I recently finished Code Geass, an anime released in 2006. It was amazing. Code Geass tells the story of Lelouch Lamperouge, a high school student that wants to rebel against the tyrannious government of Britannia. It's full of action, plot twists, and epic moral dilemmas. It paints a beautiful picture of the hypocrisy of human morality. However, there is major problem with Code Geass: it's inherently misogynistic.
This is evident in any scene depicting a female character. Just take a look at this side-by-side comparison of Suzaku and Kallen fighting in their Knightmares:
I'm sure you can see the problem here. And yes, there are shots of Kallen's face throughout the anime, but never once is Suzaku depicted in the same position as Kallen. I'm sure you understand why.
The objectification of women doesn't end there. Every single woman in Code Geass wears clothing that clings to every crevice of their body. There's three scenes in which Kallen is "accidentally naked". Oh, and let's not forget that every female either expresses feelings for Lelouch or has an underlying attraction. On top of that, the animators also seemed to think that the show would be most aesthetically pleasing if every woman's breasts were the size of watermelons.
As a female watching Code Geass, I can't count the number of times I either averted my eyes from the screen or stuck up my middle finger to the embarrassing depiction of women. To state it simply, I was uncomfortable throughout much of the show.
I felt as if I were entering a male territory that was filled to the brim with testosterone. The animators didn't even try to hide the fact that Code Geass was created and catered towards men. It was like I had entered illegal territory, and I was finally watching the world through a misogynistic, male lense. So this is how women are seen: caricatures that are solely used for aesthetics, similar to a doll or a plaything.
I will hand it to Code Geass that Kallen and C.C. are "progressive characters" in that they are two female characters that have vital roles in the series. However, objectifying them diminishes their meaning and purpose. To the male viewer, Kallen isn't the Ace of the Black Knights and C.C. isn't a women rebelling her past - they're just two hot girls that can fight.
Before I delve any further into the topic, I want to address the responses that I'm sure I will receive. Yes, I can't expect all mediums to be executed perfectly. Yes, I know that many male viewers like this depiction of the female body. First of all, I don't expect any medium to produced perfectly. However, I do expect media - and art, in general - to adapt to the times. If what you produce stays stagnant due to critique and criticism, then you're just as outdated as your art is. I expect growth and progression, because that is the only way that art and people can do better. And anyways, I don't see anything wrong with critiquing a problem when I see it. Second of all, I don't really care if that's what you enjoy. The fact of the matter is that it's extremely uncomfortable for women that consume this media, and that should hold vastly more weight than your small pleasures.
With those questions answered, I feel that I can write in a more objective field. And if this is still subjective to you, I'm hoping that you'll understand, listen, and accept what I'm saying at the end of this article.
Part One: The Exploitation of Women
Even in the first anime I watched, sexism was prevalent. I started off with Haikyuu!!. Now, Haikyuu!! isn't some old, outdated anime from the 90s. Its first season was launched in 2014, and it's still running. The show is about different highschool boy's volleyball teams competing against each other. There are exactly two female characters in the show (yes, you can argue that that's due to the show revolving around boy's volleyball). However, the two female characters are depicted in a rather sexist way. Take Kiyoko Shimizu, or the team manager of Karasuno's volleyball team. If you're a Haikyuu!! watcher, what character traits can you name of Kiyoko?
I can name only one: attractiveness.
It's obvious that Kiyoko was created to gratify the male characters of the show. She's constantly harrassed by Tanaka and Nishinoya because they're "in love" with her because they think she's hot. In fact, Kiyoko's scenes only show Tanaka and Nishinoya constantly drooling over her. This is excused as "comedy".
Hitoka Yachi is the other female character on the show. She's small, blonde, and cheery. Oh, and she's also submissive as hell. She's so submissive that seeing normal people scares her. She genuinely thinks she's going to die when she sees Asahi for the first time, just because he has a ponytail. The entire duration of her introduction (and presence on the show thereafter) was just her screaming and crying. Oh wait, but she can draw! Great!
