Fusing the Ideologies of Monomaternalism Introduction
Shelley Park seeks to develop “an alternative to the ideology of monomaternalism that would permit young children to recognize multiple mothers for themselves” (120). In Park’s argument, she emphasizes the importance to try to see the world from a child’s point of view. Her reasoning behind this being that too often adults impose their reality on the child, thus rendering the child from establishing a reality of their own. In the “Fusion Cuisine” episode of the Cartoon Network show Steven Universe, the show is told from the child, Steven’s, point of view which allows the viewer to get a sense of what it would look like if a child was in total control of creating their own reality. Through Steven, it is apparent that an alternative ideology to monomaternalism is a possibility if adults listen to what the child has to say rather than imposing their own ideology upon the child.
Fusion Cuisine
The episode begins with Steven and his friend Connie watching their favorite show “Under the Knife”. Connie’s mom calls while they are watching the show and asks to speak to Steven’s mom. Steven tells Connie that this is not possible since Steven’s mom gave up her physical form in order to
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In the heat of the moment, Steven hands the phone to Garnet and asks her to pretend to be his mom. She says that Steven and Connie were playing with swords then briskly hung up the phone. This causes Connie’s mother to ban Connie from hanging out with Steven until she meets Steven’s mother. This statement exemplifies the good mother bad mother debate because Connie’s mother labels Steven’s “mom” as a bad mother for failing to use her maternal instincts to protect the children from harm. As all adults know, bad mothers are incapable of caring for children thus children should not be in their