5x13 Bend Her

I want to start by saying: I love Futurama. It's a show that, without fail, I can pick nearly any episode and have a blast or mild enjoyment on the rare occasion. However, I find a few episodes unpleasant, and this episode is one of those exceptions. It simply fails to enjoyably satirize.

I find most of the show's utilization of gender stereotypes tasteful. It feels like it's making fun of the stereotypes rather than propagating them, and it's generally well-balanced in how it employs them. And the show has touched on being trans before, where Bender dresses up as the "Gender Bender" in the wrestling episode. Something he's forced to do because wrestling is fake and because by doing so, the audience will begin to hate him.

On the other hand, I think most of this episode propagates harmful trans stereotypes. And that disappoints me, not only because of the stereotypes but also because I see this episode's potential.

The episode ends with Bender's detransition back into a male, and subsequently, is critical of gender norms. We're shown that Bender still has emotions toward his short-lived relationship with Calculon; however, when others confront him on those emotions, he denies them, and the episode ends on this note. The show proved that it was willing to be critical of these, which is why I believe the episode has potential.

Why should robots have genders? While at one point, the show outlines that robots can reproduce. The fact remains that the only reason robots have genders is that humans forced/encouraged them to.

Asking this question provides an excellent chance for the show to commentate, potentially in a not heavy-handed way, on gender and the harmful ways people can interact with the concept. But it doesn't. Instead, it's a purely comedic episode where Bender, a character whose apathy and various vices are consistently a source of comedy, transitions into a fem-bot and, throughout the episode, utilizes this transition for self-gain.