sao asuna and kirito

Anime Gender Equality – Is This REALLY An Issue?

Does anime gender quality even exist?

Or is it a made up term toxic feminists use to demonize Men who enjoy female anime roles? Or better yet – female characters with cup sizes that make them feel uncomfortable?

I’m being serious with my question.

I noticed a lot of people who talk about gender equality in the anime industry are hardcore feminists who hate a small number of Men, but paint most Men as “bad”.

I’ve read through 1000’s of tweets and the obnoxious amount of feminist websites, and “man-bashing” is a subtle message I tend to see.

They’re usually the type who point out all the things they don’t like about anime girls, but will blatantly ignore the “inequalities” of Men within anime (or even in real life).

The reason being they don’t give a F and wanna pander everything to their insecurities.

This is what the argument looks like.

If they’re not hardcore feminists, they’re websites and bloggers who kiss up to what’s considered “politically correct”, because they’re too afraid to challenge the notion or be seen as an “enemy”.

It’s a common theme in the entertainment industry these days, especially in the west.

Being spineless is a trend, especially if it gets clicks and views.

Let’s get back to anime for a second.

The usual trope of Men being punched in the face by women, or worse: girls stamping on the balls of male characters (and having it portrayed as “comedy”) is a common inequality… If you wanna be literal.

Imagine the uproar if the shoe was on the other foot.

If Men were seen stamping on the p*ssy’s of female characters. Or punching female characters in the t*ts.

The whole F’in world would collapse, even if it’s a double standard that shows “anime gender equality” is a slang term for “protect women”.

Equality literally means equal, so all things being equal (and by the logic of critics) this shouldn’t be an issue.

But regardless – Men in the anime community don’t complain about it.

Historically – Men don’t complain about much unless it’s detrimental, otherwise “Menimist” would be a term and a movement (imagine the backlash).

We don’t “campaign” and rage on Twitter and attack women left right and center. Or call all women “misandrists” or even the industry itself.

That’s why when it comes to anime, male inequality’s not an issue because Men don’t take any of it too seriously like a small segment of women do.

If guys were as loud as women about these “issues” which aren’t issues in the fiction we call anime, the question of “anime gender equality” wouldn’t be such an outrage on platforms like Twitter in the USA.

And the entitlement of this loud minority would fizzle out because they wouldn’t be able to get away with it.

 

Anime Gender Equality is bias

YouTube video

The real definition of equality is all things equal for everyone. Or in this case – all things equal for how Men and Women are treated within anime.

If that were true – that would mean:

  • Men can punch women in the face in anime.
  • And women can do the same.
  • Men would be fat, skinny, or in between.
  • Women would be the same.
  • And any other variation.

After all – that’s what “equality” is, right? All things being equal?

But there’s no real equality to begin with because bias comes into play (and double standards).

That’s why Men are treated a certain way through tropes (which no one cries about), but women do cry about it because they tend to be more sensitive, offended and unable to overlook things that aren’t “that” big of a deal.

Or they just want the entitlement that comes with the double standards.

The argument is aimed at:

  • Anime shows that cater to Men.
  • Anime shows with a lot of female fan service.

First of all – anime’s audience is mostly Men.

From a business point of view it would be insane to ignore this fact. It’s the #1 reason anime is still in business, because they focus on what their audience wants.

That’s business 101. Liking it or not is a preference and you don’t have to be a part of it.

Aside from that – when girls show a little skin in anime, this is where feminists point fingers and start throwing out words like “misogyny” and “gender equality”.

Misogyny is a useless word in this context because it means Men who hate women.

Fan service isn’t malicious so that criticism holds no weight.

As far as the “equality” argument in anime, female anime characters have the same roles that Men do.

  • Strong characters.
  • Sexy characters.
  • Intelligent.
  • Leaders.
  • And even MORE privileges.

You can find an equal amount of female characters and male characters with similar roles. If not MORE when it comes to female characters.

This is ignored to focus on a segment of anime that critics don’t like, while trying to paint anime as if that’s 100% of what it represents.

Sure – fan service can go too far (I’ve talked about it before), but cherry picking anime genres that cater to men, then calling the whole industry “unequal” with gender is insincere.

 

But this “anime gender equality” argument isn’t practical anyway

“I yearn for true gender equality. I have no patience for one who talks about female privilege when it suits them, and then complains about someone “not being a man” when it’s convenient.” – Kazuma Satou

Anime characters are drawings and designs, birthed from the ideas and thoughts of artists and authors.

They’re fictional characters made up in someone’s mind, and don’t follow the rules of humans or what we call “the real world.”

So the whole concept of “gender equality” isn’t productive because it’s all a fantasy to begin with.

If you’re talking about the creators, artists and directors who work on anime, and the gender equality in companies, yes, that’s a relevant argument. It applies to human principles and the real world.

But trying to attach “gender equality” to animated characters is pushing it.

And at worst – it’s a false narrative western women push to deal with their unrelated “Men” problems in real life. That’s my observation.

It’s arrogant to apply human logic to a fictional world like anime, because it assumes the world is centered around YOU. And should apply to how YOU feel, when how you feel is unrelated to your criticisms.

  • Video games.
  • Anime.
  • Cartoons.
  • Fiction.

All of these things are independent of reality, hence why they’re fiction and fantasy. So the whole “gender equality” argument is a loud minority arrogantly relating real world principles with anime principles.

Let people enjoy anime for what it is, and give up the idea of trying to control something that you don’t like… When you’re not a fan in the first place.

And if people do wanna argue about so called anime gender equality, at least don’t be a hypocrite about it and ignore the shoe when it’s on the other foot.

Equally means 100% on both sides of the fence, at ALL times.

It doesn’t mean 70% for one gender and 30% for another. Or only when it’s convenient at the expense of the opposite gender.

Or worse: when you know you can “take advantage” of double standards and act entitled.

While people argue about “anime gender equality”, there are REAL issues affecting REAL people that need to be dealt with.

Targeting anime in this way is nothing but a distraction.

 

Recommended:

Racism In The Anime Community, And Where It Stands Today

The Problem With Anime Sexism NOBODY Wants To Admit