Move over Bugs Bunny, you now have a serious contender to the title of King (or is that Queen?) of Saturday Morning Cartoons. Let’s welcome 12-year-old skater boy Guy Hamdon, perhaps better known as the super-powered defender of truth, justice and pink eye shadow…SheZow. Yes, you heard right. This Guy is a girl….well, sort of.

“SheZow”, an Australian/Canadian animation import, recently made its U.S. debut on The Hub Network. For those not up on the ever changing cable lineup miasma, Hub was born from the remains of Discovery Kids and is a joint venture of Discovery Channel and Hasbro. And who says cartoons are just a vehicle for toy marketing?

The central conceit of the show features the aformentioned Guy who discovers that his deceased aunt was secretly SheZow, a superhero equal parts Wonder Woman, Mary Marvel and Powerpuff Girl. When his family moves into dearly departed Aunt Agnes’ home, he discovers the ring which faciliated her transformation into a “well-heeled” hero. Feeling that his Green Lantern moment has arrived, Guy slips on the ring only to realize that it’s a bit…gender specific. When he utters the magic words, “You go, girl!” it isn’t Hal Jordan who emerges, but rather SheZow – pink tights, mascara and all. And therein lies the rub.

Before the first episode aired, the questionably monikered One Million Moms, a posse affilliated with Christian fundamentalist justice league Focus On The Family, warned the sleeping populace of Gotham about the dangers of Pink Kryptonite; devilishly disguised as a children’s cartoon. Soon, impressionable boys would be begging their parents for a SheZow costume at Halloween (a pagan invitation to moral depravity, by the way). Legions of guys in white go-go boots would strip the last vestiges of masculinity from the form known as American Male. This transgender mockery of all that is holy would soon turn us into a nation of Gleeks at best and fashion conscious slavering beasts, at worst.

Trouble is, SheZow isn’t a transgender character at all. Guy is still Guy and a guy (got that?), albeit a guy with one hell of a wardrobe malfunction. Think Billy Batson yelling, “Shazam!” and becoming Isis. By the end of the first…ummm…outing…he’s begrudginly come to terms with his predicament. If it’s any saving grace, SheZow does drive a pretty wicked car and has a man-, I mean, girl-cave.

Far from being a gateway drug into lacy undies, “SheZow” probably threatens to bore children more than anything else. Granted, I’m not in the target demographic, but divorced of its drag element, the premiere struck me as basic superhero fare in a dodgy computer animated package. Hardly offensive and, perhaps, hardly memorable.

Still, “SheZow” does have a few redeeming qualities. First, it features a protgonist who, somewhat reluctantly, blurs gender conventions towards a positive outcome. SheZow IS a hero. Traditionally, characters with gender incongruities have been potrayed in pop culture as harmless oddities, such as Bugs Bunny in drag or dangerous predators, as in the case of Buffalo Bob in “Silence of the Lambs”.

Secondly, SheZow is a female hero – at least superficially – who puts a dent in the prescribed gender equations of boys=tough and girls=tender. That said, I suspect that some radical feminists might be as up in arms over this character as the One Million Moms. How dare a boy think he could assume the mantle of the sacred feminine, after all??? Fear not! Guy isn’t a girl and doesn’t pretend to be, but he proves that kick-ass and a pink motif can go hand in hand.

Lastly, “SheZow”, may continue to spark a much needed public dialog about the limiting impact of gender stereotypes on the general population and on those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves somewhere along the transgender spectrum.

At the end of the day, we’re talking about a cartoon. No need to ascribe any deep meaning to its premise. Nor should we wring our hands in fear of a cross-dressing generation. Certainly, children do frequently emulate what they see, but setting Fluffy ablaze in response to Beavis and Butthead’s pryomania isn’t in the same universe as changing one’s core identity. Boys who do not possess some underlying gender issue aren’t suddenly going to seriously entertain a “walk on the wild side” for life. Transgenderism, whether it be the result of nature or nurture (probably a mixture of both), is not a choice any more than sexual preference is. If the building blocks are there, the behaviors will likely manifest themselves. Suppressing them, as has been the norm, frequently results in tragic outcomes.

Anything that promotes constructive dialogue about gender issues, even in corners such as “The Christian Post”, can only foster awareness. “SheZow” may be silly and somewhat derivative, but “she” does have us talking.