Now let's analyze what Haikyuu!! presents us: a woman that is only known for being hot and another woman that is known for crying all the time. Maybe it's just me, but this is starting to sound very, very stereotypical.
Sexism isn't just isolated to Haikyuu!!. Let's talk about the anime community's favorite: Death Note.
Death Note was produced in 2010. It's about a highschool boy named Light Yagami, who stumbles upon a death note one day. Light can kill anyone by writing their name in the note and picturing their face in his head. Now, let's talk about the only female character that has any impact on the show (Naomi Misora and that other girl who was Kira for 3 seconds don't count): Misa Amane.
Oh, the great, infamous Misa Amane. If you haven't watched Death Note, I will sum up her character very quickly for you: her main goal in life is for Light to love her.
Yes. You read that right.
The one thing she wants from life is male validation.
And Misa goes to such insane lengths to achieve this that it's almost admirable. She kills for Light, lies for Light, and even halves her life two times for Light. Despite Light's obvious annoyance and disgust towards her, Misa clings to him throughout the entire show. Every single line she says is about how obsessed she is with Light, while other men drool over her because she's a model. It's pitiful.
Misa is the head of the Submissive Female trope in anime. Other members of this community include Hinata (before Shippuden) and Sakura from Naruto, Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket, Mikasa Akermann from Attack on Titan, and Satomi Murano of Parasyte, just to name a few. Notice that a common trait in all of these characters prevail: the desire to please another male character.
Every single one of these girls is developed for a male character to enjoy. The pinpoint of their personalities is their attraction to a male character. In fact, much of what they do is meant to please, support, and/or attract the attention of the male character. If the male protagonist did not exist, they would be hollow characters who have nothing to work for.
Let me be clear: every single high-pitched squeal from anime girls makes my ears bleed. Their innocent naivety to practically everything surrounding them makes me want to bash my head against a wall. Their only instance of any intellectual capability is when they're devising a plan on some part for the man. They are brainless and spineless objects that are obviously male depictions of how a woman should be, and I hate it.
On-screen, women are driven by male validation and love. They have little interest in their own selves and growing as an autonomous human being - instead, they place all their value and attention into the growth of the male protagonist. It's sad to see female characters left shallow and basic, while male characters are artfully developed throughout the series. I have yet to see a female character experience the same level of growth as Kei Tsukishima from Haikyuu!! or Gon Freecs from Hunter x Hunter. While male characters enjoy moral dilemmas and break free from their old biases, female characters remain just as obsessive and clingy as before.
Some may argue that there are more submissive men than women, in that the former caves to the latter's yelling and antics. However, this just exacerbates the problem, because at the end of the day, the woman still does what she does because she is obsessed with the man. In fact, creating women like this just perpuates the trope of the angry, emotional woman that is obsessive and clingy. There is also a trope of physically abusive women in anime. This trope is just as harmful to men as the Submissive Female trope is to women.
Presenting women in such a way can have incredibly harmful effects on young audiences, especially with children who can be easily influenced and misinformed. Watching depictions of women like this - and watching them attain their biggest goal, which is getting into a relationship with the male character - potrays a false ideal of what young women should be. It also presents a wrong value system that susceptible young females might adapt. We are more than just an attachment to men. We are our own beings that grow independently and outside of the opposite sex. Seeing representations of myself onscreen being demoted to such deplorable values feels like a slap on the face.
I have yet to see a redeeming female character. By "redeeming", I mean a female protagonist that enjoys just as much development, screen time, independence, and importance as her male protagonist counterpart. I haven't watched every single anime that exists, so if there are any, please let me know in the comments.
Part Two: Male Aggression
The submissive female feeds into a second major anime trope: the Aggressive Male.
The Aggressive Male is the male that does what he wants with women. If he wants to kiss her, he kisses her. If he wants her to fall in love with him, he makes her fall in love with him. No questions asked. No thoughts from the female. If the male wants it, he gets it.
