#like yeah steven universe and ect could go here but no shows have come close to having such a hard and long grip on me like this one

[nico-the-overlord]

I can’t believe I’ve been this show has had me stuck fermenting like a fly in honey pot for five-ish years and counting

[groundramon]

Its only been 15ish minutes but I’m still thinking about this post and I really like how instead of being offended about the outrageous displays of sexism in the exact field im going into, instead of being mad that a show I really enjoy was canceled prematurely/at a spoiler (? so I’ve heard, like I’ve said I’m only on season 3 so...), I’m just like “WHAT DO YOU MEAN TERRA WOULD’VE GOTTEN MORE SCREENTIME IN SEASON 6″

That says a lot about where my priorities lie.  Like sexism in the children’s television industry and division in the toy industry are two things I’d love to work against once I get into the industry (I mean im not planning to change the world lmfao but I can try) considering both fields are close to my heart and I’ll probably be working with them extensively once I get a job (not sure how involved I’ll be in merchandising but I’d like to have at least some hand in it), and I hate enforcing gender roles on kids (do you know how fucked up I’d be if my parents didn’t let me play with “masculine” toys like dragons, Pokemon figures, ect-), but Terra is more important.

My obsession aside, I do wonder how much that’s changed in recent years.

Teen Titans aired from 2003 to 2006, and honestly I think sexism had the biggest grip on children’s television in that time period than any other time period.  Sure other older shows would just...not show females in equal roles to their male counterparts, but in the early 2000s, either you did that too or you made a big deal about your female character being given equal treatment to her male counterpart.  Oh boy, look at Rika from Digimon Tamers, it’s so WEIRD that she’s a GIRL and she’s SO GOOD AT TAMING AND THE CARD GAME, wOWEE.  I give Digimon Tamers a lot of slack for that because it was extremely realistic about its sexism lmao (Henry never said anything about Rika being a girl, Jerry and Rika were both treated as equals in the overarching narrative, ect) but my point still stands.  Teen Titans is really good about how it treats its female characters, but I can still see the fingerprints of this era all over it, from its character designs (DRAW RAVEN WITH A THICKER WAIST YOU COWARDS) to its choreography (if Starfire gets wrapped up by one more tentacle I s2g-)  They also both have male-dominated casts but like...what show doesn’t?  Steven Universe, and then shows specifically targeted towards females?  And like, I’m not gonna sit here and yell at shows from the early 2000s because these were the better shows out there, they tried their best.  I can find a more sexist show airing nowadays easily, and like whatever, plenty of shows have done just as bad if not worse and I’m just using those as examples because I’ll stan those shows til i die.  I’m just sayin, it’s not surprising given the time period.  (I also have no idea how ATLA survived and thrived in the late 2000s, seriously what the fuck, how did Nickelodeon do something right in those years)

Fastforward to nowadays though, and while male-dominated casts are still the...well everything except Steven Universe and female-oriented shows, there are so many shows that really don’t seem to appeal to a particular gender.  If you made me pick, I’d say shows like Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and We Bare Bears are probably aimed at 7-10 year old boys.  But honestly?  They’re relatively ageless and genderless shows; SU and AT are both adventure-comedies, and We Bare Bears is about as gender-neutral as a Tom and Jerry cartoon.  And I already mentioned that SU is like the only cartoon I can think of that doesn’t have a male-dominated main cast and isn’t targeted exclusively at girls.

One thing that the 2010s have brought that I really appreciate is ageless, genderless shows that aren’t just there to sell toys.  Sure you can find merchandise for AT and SU (I cant find any WBB merchandise though :( i wouldnt mind an ice bear plushie but its fine...im fine...) but it was never their primary goal.

Green Lantern was canceled in 2013, and while that doesn’t seem that long ago, that was actually four years ago (jesus christ why am I so old).  Young Justice was canceled the same year, but it was announced last year that it’d be returning for a new season.  Legend of Korra was canceled in 2012, meaning it could’ve easily been part of the same sexism in the industry that killed Green Lantern and Young Justice.  I did hear something about there being concern from Nickelodeon executives about Korra being a girl, but the writing team was allowed to proceed when a test screening showed that boys didnt care about her gender (surprise surprise! kids arent sexist assholes until you teach them to be. who knew? oh yeah I FUCKING DID) so...

Yes shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe were out or coming out around this time, but the industry hadn’t made the shift in mindset yet.  Adventure Time was a hit at the time, but like Avatar: The Last Airbender, it was an outlier, a show that was picked up for so many seasons and just too big to kill when its contract was up.  But with shows like Steven Universe, Clarence, We Bare Bears, ect...the cartoon industry has become a lot more gender-neutral in my eyes.

The group that networks are most concerned with appealing to now is 90s kids.  The hip thing to do is play with nostalgia and reuse old properties, for whatever gender people you want.  That’s why Teen Titans Go is still playing when it appeals to people of all genders, despite Teen Titans doing the same thing (in an arguably better show) a decade ago.

But one thing I dont understand is 90s cartoons.  90s cartoons - the original CN cartoons, the original Nicktoons, the original Disney cartoons - none of them seemed particularly...gendered.  Like anyone could relate to Hey Arnold.  Courage the Cowardly Dog was scary no matter your gender.  Everyone loved Ducktales - altho I guess Disney isn’t behind any of the situations i mentioned before (it’s mostly CN and then a little bit of Nickelodeon, but I do know Disney’s done some...kinda shady shit and does have a tendency to gender its shows, but idk if it’s ever canceled a show for that reason)  I dont know.  I wish I had the motivation and resources to do more research, but I’m just some idiot on the internet lmao.

I guess my point is that Teen Titans, The Legend of Korra, and related shows would likely be much better off if they were airing in 2017.