Something about Rebecca Sugar coming out as a nonbinary woman is a huge surprise but it also makes so much sense in retrospect. The Gems aren’t nonbinary because they’re aliens or because she wanted to look Woke or whatever….she was literally just representing her own gender identity this whole time, even if she admittedly did make it subtle (except Stevonnie, she said the fandom knows they’re very obviously nb) but I think making subtle representation for a group you belong to is very very different from a cis creator who just wants to throw the nb community a bone but not quite commit to it, if that makes sense
Rebecca Sugar: One of the things that’s very important to me about the show is that the Gems are all nonbinary women. […] They’re coded female, which is very important […] I was really excited […] to make a show about a young boy who is looking up to these female-coded characters.
Interviewer: I’m sorry, when you say they’re “coded female” what do you mean by that “coded”?
Rebecca Sugar: They appear to be female. They’re a little more representative of nonbinary women. They wouldn’t think of themselves as women, but they’re fine with being interpreted that way amongst humans. And I am also a nonbinary woman, which, it’s been really great to express myself through these characters, because it’s very much how I have felt throughout my life.
this is so amazing tho?? we’ve never had nonbinary creators to look up to years ago but look at us now! this is so amazing I can’t
I love the little details the Crewniverse adds in!
Ruby and Sapphire seem to be wearing violets. These flowers symbolize Sapphic love, romantic love between two women. You can argue the semantics of “genderless space rocks” all day, but I’m going to appreciate the gay little details.
That was one of the most powerful lines I have ever heard. Lapis fighting through her PTSD to come help the only people she has ever cared about is absolutely wonderful. Such an emotionally broken character being able to stand up and shine where others couldn’t. She is the embodiment of a permanently damaged character. No amount of friends or love will take away the pain and despair she feels. To me, she represents the real struggle of chronic mental illness. Her showing she can’t just “get over it”. It is something that can never and will never go away. And she has people who love and support her anyway.
Even the people who hate her are part of her representation. Some get frustrated and mad that she still goes through her episodes of depression and PTSD. They want her to just get better. That she should be over it by now. People who are mentally ill get this all the time. Parents, friends, lovers. They think that it’s about fixing us. That a date, or a vacation, or some relaxing activity will just get rid of it. They often feel personally attacked when it doesn’t work. They often first feel bad that they couldn’t help, but then angry because they think we aren’t trying. They make it about how /our/ mental illness makes /them/ feel.
Of course, mental illness is not an excuse to be a toxic and abusive person. We have to take responsibility for our own actions too. But understand that mental illness is about the person going through it, not others. That it may never go away and if you love that person, that’s part of the package. Don’t get upset when your attempt to “fix” them fails.
Lapis and her defectors represent the real struggle millions of mentally ill people to through.
beinggayonmain 