Negative Image of Women?

ein-stein · Post by **ein-stein** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 2:09 pm

My older sister does not like anime. When I asked her why she said from the stuff she has seen (she has not said what they were) she does not like it because of:
A) the animation style
B) the negative portrayal of women: big breasts, long legs, etc
Now my father and I both like it, and we both like anime that do and do not have bishoujo (sp?) in it. BUT the second reason caused me to think about female charactors in anime. Of course there are many positive images of women in anime, but in general does anime degrade women?

I would much appreciate hearing from female anime fans and could you maybe say that you are female? Thank You.

Ari-chan · Post by **Ari-chan** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 2:15 pm

I love anime, I never though it really degraded women to much. My mom on other hand watched Chobits and thought like that for a while. So I guess it really depends on what anime your watching. I think it dosen't degraded women as much as real life T.V. and movies.

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 2:41 pm

If you're a straight guy without crazy religious convictions, I dare ya to stay away from hawt women

On the other hand - look at it this way: women are the main characters in a lot of anime, women often do traditional 'man's jobs' (you know, the violent stuff, from assassins to mecha pilots), women are often portrayed as smarter than men and as the ones kicking men around.

Besides, even with the Chobits example, you can look on the flipside and say that Hideki is a horrible, stupid, and thus loveable and hilarious stereotype of a man.

Charizard305 · Post by **Charizard305** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 2:44 pm

If you wanna see women get degraded on tv, tune to a Spanish channel. Girls walking around in bikinis and skimpy clothes simply for the dudes watching tv to Gawk at.

I dont think that Anime degrades women, look at all the animes out there that have women in positions of power.

Noir: 2 female hitman taking out all kinds of males that are like 2x their size.

Ah! My Goddess: Belledandy, Goddess First Class. That says enough.

There are more out there, but im too lazy to list em.

They may be drawn with big breasts and long legs and all that other stuff, but there are different shows out there that degrade women on TV more than Anime.

I'm a guy by the way.

OzzieArcane · Post by **OzzieArcane** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 3:34 pm

I'm a guy, but I fail to see how making a female character look attractive is degrading. That's like saying some random girl that's walking down the street is degrading women if she happens to have big breasts. Yes Anime does kind of flaunt around pretty girls at times but so does every other form of media in existance in some cases.

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 3:37 pm

Japan is a particularly sexist nation, this is very VERY true.

TheRealNeoHentaiMaster · Post by **TheRealNeoHentaiMaster** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 3:39 pm

I HATE ANIME CAUSE THEY ALWAYS DRAW THE MAIN HERO CHARACTER SO GOOD LOOKING A MUSCULAR AND COMPLETELY BEYOND REALITY. ITS SETTING AN IMAGE OF BEAUTY NO MAN CAN ACHIEVE AND ITS DESTROYING OUR CHILDREN....oh wait..no its not...maybe only if youre a DUMB BITCH.

DJ_Izumi · Post by **DJ_Izumi** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 3:40 pm

Somebody has issues... o.O;

Krypton-Knight · Post by **Krypton-Knight** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 3:52 pm

TheRealNeoHentaiMaster wrote:I HATE ANIME CAUSE THEY ALWAYS DRAW THE MAIN HERO CHARACTER SO GOOD LOOKING A MUSCULAR AND COMPLETELY BEYOND REALITY. ITS SETTING AN IMAGE OF BEAUTY NO MAN CAN ACHIEVE AND ITS DESTROYING OUR CHILDREN....oh wait..no its not...maybe only if youre a DUMB BITCH.

Women in anime are usually beatiful, and are lusted after by men.Wheter you feel thats degrading is up to you, but I usually see it as the women having the power. They have the looks, the smarts, and control. Examples I can think of off the top of my head:

1.Faye Valentine(Cowboy Bebop)
-sure she has an amazing body, and is scantily clad.However her strenght, and knowledge out shine many of the men in the series. She's always portrayed as the girl who can take care of herself, if anything this is positive.

2.Love Hina Girls
-Yeah they all are pretty much well endowed, with complimentary figures, but they all are smart, and excel in their areas of expertise. Also they are always kicking the guys asse's, and ....blah lost my train of thought.

Anyways there's alot more example of women who are positive figures, and are in postions that are usually male dominated...if any thing anime shows how weak guys are

ein-stein · Post by **ein-stein** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 4:12 pm

Great replies people 8). Thank you all again.