“The unicorn horn had nothing to do with She-Ra’s sexuality (or lack thereof), it was there because unicorns would sell.”
Absolutely not. Unicorns symbolize virginity and purity. Evidently, She-Ra, being a virgin warrior would ride a unicorn.

“The only exception to this, as far as I can tell, is Evilyn.”
It is obvious. She opposes the traditional male values and possesses the strength of the Dark Goddess. Then, she is independent, assertive and strong.

“Like a woman absolutely has to be nurturing and healing”
Now, there I agree.

“Other aspects of this stereotype manipulation are all the supposedly strong females in She-Ra who swoon over the male ones”
This is most likely derived by the idea that all women, deep inside them, are nothing but sentimental idiots who will give up everything for love. Yuck.

“Again, I don’t want to imply that the animation companies were trying to project these messages or used such symbols on purpose because they didn’t.”
They did not need to!! Every story contains archetypes that express themselves through the artist. Indeed, it might sound far fetched to call animation companies “artists” but they create stories that communicate to people’s unconscious.

I guess you already guessed two things: first, I am a woman, second, I am a Jungian analyst XD. I really enjoyed your article and hope to read more.

Good essay, you made some really good points. Especially about all the swooning in She-Ra. I always laughed at Glimmers reaction to meeting He-Man in the Secret of the Sword.

Keep up the good work

The fact that you even recall it well enough to analyze could indicate that you picked up on it, even if you couldn’t do anything with that insight yet, which leads me to my more essential point.

Many MANY things we learn in our childhood don’t serve us well as children, but rather serve as building blocks for us to use as we mature and find other blocks that fit together with it. How many skills and bits of knowledge did you learn in grade school that didn’t mean a damn to you until you picked your major in college? Childhood is about gaining pieces. Maturation and adulthood is about building those pieces into a better person.

Therefor, I submit that you did indeed pick up on those details as a kid and that this essay is part of the result.

Good essay though, not contrived or overdone in the least

Anyhow, if there are any other pop-culture commentaries out there, please let me know – I’d like to frequent a few again.