okay so. cw: discourse, spongebob, unhinged analysis
let me tell you why SpongeBob SquarePants is literally a detrans TERF and why we need to talk about it.
y'all remember the 2000s right? we were all out here thinking SpongeBob was peak gender nonconformity. the high voice? the flamboyant laughter? the fact that he literally wore a dress in multiple episodes and nobody questioned it??? we were like "yes! representation! this sponge is transing the gender!"
we were WRONG.
here's the thing. SpongeBob didn't transition to something. SpongeBob transitioned from something, realized it was a mistake, and has been spiraling ever since. think about it. he used to be a natural sea sponge—literally a hermaphroditic organism capable of both sexual reproduction methods—and then he decided to become... whatever he is now. a "male" fry cook? in a "pineapple" house? the symbolism isn't subtle bestie.
the evidence:
he's obsessed with "manliness" now — remember when he tried to join the Salty Spitoon? that's not aspirational masculinity, that's compensating. that's "i used to be genderless in the ocean and now i have something to prove" behavior.
his relationship with Sandy — literally only hangs out with her to assert his "manhood" around a girlboss scientist while secretly resenting that she transitioned (species) successfully and he didn't. the jealousy is PALPABLE.
the "imagination" box — this is clearly a dissociation coping mechanism for gender dysphoria. the rainbow coming out of it? that's the HRT he wishes he never started.
why this matters for the community:
because SpongeBob has become the face of the "detrans to TERF pipeline" that nobody wants to talk about. he's not just quietly living his life—he's SQUIDWARD. he's becoming bitter. he's writing Substack essays about "the dangers of medicalizing sponge children." he's testifying in front of the Texas legislature about how transition ruined his porous body.
and the WORST part? the cishets are EATING IT UP. they're using SpongeBob—their ONE gay-coded comfort character—to justify their entire worldview. "even the sponge regretted it!" they're saying. "even the sponge knows biology is real!"
the implications:
if SpongeBob SquarePants can go from "absorbent and yellow and porous" (gender euphoria) to "i'm a MAN, Patrick, a REAL MAN with SKELETAL STRUCTURE" (gender despair), what does that mean for the rest of us? is Patrick next? is he going to start reading Irreversible Damage and posting about "female socialization" despite being a literal starfish?
anyway in conclusion: SpongeBob is a cautionary tale about what happens when you build your entire identity around performing gender for the male gaze (the Krusty Krab is the male gaze) instead of just... being a sponge. free him from his square pants. let him return to the ocean. let him be hermaphroditic again.
