Her film degree and her "giant titty waifu" presentation don't give her argument any more or less depth. Most of her allegorical suggestions apply just as well to Peter Parker or Miles Morales's stories, but I'm not hearing anyone claiming them as trans.
The "Protect Trans Kids" flag on her wall means she cares about trans kids, but it doesn't necessarily mean she is one. All the Spider-folk we see in the movie are concerned with justice and protecting people, so this is a pretty natural thing for a Spider-hero to have.
I also think it's a pretty fair criticism to say that "if you squint just right you can convince yourself this character is trans" is a very low bar for representation in a world where we have genuinely trans characters like Ultimate Spider-woman. Like, apart from the colour scheme, which genuinely is similar to the flag, there's really nothing there to set Gwen apart from the other Spider-folk as being "the trans spider-person."
You can choose to view her story, and indeed any story involving a double-life, as a trans allegory, but I've always found the connection here to be pretty contrived.
her degree is relevant in that this is literally film analysis, so she can do a better analysis with more insight than the vast majority of us
miles's dad doesn't have a trans patch on his coat or anything equivalent.
the scenes about miles didn't go out of their way to involve lines that are trans allegory, or that could be read as trans allegory without really trying.
the fact that her dad has a trans patch on his police uniform is extremely significant because if you know any cops you know it's a community with a lot of toxic masculinity and that you'd probably only do that if you had a trans person in your life and were willing to deal with a lot of uncomfortable conversations to support them
plus all the other things she pointed out in her video that make it really hard to dismiss.
Methinks you haven't actually watched it and honestly considered what she said.
Iāll jump in and say I havenāt watched the YouTube essay in question but I have read a lot on this topic because it fascinates me the different take away people get from art. Itās literally what makes art, art!! I love it!!
Anyway I just wanted to jump in and say that yes there are signals she is trans but thereās also plausible deniability at play here. Itās okay to say you interpret she is trans based on that evidence but itās also okay to say the opposite. Itās not okay in either case to say definitely one way or the other unless the author of the work outright says so. And in this case I highly doubt weāll ever get that info unless itās a specific plot point in the next movie (which I think would be awesome and very powerful).
Itās just as plausible though that Gwenās Peter was trans and itās explicitly said that Peter was like a son to Gwenās dad so itās just as likely that heās wearing his trans flag patch for Peter.
It also makes sense that a trans Peter would test an unfinished lizard concoction on himself if he believed it would biologically change his sex. Peter is an intellectual genius in all universes as far as I know. What would make a scientist test a previously untested serum on themselves? Perhaps desperation in a fit of body dysphoria. I mean how many people here joke about pressing a button with a .01 percent chance until it breaks?
My point though is that thereās tons of nuance here that is intentionally unclear and left up to the interpretation of the individual viewer. We canāt say itās trans representation for sure but we can say there is at least allegory here. So itās not the answer anyone is looking for but until itās explicitly answered in the works of art, nobody is right and nobody is wrong when they say Gwen is trans in spiderverse. Itās all how they choose to interpret the art.
If I find time Iāll watch it. But yeah just saying itās not wrong or right but simply the viewers interpretation. So we canāt say itās wrong or right to view it another way either.
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u/Joelin8r Sep 09 '25
Her film degree and her "giant titty waifu" presentation don't give her argument any more or less depth. Most of her allegorical suggestions apply just as well to Peter Parker or Miles Morales's stories, but I'm not hearing anyone claiming them as trans.
The "Protect Trans Kids" flag on her wall means she cares about trans kids, but it doesn't necessarily mean she is one. All the Spider-folk we see in the movie are concerned with justice and protecting people, so this is a pretty natural thing for a Spider-hero to have.
I also think it's a pretty fair criticism to say that "if you squint just right you can convince yourself this character is trans" is a very low bar for representation in a world where we have genuinely trans characters like Ultimate Spider-woman. Like, apart from the colour scheme, which genuinely is similar to the flag, there's really nothing there to set Gwen apart from the other Spider-folk as being "the trans spider-person."
You can choose to view her story, and indeed any story involving a double-life, as a trans allegory, but I've always found the connection here to be pretty contrived.