#but like fem coding ur creepy stalker fav ain't gonn save them from scorn

[bayoudusion]

The term "female-coded" absolutely baffles me. But there is no set definition (that I could find).

So, here's my bargain bin version of a deepdive on fem-coded charecters and the fandom that surrounds them. That I did for my friend.

The dissections are in the order of most debated in their respective fandom to personal headcannons that individuals made and are not representative to the whole fandom.

Let us start of by an actively debated topic even on the outer layer of the tags; Steven Universe. All you need to now is that the gems are aliens some of whom live on earth.

In the context of this show the subjects of this discourse are mainly the gems themselves. This is because they often refer to other gems as she/her call eachother "girl" and "woman" occasionally. But, the gems do not have a social push for gender or a biological sign of sex that is observed in humans, in a more objective note they do not have reproductive organs without human influence as discussed by this theory"Using their shape-shifting they can perfectly replicate reproductive organs of organic beings for their "human constructs" in order to reproduce.". Which has led to people speculating whether they are agender or not.

On a more depressing note let's talk about the lack of female characters or even counter parts in male oriented media; action, syfy, superpowers, etc. In the first Avenger movie Black Widow (Natalia Alianovna/Natasha Romanoff) was out numbered 1/5 against her male teammates, but since then we have seen a push for more female superheroes outside fandom i.e. Captain Marvel, Scarlett Witch even Pepper Potts had her small moments. But I have also seen people bring up T0ny S+@rk in decisions of fem-coded charecters. But I have also seen them from the Tumblr monopoly that is the CW Sup3rn@tur@l fandom i.e. baby the car(mostly satire).

Yet, most of these fem-coded analysises I come across from fandoms with mostly male(he/him) characters are just out right hurtful sometimes. Using harmful and untrue stereotypes to somehow prove that their favs are "more attractive for stans" (it was the least aggressive and generally fitting statement). For example,

Lower height

Male love interest

Sarcastic personality

Being "moody"/ having a less than cheery attitude

Lack of participation in violence/ relies on friends or allies to fight some of their shared physical battles.

Being held accountable for the wrongs they have committed

All of which have heavy misogynistic undertones.

But let us not forget the transphobic/bigoted undertones of the theory that suggests that charecters and human beings at large have to be absolutely male/female/non-binary and apply strict rules in their fashion or behavior lest they be coded or subtexted.

In conclusion fandom p0licing is annoying and it's really not a big deal if some kiddie on the internet thinks X charecter has a secret gender or femspionage if you will. This isn't a big deal when women and lgbt+ people get treated way worse than compete with fem-coding and gender subtext (and we should divert our attention to that instead ) so don't bully anyone and cause unnecessary hurt.

But also, best not to treat casual TV shows and other media as some form of high IQ ARG because more often than not you will be greatly dissapointed i.e. "app1e tr33 y@rd g@te". And absolutely don't play into the misogynistic narrative of "moody, weak, damsel in distress = female". We have progressed far away from that.

All charecters brought up in what could be interpreted as negative light are

Not ment to be taken that way and I apologise if it seemed so, I just used examples of what people did

Are lettered out not to be that way

And I do not wish to hurt anyone by this post as this is not directed at anyone in general, but rather a general analysis because I was bored and found the topic interesting so that others may find a cohesive explanation.