poppy is a *non-binary* character who's their own individual. however, ever since the start of the 2nd episode, people immediately jumped to demonising them and mistaking them for steve cobs, a *male* character.

people have been constantly attaching poppy to cobs and assumes the worst out of poppy whenever something wrong happens that involves them. the contestants are associating poppy with a *male* person, mistaking them for that *male* person sometimes and even thought poppy was that *male* person when they first saw them.

poppy's individuality and identity is being associated with a *male* figure, and i think its a metaphor for gender roles placed on trans people. "you're all so sure you know someone that you can't see them for who they really are" this line really contributes to my point.

the fact that a nonbinary character who struggles with wanting to know who they really are and where they come from, gets mistaken for being associated with a man, has transgender undertones to it in my opinion.

it's a common experience for many trans people to get constantly associated with an identity that doesn't define who they are and get stripped of their individuality because of it. many trans people get identity issues and confusion on what their place in life really is because of this. poppy's behaviour mirrors these experiences.

i particularly think about the scene where metag, poppy and bot are at the cliff.

"'yAy hE'S dEad!!' what am i supposed to think when i see that everyday?"

"i'm sorry i look like him, okay?"

these are quotes from poppy when metag dragged them to the cliff and bot starts questioning metag's intentions.

i like to think this could be an allegory for gender dysphoria. because of the fear around poppy *looking* like cobs they feel horrible, confused and insecure about who they are and what they look like.

i believe this is why bot understands poppy. bot knows what it's like to be confused with their identity and be seen and mistaken as someone who a different gender than you. bot's entire arc with their identity and how they aren't bow mirrors poppy's identity with cobs.

i think the connections between poppy and bot go even further when you realise they're both non-binary and both had the experience of being mistaken as a *dead* person who's identity they don't align with.

bot's arc has so many themes around transgenderism, and i think that can apply to poppy currently especially with their friendly relationship with bot at the moment.

as a trans person who's constantly mistaken for a man, i relate to poppy and i like to view a lot of their insecurities and struggles in a trans lens. i hope you can see that too.