pleasing one in sacrifice of your dreams and everything that makes you you is NOT how healthy relationships works in fact it is toxic

5-Handling ships:take the owl house،the dragon prince,adventure time and kipo age of the wonderbeast for example and compare it to gravity falls.

Unlike GF they didn't reduce love interests as stereotypical,they didn't made a bigger deal about crushes than it needs to be,didn't fell for tropes and take time,for instance if you think about it lumity and dipacifica are basically alike except lumity took time,develop,didn't came out of nowhere in one episode and didn't fell for "I hate you but now I love you despite the major differences" cliché trope.

By the way,the whole age gap excuse for Wendy rejecting Dipper is stupidly lame because lets be honest when a 2/5 year age gape ever stopped anyone?!(certainly didn't stopped kataang,gideon from dating mabel and my parents) if she instead said because of dipper being underage or simply just ANYTHING other than age gape then I would get behind it and also Am I the only one who found incredibly hypocrite how much the series trashed Dipper's feelings for Wendy using the excuse of "it's imposible, he has no future with her because she's 2-3 years older than him", but then the same series supported Mabel's crazy crushes that she honestly had no future either? I mean, is the series and the narrative seriously making watchers and fans believe that Mabel had more future with a bunch of gnomes, a zombie, a vampire, a psycho child(who is 3 years younger), a merman, a puppeteer creep(who is in his 20s!), a cloned boy band(who are in their 20s AGAIN biologically but technically only months old!), any stranger she stalked within her radar each week, and a dollar bill guy, than Dipper with Wendy? Like, she has MORE future with any of those crazy creatures than Dipper has with Wendy, a girl she is very close to and who is only 2 and a half years older? or the fact that Wendy dated a guy with tattoos who is probably 3 years older than her?!

Honestly, I find ironic that the series ditched Dipper's relationship with Wendy because, according to the narrative, it wouldn't matter or last in the long run only for a 2-3 year old gap, but then goes to support even crazier crushes that are changed in a week, because looking through it, out of all the crushes we've seen the kids have, the one who actually can have a future is the one that the series constantly ditches and mocks at.

Before any missunderstooding of what I tried to say: I'm not saying Mabel's crushes didn't end up backfiring, of course they did, it was obvious that would happen sooner or later. What I'm trying to say is that in most episodes they put Mabel's random crushes above Dipper's crush over Wendy with the excuse of "Dipper having no chances nor future with Wendy", as if Mabel had ANY future or chances with any of those crushes at all or as if any of those crushes were any more reallistic than Dipper's crush over Wendy. The thing is, even if Mabel's crushes ended up falling appart, in the end, Mabel got to give it a try with her crushes at the cost of Dipper sacrificing his time with Wendy, therefore pushing Mabel's crushes above Dipper's.

That is what I'm criticizing here: the fact that the narrative puts Mabel's crushes constantly over Dipper's crush using the "they have no future or chances" excuse while also pointedly ignoring that Mabel's crushes had even less chances and future than Dipper's. In fact, Dipper's crush with Wendy has more future than Mabel's, because the only obstacle in here is just a 2 and a half year old gap that in a couple of years won't matter at all, so if these two end up having feelings to each other in the future, it can totally work out.

7-Mabel's bad writting:now now I don't hate Mabel(the only characters in GF that I genuienly hate are Robbie and Pacifica's parents) and I oppose the idea that Mabel should be completely miserable like a CERTAIN AU,but there is no denying that her character suffers lack of change,all her antics is played for laughs only,unlike other characters she never face her consequences and she learns the same repeative lesson and yet never learns(I'm aware of Lost Legends but thats a comic not part of the show so it doesn't change this fatal flaw in the show and even if it was an episode it would still be repeative and only be in "words" not "action" Saying admitting is equal to her redeeming herself and completely grow out of it is like saying a smoker only has to say that smocking is bad and it's all done otherwise we have a narration disaster like everything about Star Wars's Sequel Trilogy).

for me the problem isn't that she caused Weirdmaggedon, is that, after what she accidentally caused through clear bad actions, she absolutely didn't care about it and did nothing to solve it until she got what she wanted. THAT is what makes her responsible for it. You're not to blame for being lied and tricked, but if once you do reallize what you did wrong you shrug it off and you don't care, then THAT makes you to blame for ignoring your responsabilities. And yes, I know Mabel is 12...but so is Dipper, yet the show doesn't hesitate to force him to be more mature than his two grunkles combined, but Mabel gets spared for being the funny immature one and be nothing more than a manic pixie stereotype(hence why this days characters which follow this trope either subverted or written diffrently than their predecessors like Jinx,Molly,Luz and Marcy), when both of them are co-protagonists.

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