"10-13 I desperately wished I was a boy, to the point where I got a little happy when people mistook me and my short hair as such."
This statement amuses me, as the main reason I started growing my hair long at about that age was because I got a boyish cut at one point and was mistaken for a boy. I think all the boys I knew at that age were too bratty for me to ever wish I was a boy, maybe?
Do you mean Wolfram in KKM? I've only seen the first season of it, but IIRC, I was in equal parts amused and annoyed by him, but in the positive way, not a "shut up and go away" way. I largely enjoyed the insane humor and poking fun at shoujo and shounen-ai and magical girl tropes, and Wolfram played well into that. That's also a good example of a slashy series that also loves having strong and fairly prominent female characters.
I think a lot of it is that, in many places on the net, it's considered taboo to say anything negative about male characters, but "in" to find fault with female characters. I've seen a lot of people making every excuse than can for a male character to excuse a trait or flaw they dismissed a female character for having. A lot of it, also, in terms of the fact that fiction in general(though it does stand out more in manga) acknowledges weaknesses in female characters but rejects the idea of male characters with them, is that when that does enter the equation, and acknowledging those weaknesses making someone think of their own, it takes on the aspect of taking out your own problems on someone else, which tends to ignite a "get over it" reaction in a lot of people.
"manga and anime celebrates weakness in women--the ones that do badly in school, with "a good heart" and "perky" as their main traits in shoujo manga, or in shounen, where they're regulated to standing in the background as the male lead fights...I really adore a lot of characters like that based on their personalities alone"
I actually generally adore these characters myself, barring the shoujo romance ones who just...really don't seem to have a brain or a spine and just seem to be there to worship the guy. Those don't seem to be getting licensed as much these days, though. Or maybe I'm just missing them.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 10:03 pm (UTC)This statement amuses me, as the main reason I started growing my hair long at about that age was because I got a boyish cut at one point and was mistaken for a boy. I think all the boys I knew at that age were too bratty for me to ever wish I was a boy, maybe?
Do you mean Wolfram in KKM? I've only seen the first season of it, but IIRC, I was in equal parts amused and annoyed by him, but in the positive way, not a "shut up and go away" way. I largely enjoyed the insane humor and poking fun at shoujo and shounen-ai and magical girl tropes, and Wolfram played well into that. That's also a good example of a slashy series that also loves having strong and fairly prominent female characters.
I think a lot of it is that, in many places on the net, it's considered taboo to say anything negative about male characters, but "in" to find fault with female characters. I've seen a lot of people making every excuse than can for a male character to excuse a trait or flaw they dismissed a female character for having. A lot of it, also, in terms of the fact that fiction in general(though it does stand out more in manga) acknowledges weaknesses in female characters but rejects the idea of male characters with them, is that when that does enter the equation, and acknowledging those weaknesses making someone think of their own, it takes on the aspect of taking out your own problems on someone else, which tends to ignite a "get over it" reaction in a lot of people.
"manga and anime celebrates weakness in women--the ones that do badly in school, with "a good heart" and "perky" as their main traits in shoujo manga, or in shounen, where they're regulated to standing in the background as the male lead fights...I really adore a lot of characters like that based on their personalities alone"
I actually generally adore these characters myself, barring the shoujo romance ones who just...really don't seem to have a brain or a spine and just seem to be there to worship the guy. Those don't seem to be getting licensed as much these days, though. Or maybe I'm just missing them.