Award Date

12-1-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

First Committee Member

Jarret Keene

Second Committee Member

Anne Stevens

Third Committee Member

Emily Setina

Fourth Committee Member

Emma Bloomfield

Number of Pages

59

Abstract

Children’s cartoons are growing increasingly nuanced in the twenty-first century. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) is an animated television series targeted towards young girls that includes themes of ecocriticism and feminism. The show does this by introducing cyborg, or hybrid, characters. My research explores how cyborg identities in children’s media and their feminist, ecocritical meanings in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The cyborg, as a feminist mythic hero, breaks down binaries and recodes communication between opposing forces. The She-Ra is filled with characters that inhabit multiple identities. The main character, Adora, identifies as both a former Evil Horde soldier and a member of the Princess Rebellion. Other characters and creatures inhabit identities between biological and mechanical or human and animal. By analyzing these hybrid characters, a conclusion about how children’s cartoons can handle hybridized identities is discovered. By creating cyborgs and hybrids, the show She-Ra and the Princesses of Power can help children watching the show come to terms with their own hybrid identities in a technological world.

Keywords

animation; cartoons; children's media; cyborg; Masters of the Universe; pop culture

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Environmental Sciences | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality

File Format

pdf

File Size

449 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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