×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
I am an Anime Feminist. Ask Me Anything


Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Zeino



Joined: 19 May 2017
Posts: 1098
PostPosted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:22 am Reply with quote
Ever watch Zeta or Victory Gundam? I ask because I've found them to be deeply misogynistic series with constant fridging of the female characters (yes, it's a war setting in which anyone can die but the way it's often executed falls on that gendered violence bias for the sake of drama.) and women are constantly framed as irrational being throughout with Victory added extra insult by making it's antagonists, an empire of evil, crazy feminists. Other Gundam series have there flare ups of sexism but these two stand out because the constant praise that they have received as being among the best of the franchise with their deep flaws hardly ever being notice or called out.

Last edited by Zeino on Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:30 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 9:02 am Reply with quote
all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote:

Fanfiction is a fantastic outlet for fans, especially women, to explore thoughts, feelings, and desires that are unsafe, impossible, or deemed "unacceptable" by the narrow standards of mainstream culture.


I agree in general, though I am curious why you wrote "especially women" here. Is there a reason why you feel that fanfiction is somehow better suited to women than it is to men?

Quote:
A commercial work that romanticizes rape could be taken as an endorsement of sexual violence, but a fan work represents a safe space for someone who may fantasize about it but doesn't want to experience it in real life.


I'm not sure I follow this distinction either. Why could a commercial work that romanticizes rape not be considered a "safe space" either--assuming, of course, we are talking about a reader who wants to engage that fantasy. I am reminded of the book Pink Samurai by Nicholas Bornoff in which the author discusses the popularity of "rape-themed" manga specifically intended for a female audience. I would think that someone who was interested in exploring a fictional "rape fantasy" might find either amateur or professionally produced works to be engaging, and the specific content would likely be the bigger factor.

And for that matter, just because something is written by an amateur does not mean it is necessarily inoffensive. Fanfiction can and does offend people other than its author on a regular basis. I would think that this all comes down to whether or not any given reader is offended, not the commercial (or lack thereof) nature of the work.

I know that for me it doesn't matter if the author is some huge corporation out to make money or if the author is a fan expressing themselves or exploring a fantasy: it's the content which determines whether or not the work offends me, engages me, or neither.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
12skippy21



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 785
Location: York, England
PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:04 pm Reply with quote
Certainly unqualified on the subject but I have known a couple of women who were into rape fantasies but it was the domination aspect they liked, rather than the penetration. Inside your own mind, it never gets further than the sex (usually) so you are in control of your own parameters, in real life though, there is no control.

This is where the mainstream porn scene does not help, control in female porn tends to be a mixed bag while male dominated porn is nearly always control in a one sided nature. Certainly not healthy for younger generations who become accustomed to this dynamic.

I agree with the above post that seperating out fanfiction and commerical works is redundant but really not many commerical ventures romantise rape, they just handle it very poorly. Only porn, and in turn certain fanfictions, really do that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:36 am Reply with quote
12skippy21 wrote:

....but really not many commerical ventures romantise rape, they just handle it very poorly. Only porn, and in turn certain fanfictions, really do that.


I don't know much about that side of the Western adult video genre (it's not my thing), but what little I have come across inadvertently tends to agree with what you wrote.

That said, I think things are a bit different in Japan. The same way that certain sub-genres seem to exist only within anime and are rarely found elsewhere in the world, it seems that Japan has a well-defined subset of Manga--drawn mainly by female mangaka and marketed to a female audience--to specifically indulge this fetish. The book I mentioned above does a good job describing it (and no, Pink Samurai itself is not graphic). It may well be something unique to Japan, kind of like giant robot shows or Tokusatsu monster movies.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 605
PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2019 11:00 pm Reply with quote
Hey, just want to say I haven’t abandoned this thread! I’ve had a truly crazy amount going on in my life, including getting married at the end of this month, and haven’t had the time or energy to write thoughtful replies. But I will... just not for a few more weeks.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Fick1995



Joined: 17 Jul 2019
Posts: 1
Location: 44 The Fairway, NORTHALLERTON
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:12 pm Reply with quote
It's like Captain Marvel. hmm i dont know any good feminist anime, except Sailormoon and Magic Knight Ray Earth
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber



Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 7:48 pm Reply with quote
Fick1995 wrote:
It's like Captain Marvel. hmm i dont know any good feminist anime, except Sailormoon and Magic Knight Ray Earth


Some recommendations:

Simoun (sci fi series set on a planet where everyone is assigned-female-at-birth, during a holy war between a nation where everyone announces whether they are male or female at puberty and a nation that randomly reassigns 50% of their babies as male)

Maria Watches Over Us and Bodacious Space Pirates (two fantastic shows that I've often seen mentioned in conversations about "feminist-friendly anime", such as on Erica Friedman's blog: http://okazu.yuricon.com/2012/07/10/its-a-womans-world-bodacious-space-pirates-maria-sama-ga-miteru-and-the-bechdel-test/)

Revolutionary Girl Utena (an exploration of adolescence through the twin lenses of feminism and magical realism)

Yuri Kuma Arashi aka Lesbian Bear Storm (lesbian bears fight the patriarchy)

Flip Flappers (magical girl show with bright explosions of colors and a ton of feminist themes)

D-Frag (thirsty gag comedy about after-school interactions between delinquent boys and nerdy girls; more of a "feminist-friendly" show than a "show about feminism")

Dear Brother (classic melodrama about extremely toxic relationships between upper-class teen girls in 70s Japan)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jose Cruz



Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 1773
Location: South America
PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:50 pm Reply with quote
all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote:
When I say I want to promote series that depict healthy relationships, that doesn't mean that I don't think stories depicting unhealthy relationships shouldn't exist; rather, that series with a healthy depiction are far, far too rare. When young people learn about the world through fiction, they lack healthy models to compare unhealthy ones to, and real life doesn't always make up the difference.

