9 Signs You're Being Gaslit By Toxic Female Anime Fans (In Any Fandom)

This post was inspired by a comment left on Anime Motivation via The objectification of Male Anime Characters.

30+ years ago the average woman didn’t give a shit about:

Anime.
Manga.
Light novels.
Video games.

Or anything related to those things in any capacity.

I don’t mean that in a negative way, it’s just a fact of the situation. Men lead, and some women eventually follow.

Many (from observation) would use these mediums that boys (or men) liked as ammunition to disparage, criticize, bully in some cases, or demean boys during the “being a geek is bad” era.

But things have changed, or I should say evolved.

Now the worst of those women are in larger numbers

Like with a lot of things, the worst of people thanks to the internet have become more commonplace.

The most toxic of women who complained or would never allow men to “invade” female spaces, have now invaded Men’s spaces like Video games or anime, and have tried recreating the rules of these spaces through gaslighting, virtue signalling, and all the rest of it.

Anime is a perfect example of an originally “male” space that’s evolved, some of it being not in a good way.

This logic also applies to any fandom that either started as male-dominated or still is but just happens to have more women than ever before (all fandoms pretty much).

Let’s talk about that.

Signs you’re being gaslighted by toxic female fans or their supporters:

1. It’s a “male power fantasy”

I don’t care if you’re talking about comics, anime, manga, cartoons, films, or otherwise. There is this persistent myth among the worst gaslighters that there is such a thing as “Male power fantasy”. At least as a generalisation.

This is used to disparage, shut down opposing views or shows that men happen to like that these kinds of women criticize. Or whenever the topic of double standards pops up.

And of course, it follows the usual fake “gender wars” nonsense that promotes the idea that It’s an us vs them situation.

That only exists online, not in the real world.

2. It’s “different” and “not the same” because of so-called “power dynamics”

According to Wiktionary:

Methods used by different groups of people to influence or control each other.

Again, when talking about double standards or anything involving gender in anime or media, there is this tendency among the worst kinds of women to explain it away with gaslighting or mental gymnastics.

Power dynamics is a silly concept within this context because it doesn’t change for example, the fact that in anime, it’s commonplace for women to punch, slap, or kick men around for comedy, but if flipped to the same degree, those same women would cry rivers big enough to impress Justin Timberlake.

3. There’s no such thing as the female gaze

And this might be the silliest, most ridiculous form of mental gymnastics we see from the worst offenders in the anime community.

Fairy Tail.
FREE.
Haikyuu.
Undead Unluck.
Kill La Kill.

And many more anime have clear and visible signs of the “female gaze”, where guys are literally naked or close to it, or flexing their pecs, or designed a certain way to cater to the female gaze.

Gurren Lagann is another anime that has this, and so does My Hero Academia.

Having a vagina doesn’t absolve you from having a gaze towards the opposite sex just because society is too scared to point it out, or call you out on your bullshit.

That only works when you’re surrounded by SIMPS or guys who tell you what you wanna hear, and never berate or hold you accountable for things that are out of order and outright toxic.

4. Men are not seen as sex objects

Again, another hypocritical statement that comes from the worst of women who are sexually attracted to men.

Think about the irony and the impossibility of the comment “Men are not sex objects”.

Humans are sexual by nature, as are all mammals but let’s focus on humans. If I see an attractive woman, of course, part of me will think she’s sexually attractive.

People do the same with anime characters from an aesthetic standpoint.

That’s normal.

No different to when women see guys they consider “hot” they see them as sexually attractive and will have thoughts about stripping them down naked (mentally).

It might be politically incorrect, but that doesn’t change the facts.

All it comes down to is the worst of this group want to have their cake and eat it too. They want the privilege of shutting down shows that promote sexy women or have fan service, while secretly drooling and fiending over the equivalent with men.

A double standard at best, which cancel culture highlights very well.

5. There’s “no direct equivalent”

In the world of opposites, up, down, left right, there will also always be an equivalent or something that’s identical.

For example, If I punch a woman in the face because I’m in a bad mood, that would be wrong. No question about it.

If a woman does the same thing, that’s what you’d call “the equivalent”. Same action, only a different gender. The only difference would be how people would treat the situation and play mental gymnastics despite the facts of the matter.

This is what toxic female fans in all fandoms, not just anime, are essentially doing. They want the equivalent to not be so equivalent because it allows one gender to escape scrutiny, while the other gets bashed over the head without restraint.

Like male vs female fan service.

Relevant: The HYPOCRISY Of Toxic Female Anime Fans And Yaoi Fangirls

6. It’s “admiration, not degradation”

What does this mean? Simple. When a woman let’s say, views male fan service, they’re saying this is an act of admiration, rather than to degrade the male or the male body.

But when a man or a boy views let’s say, High School DxD, then this is somehow “degradation” because it degrades women, and could therefore never be a form of admiration.

This is an insane mindset to have, obviously. It’s double standards at best, and delusional at worst.

The irony is women in these types of shows with all their shapes, sizes, personalities, and characteristics, are being celebrated to a degree that no other medium is capable of doing in this politically correct environment we’re in.

That means it’s a form of admiration, and only those who are insecure with themselves can see it as degradation (ignoring exceptions).

7. Men are in power so it’s not possible for them to be objectified

If you thought the stupidity couldn’t get any worse, it’s the internet. It always can.

Many of the worst kinds of women have left these comments across social media, blogs, YouTube, and so on. This idea that a man can’t be objectified because men are in power is as real as a flock of unicorns running down a busy street.

How many men are in power, really?

We’re talking 1% if you wanna talk economics and finance. If we talk about influencers, the “power” argument becomes even stupider than is necessary.

If we strictly talk about business, then again, it’s a tiny minority of men who have any sort of power, and not the kind to make, change, create, or abolish laws. That’s for sure.

Objectification is about reducing a person down to only their superficial characteristics. Like how “sexy” they are, or whether they have a lot of money, etc.

Women or men can do this while homeless. It has nothing to do with power, money, or any of that nonsensical bullshit Twitter feminists talk about or anyone in those circles.

8. Men in real life are not harmed by it

And the quick answer to this is neither are women.

When a fan watches High School DxD, which women in real life are harmed by this event?

When Lucy Heartfilia is stripped down to a bikini, and we get the “wow” moments in Fairy Tail, do cases of violence, prejudice, or exclusion skyrocket against women?

What about when the equivalent is films, Instagram models, or reality TV shows?

If I play Halo or Call Of Duty and kill a bunch of Men, among the other millions of male gamers doing the same thing, does violence and shootings against men skyrocket, or wars for that matter?

As we can see, these criticisms aren’t rooted in logic. It’s a desperate attempt to make sense out of nonsense just so you can somehow have your way because you have ovaries and a pair of tits.

9. You cannot be sexist against men

And lastly, this idea that you can’t be sexist against men is the crazy logic these gaslighters come up with in anime and other fandoms.

It doesn’t help that some definitions will say “typically against women” as if it’s gender-based.

Being sexist is about targeting a specific gender and discriminating, which is what the worst of these women are doing.

Being OK with men being treated a certain way in any form of media, but then getting mad when the same thing happens to women is the definition of sexism.

No different to a man who mistreats women and discriminates against them, but does the opposite with men.

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In the end, gaslighting in the anime community and many fandoms today is more commonplace despite the fact it’s a “large” minority.

The internet makes these minorities bigger and more prevalent and that’s why it’s worth mentioning in the first place.