By Eleni Kontou
Diversity is often spoken about nowadays from race, to gender, to sexuality. All of which are important aspects of television. Having white privilege, cisgender privilege, and/or heterosexual privilege all block viewpoints and prevent people from noticing the issues that television, among other media outlets, display. Diversity needs to be shown more on television, and kid’s programmes are a good way to start destroying old habits, learned unconscious bias, and behaviours.
Society is massively based around straight, cisgender, white men, this is present even behind the scenes of TV shows. Only recently has television taken a slight step forward in having strong women on screen. However, this still needs to get better on screen and behind the scenes. Diversity is important, not just for those watching the show, but for the show itself. A straight white man cannot do a black lesbian justice in their writing, this is not to criticise his writing but rather to show that he simply does not have the experience of oppression in those areas. He cannot represent communities without causing harm or without implementing some sort of unconscious bias due to the male gaze that is present.
Television is a powerful tool for progressing society, we may not always see it as such, but viewpoints can be altered and progressed by the inclusion of diversity on screen. It makes us all more understanding, aware, and accepting of humanity. Understanding is the key to acceptance, and unfortunately a lot of people do not actively research and learn about things such as racism, sexualities, and genders. This lack of understanding that many have, may be helped by the inclusion of more diversity within TV shows.
As I mentioned before, kids’ TV shows have the power to prevent certain bias and stereotypes from an early age. As a child I remember watching many TV shows and never connecting to the women in them because of how they were portrayed. They were always depicted as some sort of side character whose only purpose was to be a love interest, or a victim who needed saving. When I did find strong women in shows, I clung to them. Shows such as Totally Spies, Charmed, and the Charlie’s Angels movies really helped me feel strong as a girl when many other shows portrayed me as some sort of weak, vain, accessory who was there to be gazed at by men, constantly trying to impress them and live up to their expectations. As a child, a show such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power will have brought me so much strength and enjoyment. I just know that as a kid my friends and I would be running around re-enacting the scenes and characters - feeling like we could conquer the world. Even watching She-Ra at 21 years old, I feel happy knowing that if kids nowadays have shows with that much representation, then they won’t feel ‘different’, and they will feel ‘normal’.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has diversity in all areas. It is a show with acceptance, and togetherness at the forefront and it introduces gay and lesbian couples without it being a big deal or plot point. A welcomed change to the usually portrayed wlw (women loving women) or mlm (men loving men) relationships shown on screen. The natural progression of the character’s relationships, highlights the naturalness of love and reiterates the fact that sexual orientation, gender, body type, and race etc. Should not be discriminated against. Acceptance is a beautiful thing and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power really highlights the possibility for change and equality.
The importance of seeing yourself in a character is often ignored, children and adults need to see characters that represent themselves onscreen in order to truly connect to a show. This is why we need to introduce more black characters, more people of colour, more body types, and more LGBTQ+ characters. It allows kids to discover who they are and it normalises inclusion and acceptance. Although, as mentioned, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is also perfect for adults who are looking for a feel-good programme with the inclusion of diversity and acceptance. The messages in the show are not only great for children, they are heart-warming for adults too. Particularly for those who have struggled to find parts of their identity represented on screen.
We need to normalise the inclusion of those who are not cis, white, and/or heteronormative on our screens, as well as in society - they should not only be included when their oppression is the main plot point, shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power normalise the presence of characters who are not white, straight, cis men.
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