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
If anyone would like a transcript, I wrote up what was said on the topic below!
“One of the things that’s really important to me about the show is that the gems are all nonbinary women, um, they, they’re-they’re very specific in their coming from a world where the don’t really have the frame of reference, uh, uh, they’re coded female. which is very important, and them being coded female, I was really excited because I felt like I had not seen this – To make a show about a young boy, who is looking up to these female coded characters-
[Interviewer: I’m- I’m sorry, when you say they’re coded female, what do you mean by that – ‘coded’? ] Uh, they, they appear to be female, uh, they’re a little more representative of nonbinary women, they, they wouldn’t think of themselves as women, um, but they’re fine with being interpreted that way, amongst humans, um and I am also a nonbinary woman, which is- it’s been really great to express myself through these characters because it’s very much how I have felt, throughout my life.
[Interviewer: I do want to talk more about that as we continue but is that a challenging thing to relate to kids? I mean is that something that they actually say in the show or is that just something that’s implied in the background?] Uh, I think it has everything to do with the way that the characters act and relate to each other, um, I think that, Stevonnie is very clearly a nonbinary character, uh, I think that’s something that everyone in the audience can understand, with the gems it- it may be subtler, but it’s definitely part of – a huge part of who they are.”
Before Steven was born Amethyst used to say ‘fuck’ all the time & so when he was a baby Greg had to sit her down and explain that she has to stop swearing around Steven because he’s young & impressionable
So Amethyst is like “but that’s my favourite word, when will be stop being young & impressionable so I can say it again??”
And Greg is like “uhh I don’t know, 15 I guess? 15 is probably old enough”
“Got it”
flash forward to Steven’s fifteenth birthday and he is woken at dawn by Amethyst yelling “wake the FUCK up Steven it’s FUCKING TIME”
& he spends the entire day losing his mind
Steven: w-what’s happening
Garnet: *deadpan* Amethyst just got her favourite word back
Amethyst: *running around the house* FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
Greg: what’s going on
Amethyst: you said once Steven was 15 I could say fuck again
Greg, who only hazily recalls the conversation in question: ……i DID?
Amethyst: *runs outside* FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK *distant sounds of spooked birds*
Pearl: Steven the *whispering* F-word is a bad word that Amethyst USED to say before-
Steven: I know what fuck means Pearl
Amethyst: *stopping dead in her tracks* WHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT??
Pearl: who taught you that word mister!!
Steven: um… Lars and Sadie… *mumbling* five years ago…
Amethyst: I’ve been denying myself my favourite word for FIVE YEARS for NOTHING??
Greg: uh even if he knows what it means it’s still not really appropriate for you t-
