One, among many, of the good things about Steven Universe is that it does a very good job representing a lot of minority groups. Generally this is talked about a lot among the fans, however there is one represented group that I don’t think I’ve ever seen talked about (which is kinda odd considering it affects two of the main cast): the disabled.
I put this down to the fact that compared to other minority groups the disabled side of Tumblr is a lot smaller and less widely spread. Generally the only reason I see disabled content is because I seek it out, meaning that, unless you’re disabled (and therefore unlikely to forget you exist) disabilities aren’t going to be something on your mind.
Steven Universe LGBT+ viewers have explained and pointed things out that I (as a cis het woman) would never have fully understood (e.g. why Garnet put off telling Steven she was a fusion, why Lemon Jade fused at the ball even though it was so dangerous, etc). So I’ve been planning for a while to make a series of posts on Steven Universe’s large disabled cast.
However I soon realised that there was something integral to the way off coloured gems were (and likely still are) oppressed by Homeworld, that I’d have to break down and analyse before I could properly begin. And that is: Limb Enhancers.
The fact that Amethyst, an off colour gem who we know from Peridot can ‘do everything a real quartz can do’, was forced to wear them in order to attend the ball, shows as that Limb Enhancers are used not as aids, but as something designed to dress up the more marginally acceptable off colours as ‘real gems’ so that they can be presented in society.
The main reason I think Limb Enhancers were originally mistaken for aids was that the secondary features of Peridots (a gun and a log) were useful in her day to day life. However we know there are other, less detrimental ways Homeworld could have given them to her.
For instance let’s look at Aquamarine.
We know Aquamarine is, most likely an era 2 gem, and this, along with the fact that her wand appears to be a permanent fixture rather than something she pulls from her gem, would suggest that she can’t naturally summon a weapon. This would mean that her wand (which seems to function in the same way as Peridots finger guns) was something that was given to her in order for her to do her job. So why wasn’t she given limb enhancers? We saw a lot of Aquamarines during the last arc, all out in public and allowed at the ball as they were while Amethyst was not. Aquamarine wasn’t given Limb Enhancers because she looks correct.
Then there’s Blue Zircon, another gem who’s young age would mark her as era 2, and another gem without Limb Enhancers. While there is a chance she functions properly, the fact that her prosecutions come from her monocle rather than her gem (like all the other protections we’ve seen gems do) suggests that she, like Peridot, might not have powers and that her monocle could be something that was given to her so she could do her job. So, if there wasn’t a way to fit a log to a wand like Aquamarines, Peridot could simply have had a fixture like this attached to her goggles.
The main reason I don’t see Limb Enhancers as aids is that aids are designed to make life easier for the people who use them. Limb Enhancers however make life harder and, if used for long enough, have a negative physical affect on a gems body.
Firstly let’s look at Amethyst, a gem we know to be very mobile and athletic. In Limb Enhancers she was shown to be barley able to keep herself upright. While this was because she wasn’t used to using them, we know from this that they are hard to use and take time to adjust to.
Just how much time would a gem be given to adjust. Looking at the fact the first batch of Earths Amethysts were sent out almost as soon as they had emerged, the answer is most likely that they weren’t given any. This may just about work for a gem like a Peridot, who would be able to learn to walk on the job (although it would likely slow down productivity and possibly get them into trouble) but for a Quartz soldier stumbling around a battlefield like a newborn deer would likely spell death. Then there’s the question of how mobile they could actually become. Could a Quartz soldier in Limb Enhancers ever perform a spin dash, one of the staples of their combat strategy?
Then there are the long term affects. For a long time after she lost her Limb Enhancers Peridot was unable to run on two legs, falling over if she tried and having to resort to running on all fours. While Peridot may be clumsy she isn’t that clumsy, and by Kindergarten Kid she was able to run without falling over. When you combine this with what we already know it suggest that long term use of Limb Enhancers negatively alters the way a gem uses her body, forcing them to become dependent on Limb Enhancers whether they want to be or not, and faced with a lengthy (and potentially dangerous) transition if they ever want to stop using them again.
As well as forcing gems to become physically dependent on them, Limb Enhancers cause gems to become mentally dependent on them as well. Homeworld society is set up to make off coloured gems hate their bodies. Those who are considered too misshapen are killed on sight, and those who are ‘acceptable’ are either hidden away on remote outposts or dressed up to look like their correct counterparts. Worse still they are taught that this is their fault.
I know from experience that even in a supportive environment, when you’re disabled, it becomes very easy to see your disability as something ‘other’ than you. An enemy that stopping you from doing what you want to do and being who you want to be. It becomes an enemy that you cannot fight because that enemy is you. But you cannot see that or accept that, because that means you have lost.
Limb Enhancers give gems the opportunity to pretend they’re not disabled. To put on a mask and hide behind it from who they really are. (A lot of people with non noticeable disabilities do this at some point in there lives, and it’s hard not to because you tend not to notice you’re doing it.) The problem with this is that, while they ignore their disability, their hatred towards it doesn’t go away, and when the mask finally falls off they have to confront the monster they’ve built up underneath. And because it’s suddenly so big and frightening it can take a long time to realise it’s there.
This is what happened to Peridot when she lost her Limb Enhancers and it was also why she was so desperate to get them back and it took until Too Short to Ride for her to finally be ready to admit to others that she was disabled. It’s important to note that this episode saw her get a tablet (an aid that didn’t compromise a part of her identity) and, after she acknowledged what she was, she discovered her abilities to control metal (something unique and beneficial to her that may well be a side affect of her disability).
I’ll talk more about Peridot in a later post, but now as that’s everything I have to say on Limb Enhancers, I’ll sign off with Peridots word as she flew over Homeworld as herself, an off colour Peridot:
‘Set your eyes on me, Homeworld! I, Peridot, have returned, not as your servant, but as your savior!’
Which says a lot about how Homeworld made her feel, doesn’t it?
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