Gwen: Miles, before we go any further, I need to tell you something. I'm trans.

Miles: Okay, cool. What's trans?

Gwen: Transgender. It means I was assigned the wrong gender at birth.

Miles: Oh, that. It doesn't matter, I love you the way you are.

Gwen: Thank you. It means a lot to me.

Miles: In my universe it's called a Genderbend.

Gwen: . . .

Gwen: Please say "sike".

Ok i know trans Gwen is basically canon but among all the things I see people mention the one that also stuck out to me is that her and Hobie canonically wear the same shoe size. She wears Hobie's converse through most of the movie. I know we all know that technically ALL spider people should be trans but from a "canon" point of view this is clearly another hint.

Pretty much how it went for me when I learned about this:

Something, I just realised that really resonated with me about Gwen in Across Spiderverse, is her clothing.

When around non-spiderfolk adults and at home she wears loose fitting clothing which seems androgynous and hides the shape of her body.

But, when with Miles and her spider friends, she dresses in tight clothing. She’s clearly comfortable with her body when around friends but she seems to feel the need to hide her figure around people outside her friend group.

Similarly, I struggle with my body and didn’t wear shorts or tight fitting clothing for many years because I had problems with how masculine my legs and torso looked due to body hair and my wide shoulders.

These traits caused much dysphoria until I made more accepting friends when I became more comfortable with wearing shorts, tight tops, jeans and even leggings. My dysphoria became less severe around them because I knew they saw me as a girl. I even realised that some of my features were rather feminine like the shape of my legs and hips (though I don’t have curves) so I started empathising them making me appear more feminine and womanly. My shoulders are also not broad compared to most men and it bacame obvious my dysphoria had been exaggerating certain features.

Whilst at home though, or out with family, I wear baggy clothing which, whilst isn’t masculine, hides my shape so no one can tell my sex because I’m scared of my family’s reaction to seeing me in feminine clothing. Simultaneously, I feel less comfortable because I know they will always see me as a boy.

I know many cis girls and boys, especially in their teens. have body image issues and feel more comfortable showing their figure around friends but, to me, Gwen’s choice of outfits, and how they shape her, is very trans. A lot of cis girls (not all) will still dress fem around family but just not in clothes which emphasise their shape but Gwen chooses to dress androgynously around her dad and is more comfortable showing her shape around friends. Of course, it is her choice how she dresses but there’s a definite contrast between her clothes around friends and her clothes around her dad.

This is just a reading and I don’t know how intended it was but I thought it was a cool and fun approach which I found in this video. (Apologies the link can’t be copied here for some unknown reason so here’s a screenshot.) They cover a lot of readings of the film involving queer theory, race theory and comic history.

Also can we just appreciate how cool Gwen looks in every scene. The gender envy is so strong. <3

saw a post about how the animators deliberately added masculine undertones to gwen’s character design, and it got me thinking.

we know that after you’ve been bitten your body develops to suit the demands of the bite- usually becoming taller, muscular, senses heightened etc. it would be interesting to see how that transformation adheres to a trans person? would it be affirming, alleviate dysphoria or perhaps even cause distress? the relationship with a super human body in superhero films are usually glossed over (most of the time) and it made me wonder how this experience could impact trans people & their complex connection with their bodies ..esp because you could DEFINITELY read the spiderman plots as trans allegories. becoming spiderman is a concept, the whole message is always “anyone can be spiderman” esp in the spiderverse films.

anyways marvel nerds..help me flesh out this idea because i think it would be a really interesting concept to explore..!!

Trans Gwen real?

