#like transmasc or amab nonbinary his relationship w gender could be a really fun thing to explore and it IS

[shopcat]

ik this is a dumb ask to send on christmas eve no less but my family is annoying and im tired and need an escape so im just gonna be a bitch for a little while: i hate how much the stddie fandom feminizes steve while simultaneously equating femininity to being small and soft and submissive both sexually and in general. like its rlly telling that none of these people want to explore what steve could find interesting and comfortable in being femme (even though he's pretty consistently traditionally masc throughout the show in how he chooses to dress and what his general interests are etc) they just want him to be The Girl in the relationship. its the same with how like 90% of the fandom decided out of nowhere that he's a bottom and must also be a sub bc steve, the most sexually confident and experienced main character outside of the actual adults, would absolutely be a stereotypical blushing virgin bottom and wouldn't want to be in charge of his own pleasure regardless of how he's physically getting it

no for sure i actually have seen this a lot with other charas but it's particularly off with steve specifically because of the way people go about it is just concerning 😭. i've actually said before in passing that ppl almost tend to treat steve somehow misogynistically which is CRAZY but it makes sense because like one of the roots of homophobia is misogyny and at the end of the day it's just homophobia!! i think people want to indulge in the idea of him being feminine and simply get carried away and it's clear that their idea of femininity is tied in pretty transparently with soft submissiveness. and while it's true that men don't typically GET to indulge in these aspects of their own masculinity and getting to take this typically very masc character who has shown aspects of nontoxic masculinity can be a thing that invites nuance scrubbing him down until he's this like pathetic little waif of a thing who creams his pants the second the big strong man (in this case eddie but i know this is 99% of what h*rringr*vers do too) comes along to tell him what to do is concerning at the very best.

being gender nonconforming in any particular way is a complex thing and i would ENCOURAGE!! people to want to explore it with kindness and NOT as a way to at the end of the day sexualise and bastardise it to the point of no return. steve IS pretty and he is my babygirl and i do like saying he's a mean girl and he giggles and tucks his hair behind his ear and even wears the tinted chapstick and put him in pink outfits and perfume honestly like 99% of what people do with this i tend to ENTHUSIASTICALLY agree with but it's pretty clear when they're doing it to genuinely explore these things and celebrating the dissection of gender nonconformity and sexuality which has traditionally and continues to be dismissed/a marginalised aspect of being outwardly, clockably lgbt and when they're doing it ingeniously because they think it's like hot. and like yeah totally it's literally so hot but omg have some tact.. the hottest thing in the world is a gnc bisexual/gay man so it's understandable that ppl let their brains melt a little but let's give nuance the floor here for a SECOND please...