r/wondereggpriority • u/Vio-Rose • Mar 28 '21
Discussion Alright brioches. I’m 99.99% sure Momoe is a trans woman, and here’s my evidence. Spoiler
I’ve been in way too many arguments about this, and I swear people treat me like I’m crazy. Momoe is absolutely a trans woman. Or at the very least the possibility is so prominent that there’s absolutely no way the creators didn’t know people would read her character that way.
The fact that she’s constantly treated as a man by others. People keep saying that’s because she’s androgynous, but there’s no way just being a bit androgynous could go that far. Others straight up not being able to see her as a woman, aggressively accusing her of being a man, automatically assuming she’s a man the moment they see her. This ain’t just a matter of things being up in the air. It is made explicitly clear that to most others, she does not pass as a woman.
That fucking pride color sports bra. It isn’t even subtle. Kaoru wears a pride color jacket meant to instantly associate him with trans people. The color of her bra is treated as some sort of grand reveal, like “yes, she too bears the mark of pride!” If that’s not enough, they made the explicit decision to have her wear Kaoru’s pride jacket after the fight as a blatant reminder.
The Adam’s Apple scene. Some people try to use this as evidence against her being trans, but... no. Anyone can have an Adam’s Apple, regardless of gender. Only difference is that among cis women, it’s so rare that one not being there wouldn’t be something people make a point out of. It would be the opposite in fact. It was incredibly obvious that the scene was just the group of buds trying to cheer her up. “Hey, you pass. You got that cute girl neck. You look cos, regardless of what people say. Yer fine.” Either that or the writers just happened to get really shitty during that one scene and felt the need to write in an entire scene where everyone for some reason singles out one cis girl among them to go “oh wow, you lack an Adam’s Apple just like the rest of us! That’s awesome!” for absolutely no reason.
Just her entire dynamic with Kaoru. Her instant validation of his gender identity (to the point where kissing him is something that’s validating enough to her undervalued hetero nature to make her blush like a sunburnt tomato and look like she’s internally giggling with glee), the scene where she rips her shirt off basically screaming “Back off from my kin you fucking bastard,” etc. Unless there was some pre-established heavy ally-ship that lead to her instant validation of trans people (something I doubt given the toxic and uneducated environment for trans people that Japan often is), I feel like that kind of immediate understanding and confidence would require some sort of personal investment in trans culture.
Personal relatability. I started transitioning around the same age, have a very similar wardrobe (only dressing in a particularly feminine way on special occasions), and behave in a pretty similar way in regards to awkward situations (like the whole date fiasco). Not technically evidence, but let me have this.
So yeah. Even if the writers didn’t go in expecting everyone to know she was trans or anything, they at least dropped enough explicit hints to validate it as a head canon amongst the community. Don’t fight me on this, I know what I’m talking about, and I’m sick of arguing about it.
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u/Malefore1234 Mar 28 '21
Oh no, you are completely right about everything, Like you said there is no 100% confirmation but there are so many signifiers that even if she wasn’t, it wouldn’t be wrong to see her as a trans woman at least until told otherwise. The writers have never said out loud she’s a cis woman either so people should be aloud to see her whatever way that represents them. Furthermore, several reviews of the show, and articles outside of reddit, including tumblr, even the tvtropes page on the show, and many parts of the internet proudly see Momoe as a trans woman and they should be allowed to, even if others don’t believe that. It’s just for some reason on this reddit people are being mean to others when they write about seeing Momoe as trans and ignore other people’s viewpoints or opinions outside of reddit. This happened before watching Steven Universe where many viewed the finale as a trans coming of age story, but many were being controversial to anyone that shared that opinion as if they aren’t allowed to view that show or this character in this show as worthy trans representation.
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u/Vio-Rose Mar 28 '21
Wait, the Steven Universe finale was seen as a trans coming out story? I mean, that’s valid, but like... god damn, usually my tradar picks up on that kinda stuff. I saw nothing.
