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What Role Does Gems Play In The Formation Of Queer Youth

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Television is a popular form of social representation and a tool many young people use to assist in the formation of their personal identity. As a young person is forming their sense of identity, they will often turn to other people, searching for aspects or characteristics in the person which they may agree with or disagree with, in order to get a better understanding of themselves. It is important for young folks to have access to various types of personalities, lifestyles, etc. in order for This holds true for young members of the LBGTQIA+ members, or queer youth. For queer youth, who do not fit into the social expectation, that people are heterosexual and/or fit into the gender binary, television can play a key part in their formation …show more content…

As stated in Dunn’s article, the Gems use she/ her pronouns, which usually associated with a female identifying individual. The Gems also possess various physical characteristics that are widely accepted to belong to a female body such as breast, wide hips, high pitched voices, etc. Although most might believe that given these traits, the Gems must be female, Dunn and I argue this is not necessarily true. Dunn argues the Gems are agender, I believe this could be true. It could also be they are gender non binary. Evidence of this can be found in episode 9, “Tiger Millionaire,” which aired in January during 2014. In the episode, Steven and one of the Gems, Amethyst, join a secret wrestling group and create a different persona so that they are not discovered by those who oppose their passion for wrestling. Since Amethyst can shape shift, she physically changes herself to better fit her wrestling persona, the Purple Puma. The Purple Puma possess various physical traits that a generally accepted to belong to a male body such as a broad chest, body hair, and a deep voice. Purple Puma even uses he/him pronouns as proven when Steven corrects himself from referring to Purple Puma as she/her. This proves that Amethyst is genderqueer because although …show more content…

Her entire story and representation are not centered around the fact that she is genderqueer as many queer’s character’s stories are. In fact, her gender identity is not directly pointed out or made to seem as if it something that is irregular or weird. For these reasons, Amethyst’s character can be a role model for young people watching the show who may identify as genderqueer or agender. The Gem’s characters can also connect to female identifying audience members. Even though the Gems are genderqueer or agender, their traditionally female characteristics allow these female identifying individuals to feel a sense of connection with the Gems and so the Gems may also serve as a role model for

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