SheZow Cartoon

Boy turns into superheroine girl in new
kids cartoon ‘SheZow’

Loving this idea – cartoon boy turns into a superheroine and saves the world. Yes, you heard right. He turns himself into a GIRL to become the all powerful superbeing he wants to be!

SheZow, which will be coming to the UK later this year, tells the story of a 12-year-old schoolboy who inherits a magic ring from his dead aunt which magically turns him into his feminine alter ego.

The ring is meant to be worn by a woman, but this doesn’t deter the boy (who’s called Guy). Once the transformation has taken place, SheZow devotes her time to fighting crime, using laser lipstick and vanishing cream among her many weapons and gadgets.

When Guy is changing identity, he shouts: “You go girl!” emphasising the change of gender.

SheZow’s costume is a purple skirt and white go-go boots.

As you’d expect, there have been a few dissenting voices trying to spoil the fun, warning against confusing children with ideas about gender change.

Ben Shapiro of right wing news outlet Breitbart Report said: “Nothing says ‘child-appropriate material’ quite like gender-bending underage superheroes.”

However, a spokesperson for GLAAD told the New York Daily News: “This Breitbart News article is just a laughable attempt at attention seeking, comparable to Jerry Falwell attacking the Teletubbies, and demonstrates a profound ignorance of transgender people since this show doesn’t include any”.

Margaret Loesch, chief executive of US cable network The Hub (which starts broadcasting the cartoon on June 1) told the Los Angeles Times: “When I first heard about the show, my reaction was: ‘Are you out of your minds?’
“Then I looked at it and I thought: ‘This is just funny’.”

SheZow has been running on Australia’s Network Ten since December 2012. It will start airing on BSkyB in the UK later this year.

Chris McMurray