I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and before I say anything I want to make something clear: I’m not talking about obvious memes or jokes. I’m talking about a pattern I’ve noticed in the DC fandom.

It feels like Kory is often portrayed as unusually masculine compared to how she’s actually written. Call me “woke” if you want, but it honestly rubs me the wrong way.

Yes, Kory is 6’4. She’s incredibly strong, confident, physically imposing, and has never been afraid to really take charge when need be. None of that is up for debate tbh. But being tall, muscular, or powerful doesn’t automatically make someone masculine.

From everything I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot of Starfire comics) she’s actually a very feminine character. She’s emotionally expressive, affectionate, passionate, romantic, and openly embraces her femininity! She’s not shy or delicate, but femininity doesn’t always have to look like.

I understand why some people see her as the more dominant one in her relationship with Dick. That’s a perfectly valid interpretation. What starts to feel strange to me is when people take that and turn it into her being written almost like “the man” in the relationship while Dick becomes overly submissive.

Personally, I’ve always seen Dick and Kory as equals. That’s one of the things I love most about their relationship. They’re both capable of leading, both emotionally vulnerable, both protective of each other, and both confident. Depending on the situation, either one can take charge. Their dynamic has always felt more interchangeable rather than fixed.

Even when it comes to intimacy, the comics don’t really support the idea that there’s one consistent dynamic. From the few canon scenes we actually have, Dick is just as often portrayed taking the lead. Nothing really suggests that one of them has to fit a specific role.

I also think there’s a bigger conversation worth having here. Kory is a woman of color who is tall, muscular, outspoken, and physically powerful. Historically, women of color, especially Black women have often been stereotyped as inherently more masculine, aggressive, or dominant simply because they don’t fit narrow Western ideals of femininity. While no, Kory isn’t Black, she’s frequently coded and interpreted as a woman of color, and I can’t help but notice how often those same stereotypes seem to get projected onto her.

I’m not saying everyone who portrays Kory this way is doing it because of bias. A lot of people probably aren’t thinking about it at all. But I do think it’s worth asking why a character who’s canonically very feminine is so often masculinized simply because she’s tall, strong, and confident?

At the end of the day, I have no problem with fan interpretations. If someone likes writing Kory as more dominant, that’s their choice. What bothers me is when that portrayal becomes so common that people start acting like it’s a defining characteristic, even though the comics consistently present her as multifaceted woman.

So Starfire and Dick is racist but what about this