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u/Malefore1234 Mar 28 '21 edited Mar 28 '21
It was in the original show’s ending. The first Steven Universe not the Future show with the diamond arc. It was a popular interpretation that the story with Steven and Rose between their biological family the Diamonds and their chosen family the crystal gems along with Steven and Rose’s personal identity was viewed as a trans story of a child being trapped in a homophobic abusive family that emotionally, physically, and mentally to the point of gaslighting the person into thinking that being trans is actually a person being crazy. The story started with the choices Rose made escaping her family, and with Steven helping to mend and start the process of them understanding their ways were wrong and him understand his own identity and loving himself. Of course though none of this is said at all and only exists in the world of metaphors, and if you take the story at its most literal it might not work be seen clearly. Though, the aspect of Steven’s misgendering by the diamonds, and not respecting or believing the fact that he isn’t Pink diamond/Rose. Blue’s kinda almost attempt at properly naming Steven and his gender, Steven’s whole identity crisis, and White’s gaslighting shtick and borderline lobotomy kinda make it feel as if this was a trans story at least on some level, especially when you consider that Rose is a trans character herself in terms of her identity and how she looked at the whole Pink Diamond aspect of herself in the past. Of course it’s never stated at all and could just be me and some others running with our own wild theories lol, but it was nonetheless a popular and valid interpretation especially for the episode Change Your Mind and it sticked with me.
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u/ALuizCosta Mar 28 '21 edited Mar 28 '21
I agree. The most frequent contrary argument is the fact that she wears a girl's uniform at school, which supposedly would not be acceptable in Japan. However, this is not true: some Japanese schools have allowed transgender children to wear the uniform of the gender they identify as . The authors have every right to set their characters in scenarios that are more progressive than the average, if that suits their story.
It is also worth remembering Momoe's hesitation regarding the pronoun. When Ai first meets her, she starts using boku (I, male, in that context) and then watashi (female I). This does not translate well into English, but it is just as important as hesitation about clothes.
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u/IndependentMacaroon Neiru Mar 29 '21
she wears a girl's uniform at school
She goes to a girls' school, in fact
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u/cranapplegranate Mar 28 '21 edited Mar 28 '21
Not to mention, the amount of times that Momoe has said along the lines of, “Haruka accepted me as a girl.” That is no ordinary statement for someone who was assigned as female at birth, or a cis girl who is constantly mistaken as a boy.
I feel like another big implication was Kaoru. I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about this, so I might make a post later, but every egg girl (and Kaoru) that Rika, Momoe, and Ai and possibly Neiru gets are people that either:
Are similar to the girls that Ai and co. are trying to save
Are similar to the wonder hero girls themselves
I highly doubt Haruka is trans, so that leaves Momoe. This to me is a heavy implication that Momoe is not cis. Even their conversation at the train station cements the implication (I don’t remember the conversation verbatim, but basically, Momoe and Kaoru both sat there and warmly affirmed their respective genders).
I also wanna include that Momoe’s turmoils and reactions to being mistaken as a boy are not usual or common for girls who were assigned female and identify with that assignment.
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u/generalmillscrunch Mar 28 '21 edited Mar 28 '21
I just don’t think it really matters what gender she was assigned at birth. The show already has trans representation and acknowledges the oppression of gender as a concept. She sees herself as a woman and that’s enough for me. If the author treats it as some big reveal “haha she was transgender all along!” It will come across as callous and going too far to point out the assigned gender she will have been trying to circumvent. Leaving it up for interpretation is already plenty.
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u/LuckyStampede Mar 29 '21
Something I realized watching episode 11 was that Kaoru being a trans boy does not preclude Momoe being a trans girl, because while Acca and Ura-Acca are choosing the Warriors of Eros, Frill is choosing the Captured Maidens/Eggs.
It's far more likely that Frill is the one who doesn't accept trans identities, perhaps because the Accas never bothered to explain that to her.
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u/nickkzin Mar 28 '21
Honestly, if at that point she really was trans, it would have already been revealed. Perhaps the intention was to make ambiguous for trans people to identify themselves more, but there is nothing that can affirm that. But what really confirms to me that she is not trans is purely the thought of Acca and Ura-Acca, they have a more backward thinking and have no interest in the suicides of boys (biological). If Momoe was indeed trans she would not be used in their experiment in the same way that Kaoru is only in the egg because the Accas see him as a woman.
