Leave it to a small group of angry men to try and ruin a good thing.
She-Ra, the ’80s cartoon heroine and offshoot of He-Man, is getting a Netflix reboot helmed by the cartoonist behind the popular and feminist Lumberjanes and Nimona. The character of She-Ra has also gotten a huge redesign, something a bit younger, less sexualized, and more akin to Steven Universe’s large, exaggerated shapes or Voltron’s clean, anime-like angular shapes. This has upset some dudes concerned about cartoons not meant for them, saying the new designs look too “boyish” and have lost the sexuality of She-Ra’s original incarnation.
Backlash against women-led pop culture reboots has been common in the age of Twitter. But this time, She-Ra fans have had plenty of fun ragging on these guys for their sexist tweets and weird YouTube lectures.
https://twitter.com/Imaconsumer/status/1018754292797206528
Some YouTube creators have also taken to posting videoscomparing the modern She-Ra to a man, swapping out the character’s hair to supposedly make a point that without curly blonde locks, she could look like a generic male warrior. She-Ra fans of all backgrounds were quick to push back.
“We promise the Care Bear reboot will have tons of boobs,” storyboard artist Kristen Gish wrote on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/atxnolasco/status/1019298089432174592
https://twitter.com/KGishFish/status/1019249764095807489
https://twitter.com/jamesmarsh83/status/1019484635733118976
https://twitter.com/machineiv/status/1019425426597269505
https://twitter.com/Graham_LRR/status/1019138931470848001
https://twitter.com/thedayofhugs/status/1019603527151190016
Besides the backlash against the backlash, some of the She-Ra fan art has just been downright astounding.
https://twitter.com/tobieee/status/1019440666273828865
https://twitter.com/SheRaUpdates/status/1019335805490352129
Showrunner Noelle Stevenson has been well aware of the love being shown to She-Ra, and she’s thankful for the counter-protest.
“So overwhelmed by the outpouring of love today for She-Ra! Thank you so much for the fanart and kind words. I hope you love the show when it comes out!” she wrote on Twitter this week.
The She-Ra reboot returns to Netflix on Nov. 16.