Take Takumi Usui from Maid-Sama. He is introduced as an incredibly attractive highschool boy that is the love interest of every single girl in the school. Every single one except ... Misaki Ayuzawa (sounds like an "I'm not like the other girls" moment, right?). Misaki is the oppressive student council president of her male-dominant highschool. She frequently beats and abuses classmates that don't follow her totalitarian rules. This is labeled as a "strong female character." Misaki doesn't have any weaknesses except for - you guessed it - Usui.
Throughout the show, Usui stalks her, harrasses her, and does many other things without her consent in hopes of getting her to fall in love with him (I really don't know his motive either. Maybe it's because she's ... *not like the other girls*). In fact, Usui is introduced by blackmailing Misaki with his knowledge that she works in a maid cafe. In return, Misaki is forced to accept him stalking her 24/7. He literally stays outside her house for an entire night and goes to the maid cafe every single day despite Misaki repeatedly telling him that she doesn't like it and she hates him.
Usui is only one of many male characters that exuberate this entitlement to female attraction. Another example is basically any other romance anime and the entire Hentai industry, where females are raped and it's labeled as "hot". There is no consent in any of these mediums. Whatever the male wants, the female ends up wanting, too.
The problem with this trope is that the sexual harrassment that occurs is presented as as something that is okay. In fact, it's more than okay - it results in Misaki falling in love with Usui and Hentai girls having a good time. From an outside lense, one could even say that females enjoy this aggression, and it could be deemed as something useful in obtaining female attraction.
This trope is incredibly harmful when we evaluate its impacts on young, impressionable boys. Watching men get their way through violating means fuels rape culture and misogyny. I've even read statements from political officials that rape is meant as a compliment to women. As a result, when the anime industry presents females getting abused but enjoying the abuse, young boys may think that it's okay to abuse themselves. A great analysis of this phenomenon is detailed by Trifon Trifonov on Quora.
The problem isn't with the kids that consume anime, it's with anime itself. Young viewers cannot control what is presented to them, especially if it's sexism in a popular, well-rated anime such as Code Geass. Furthermore, young children often do not know right from wrong, and many shape their view of the world from the media that they consume. I was suspect to this myself - many of the movies and TV shows catered to girls when I was young depicted females who wanted nothing more than to shop, wear make up, and like boys. And so, for much of my youth, I mirrored that. On the flip side, male protagonists in the media usually want to save the world or fight someone. Both mediums present a stereotype that society desparately wants its children to mold themselves into.
Just like the Cool Girl trope, anime women are made by men to please men and are simply fabrications of the male fantasy. They aren't realistic or useful; they just exist to be hot. They're hollow objects that don't learn, develop, or serve any higher purpose other than male gratification.
The false depiction of women has long been prevalent in society, but portraying this in anime just worsens the problem. Every single woman in today's society is compared to the ideal beauty standard: eurocentric features, slim, nice personality, and incredibly submissive. If you don't have looks like society desires, you're labeled as ugly. As a result, many alter their features surgically to try to obtain this impossible standard. If you're loud, outspoken, and independent, you're labeled as aggressive, bratty, and a complete bitch.
A woman has not been independent for centuries. Still today, she exists to match the ideal standards set by a male-dominant society.
It is also my belief that the portrayal of women in anime fuels the fetishization of Asian females. Anime is a medium where the representation of Asian females is most prevalent. If this is the extent of our representation, it's also the primary representation of us to the non-Asian audience as well.
I know I can't change the entire anime industry with one blog post, but I hope that with time, the medium will progress in the way that society has. Depicting women in such disrespectful ways is incredibly archaic and outdated. It is my hope that garnering more attention towards the subject will increase awareness about it and hopefully lead to change. I love anime just as much as the next boy: I love it for its complex plotlines that outdo any show with 3D people, and I love its lessons about life, sacrifice, and relationships. But unlike my male counterpart, I'm objectified in the very thing we share.
More interesting articles:
http://animationdiscourse.com/blog/japanese-animation-misogyny/
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