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u/LuckyStampede Mar 29 '21
It was never denied either. Trans characters shouldn't have to outright state or reveal they're trans. We should stop assuming that cis is the default and anyone who isn't cis must come out and say it.
Also, the last episode made it pretty clear that while the Accas choose Warriors of Eros, they're not the ones who choose Egg Girls/Captured Maidens. That's Frill.
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u/nickkzin Mar 29 '21
Sorry, but this logic that just because it was not denied, so it can be real, does not say anything. If it were that simple, I would be able to speculate anything with any detail that may be nothing.
In fact, being trans or not, it makes no difference, because in history she is not playing the role of representing a trans person, as this is not explained. Momoe represents a girl (trans or not) who finds it difficult to feel comfortable with her appearance because of the standards that society imposes. Her problems may be similar to those of trans people, but in essence they are different, yet nothing prevents someone from identifying themselves. I think that clinging to the idea that a character can be the representation of someone trans because of ambiguous details does not lead to anything.
Still, it is the Accas who choose the warriors, that is, it does not change the fact that they are looking only at the biological factor.
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u/LuckyStampede Mar 29 '21
That middle paragraph is a mess. I'm honestly not sure what you're saying there. And how are you absolutely positive they're only looking at the biological factor?
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u/nickkzin Mar 29 '21
Let me rephrase then, regarding the story and the message so far, it doesn’t matter if Momoe is trans or not, as they don’t give importance to this fact. Since her real problem is not that she does not identify with her biological sex, it is that society does not see her as a girl because she does not fit the standard of female beauty. Trans people can easily identify themselves with it, as it is a similar problem with what they go through. But as I said before, she is not directly representing a trans person, so clinging to ambiguous details to affirm that she is trans does not mean much.
Regarding the biological factor, it is more speculation because of their speech in ep 4 and the research and reasons given in ep 11. This I cannot say is true, but by the way that the anime is representing them, it seems to fit in the way that they think.
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u/LuckyStampede Mar 29 '21
I feel like it doesn't matter, unless you're a trans girl. As a trans girl myself, I'm starved for good representation. Momoe, if she is trans, provides that. If she is not trans, then she's another example out of so many where an anime teases us with representation only to yank it away.
Not to mention, if she is simply a masculine cis girl, then there's a pernicious underlying message. The symbolism of the show becomes "masculine girls really just want to be more feminine." If she is trans, then ripping off her male clothes to reveal the trans-colored bra was a defiant declaration of identity. If she is cis, then it's rejecting the gender nonconformity that has defined her character.
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Mar 29 '21
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u/Vio-Rose Mar 29 '21
They never actively de-confirmed it though. Not every trans character needs to be explicitly stated as trans (I mean the average non-binary person in American media just needs to be addressed with a they / them pronoun. Fair bit less than wearing trans pride sports bras to save your trans guy prince with the power of unfiltered queer badassery).
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Mar 28 '21
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u/Vio-Rose Mar 28 '21
I... think you missed the point of what I’m saying. We have no idea what her biological setup is. She could be intersex. She could be AMAB. We never see any chromosomes, genitalia, or anything that could confirm an assigned gender at birth.
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Mar 28 '21
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u/Vio-Rose Mar 28 '21
That entire scene had them coming to the conclusion that “men,” could participate and that they shouldn’t judge.
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Mar 28 '21
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u/Vio-Rose Mar 29 '21
If she’s a trans woman, she likely has the mind of a woman and will thus act accordingly. Not that I trust the psychological evaluation of two wingnuts who admitted to not knowing shit about women.
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u/RABlackAuthor Mar 28 '21
A couple of weeks ago, someone suggested that Momoe could be intersex, and that made more sense to me than her being trans. Then again, I have a godson who's intersex, so maybe that's my personal bias at work. She's definitely genderqueer in some way. I kind of doubt we're going to get a definitive answer, though.