The worst part about that one Futurama episode is that it probably wasn't originally meant to be transphobic, but the public view of trans has shifted so much to the worse that now there's no denying that it is.
Somewhere along the line "male athletes transitioning to scam competitions" went from an insane scheme only Bender would think of to something people use to legitimize their hatred of people who just want to feel comfortable in their own skin.
Nobody would subject themselves to that kind of discrimination just for a piece of shiny rock.
Hey im just putting this out there. Bend Her is fun episode, personally one of my favourites. And I'm saying this as a trans man.
Sure the episode didn't age well and there's nothing wrong with critisising the episode but don't let it put you off Futurama.
If you know anything about Futurama you know Bender is an asshole and the therefore the episode is merely representative of Bender and obviously not any trans people in sport. And besides isn't Coilette and Calculon's romance the main aspect of the episode's plot?
This is just to say hey, Futurama is fine. It's not the best out there for representation of anything, but why on Earth would it be? Keep the context of when the show's made in mind and don't let things aging badly put you off the show.
A 'transphobic' Futurama episode landed with the series on Disney Plus Star, leaving a sour taste in fans' mouths.
In Futurama‘s fourth season episode “Bend Her”, Bender, a licentious male-presenting robot, attends the Earth 3004 Olympic Games. He feels that he should compete as well, but feels emasculated by the male Olympic robots. So he decides to pose a “fembot” – female robot – named Coilette to compete.
Coilette easily defeats the female competitors, winning five gold medals.
However, the medalists are called in for gender testing before the awards ceremony, and Bender decides to undergo an operation that will turn him into a fembot. As the fembot Coilette, Bender starts dating robot actor Calculon, who falls for Coilette instantly.
That episode is from 2003. They want to cancel an episode that’s almost 20 years old. Or to stop Disney Plus from airing it again which is censorship.
And what is wrong about an episode featuring a male competing as a female and not telling his sexual partner his history? Aren’t TRAs ok with both?
