Guy Lochhead, 08/09/10
Originally put out in 1985 as a sort of “He-Man for girls”, She-Ra was actually a surprise cross-gender success. Her back-story and plotlines are almost identical to He-Man’s, though she wasn’t as inextricably tied to a line of toys. She-Ra may simply be a female He-Man, but that’s exactly what makes her so exciting. She fought male and female foes, rescued men and women, and the only sexist dialogue came from He-Man himself. She-Ra may not have been intended to empower girls, but it is very easy to see her in this way. She was a female superhero – as ridiculous as her male counterparts, but far more radical. I will include one of the toys faithful to the TV series (rather than the increasingly sexist ones put out later). The TV series is too clumsily scripted to include directly. I need to find a decent male equivalent too.