SO. When do I take issue with major character flaws, like homophobia, abusiveness, etc.? It all comes down to framing, both visual and narrative. Framing invites you to sympathize or agree with certain characters and their choices, and conveys how severe a transgression is. That also interacts with the viewers' views, opinions, and cultural


One of the things about Japanese fiction is that it is less connected to reality than Western Fiction. I mean in the sense that anime, for example, is not only often fantasy but the kinds of characters we see in anime are often not remotely trying to replicate behavior that is expected in society. So, I think the issue people have with anime portraying things such as abusive relationships is an audience problem and not a problem with the content itself. It's like violence in movies: if some people becomes violent because he or she claimed go watch a violent movie the problem is with the him or her not the movie.

Also, regarding "healthy relationships", well I guess it depends on what you read and watch. The stuff I watch is mostly free of unhealthy relationships. Mainly because I watch stuff based on friendship, series like K-On! and Comic Girls or more action stuff such as JoJo.

In terms of "feminist titles": shows like K-On! and Asobi Asobase can be regarded as feminist because it shows women acting in ways that traditional society would regard as unacceptable. However that bring us back to Japanese fiction: since it is very unrealistic and disconnected from reality it is not suggesting that women should act in such a way.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:40 am Reply with quote
Jose Cruz wrote:

One of the things about Japanese fiction is that it is less connected to reality than Western Fiction. I mean in the sense that anime, for example, is not only often fantasy but the kinds of characters we see in anime are often not remotely trying to replicate behavior that is expected in society. So, I think the issue people have with anime portraying things such as abusive relationships is an audience problem and not a problem with the content itself. It's like violence in movies: if some people becomes violent because he or she claimed go watch a violent movie the problem is with the him or her not the movie.


Agreed on both points.

And as for the "healthy relationships" angle: I can't claim to have watched every anime--far from it, in fact--but I have been a fan for more than two decades so I've seen a great deal. While I have seen many anime which depict abusive relationships, I can't think of a single one which casts those sorts of things in a positive light. In fact, it's always (at least as far as I can remember) the opposite: one sided or abusive relationships tend to be cast in a negative light. Characters who are abusive to their significant others, friends, or family look *bad* because of it. In fact, that's usually the whole point of those scenes. Sometimes a protagonist or "heroic" character does things like that from time to time, but those actions are shown as flaws--often tragic ones--rather than the reasons why someone might look up to that character. I can think of many shows which have one or more abusive characters, but I can't think of a single one which promotes abuse.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
#913651



Joined: 22 Aug 2020
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:31 am Reply with quote
all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote:
Fictional portrayals of women as liars who accuse innocent men further a dangerous false narrative. False accusations of rape are exceedingly rare in real life. Research suggests the rate of false reporting is between two and 10 percent, and that number is likely inflated. source


I don't trust your source

But still 2 to 10% means that it happens.
It is not like there is many anime that have false rape accusation, I watch hundreds of anime and Sheild Hero is the only anime that had something like this. I don't see why is that a problem !!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber



Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:04 pm Reply with quote
#913651 wrote:
I don't trust your source


The linked source cites a U.S. Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women/National Sexual Violence Research Center review of research (https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/Publications_NSVRC_Overview_False-Reporting.pdf) as the source of this data. The research review itself cites a number of other studies, such as:

Quote:

Belknap, J. (2010). Rape: Too hard to report and too easy to discredit victims. Violence Against Women, 16, 1335-1344. doi:10.1177/1077801210387749

Heenan, M., & Murray, S. (2006). Study of reported rapes in Victoria 2000-2003: Summary research report. Retrieved from the State of Victoria (Australia), Victoria Police: http://www.police.vic.gov.au/retrievemedia.asp?Media_ID=19462

Lisak, D., Gardinier, L., Nicksa, S. C., & Cote, A. M. (2010). False allegations of sexual assault: An analysis of ten years of reported cases. Violence Against Women, 16, 1318-1334. doi:10.1177/1077801210387747

Lonsway, K. A., Archambault, J., & Lisak, D. (2009). False reports: Moving beyond the issue to successfully investigate and prosecute non-stranger sexual assault. The Voice, 3(1), 1-11. Retrieved from the National District Attorneys Association: http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/the_voice_vol_3_no_1_2009.pdf

Rennison, C. A. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 [NCJ 194530]. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf


I'm in the middle of peer-reviewing several dozen research conference proposal papers this weekend, and I think that if the NSVRC document was among them, I'd end up giving it a pretty decent score. It looks to be a competent summary of the state of research on this topic as of 2012, and while it'd probably lose a few marks due to not including any research from 2013-2020, I'll choose to overlook that and treat it as if I was reviewing it back when it was published eight years ago. Overall, nothing in it that appears academically dishonest to me.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Page 7 of 7

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group