Pretty sure the men who hate HeadCanons of trans Gwen Stacy are mostly mad because they be creeps who sexualize her and the concept of her being trans is “gross” to them and makes her less “sexy” and doesn’t fit their creepy as view of her as sex object for them to beat off to

I havent had a chance to draw anything spiderverse related yet, but here is an icon i drew for a friend!!

something something gwen's dad not being able to see past his negative view of spiderman so that when he finds out his daughter is spiderman he is unable to reconcile that and instead of being like "oh the bad things about spiderman aren't true because my daughter is spiderman and she isnt bad" he goes "well these bad things must be true about my daughter because i know theyre true about spiderman" and instead of abandoning his negative beliefs and loving his daughter he does the opposite and how that relates to how transphobic parents see their trans kids once their kids are out

not gwen talking about some "people can only know half of who i am" with the trans flag colors in the background

no hon, we know exactly what you are

Gwendolyne.

I just watched Spider Man: Across the spider verse yesterday and I would like to say how much I loved that part of Miles narrative where he wanted to tell his parents he's the spiderman was so queercoded and also how later on in the movie, once he meet the "spidey verse" and its whole system he was so against it because it's broken and how Hobie helps him to escape and how Margo let him go and how in the end Gwen gathers all the spideys that are against the system and think the Miles is right to help him out. I am well aware that a great thing about the spider verse is that Miles (and other characters) has other problems that are not racism, racist systems or just systemic issues in general and is really awesome to see black people just living their lifes (a narrative that we need to see more) but I also think is a very badass (and important, especially these days) move that a young black boy goes against a whole system and a bunch of people to fight for what he believe is right and that in the end a trans woman (because, yeah guys, Gwen is probably trans, no ally has a trans flag in their room that specifically says "protect trans kids") stands with him and actively starts to help him.

Anyway, I can't stop thinking about this movie

When I say trans Gwen is important to all trans people, not just trans femmes, then I'm talking about how important she is to a teen-age trans boy. A boy, wayy before coming out, who's favorite hero is Spider-Gwen.

I'm talking about that boy becoming an adult, a now transitioned man. He's seeing his fav spider on the big screen for the first time in 'Into the Spiderverse' and he is insanely hyped about it.

I'm talking about that man seeing all these hints about trans Gwen, then watching 'Across the Spiderverse' to have them CONFIRMED. The amount of JOY. The amount of 'OF COURSE SHE was my favorite all this time!'

I'm that man, I'm talking about myself.

GUYS. G U Y S....

Trans Spider Gwen Helped Me Come Out

Though there is no confirmation that Gwen is trans, it is reasonable to assume that she is trans given the level of support she gives, the colour scheme, of her outfit and surrounding world, and her story arc which can be easy analysed as a trans allegory. (It is also a fun headcannon.)

I picked up on Gwen’s transness as I was watching the film. I hadn’t seen any trailers properly or seen any theories on twitter or tumblr but I read Gwen as trans.

Seeing a transcoded super hero explain to her dad who she is and then to watch him accept her, despite everything that happened before, made me feel unstoppable.

It was only a couple days after viewing the film that I came out to my mother and she was somewhat confused but accepting and we managed to book an appointment with a GP (I’m British) and we actually got refered to a Gender Clinic. He was very accepting and encouraging- a complete contrast to some of the GPs I had heard about from other trans people. I hope more GPs will become supportive and disregard their personal opinions to represent the policies of the NHS. I was very lucky to find a GP willing to refer me and I’m very thankful for NHS staff who accept trans people.

Of course seeing Gwen Stacy in Across the Spiderverse wasn’t the only thing that made me want to transition and be openly trans around family and friends. I have also been experiencing heavy gender dysphoria due to puberty no longer letting me appear as androgynous or feminine as I would like.

Gwen being incredibly strong and very trans let me believe I could come out and express myself. Never have I seen a stronger trans character in media I have enjoyed and she’s been very accepted by the trans community.

This is just one example of how representation can help real life people feel confident enough to come out and be themselves in an increasingly oppressive society. I hope for more representation, more acceptance and more beautiful queer people.

Cis people trying to claim Gwen isn’t trans be making me ask.

If I wore a pride pin, do you think they’d know?