Spotted Online – Botch the Crab on Transformers and Gender
A few days ago I posted a 1986 paper about Transformers and gender. An academic look at cartoons from almost three decades ago, the paper is one I am still trying to absorb. It’s kinda dense.
The same cannot be said for this excellent post from earlier this week. Posted at botchthecrab.com, “Gender, the Transformers, and Me” is a wonderful work from and for today’s audience of comic fans who are still working their way through the flood of female Transformers that Hasbro and IDW have been bringing to us over the last few years.
Ultimately, I personally believe that expanding the selection of female Transformers in the fiction is a great thing. Girls always enjoyed the cartoons — yes, even during the eighties — and I can see no reason that we shouldn’t encourage both Hasbro and IDW to add more female characters to the stories.
The Botch the Crab post is one very much worth reading. It’s entertaining, honest, and likely just the tip of the iceberg as more long-time Transformers fans share their opinions of the ever-growing number of female Transformers characters in the fiction.
There is also an interesting article about paternalism and leadership of Autobots and Decepticons
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275520723_Childrens_Stories_as_a_Foundation_for_Leadership_Schemas_More_Than_Meets_the_Eye