Blog 3: Pop Culture Influences
For this blog, I chose Anime as a cultural artifact to focus on. Anime is really a significant part of Japanese culture, and I can confidently guarantee that all Japanese people have watched or read at least one Anime if they are born in Japan. I used to say that I was not a big fan of Anime since I couldn’t sit and read a comic book for a long time, or I couldn’t simply wait for next episode to come out. I rather play outside until the sun goes down, but at the same time, there are children like my sisters and some of my friends, they are obsessed with it. On the days those comic books were released, they rushed home or a convenience store to read if their parents forgot to get one for them. However, when we think about it, not all children like to read as I know for sure. Here, I would like to focus on Anime on the TV.
On every morning before school as well as after school, there is always at least one Anime show on the TV. Also, on Sunday mornings, there is a golden time of Anime including One Piece, Dragonball, and Power Rangers (when I was a kid), and it is probably a strategy that the government plays to make children get up early even on Sundays for building a better time management skill. Watching those Anime shows became our daily routine and a part of our childhood. I as well as many other people can roughly tell someone’s age by which Power Ranger series the person watched. As a child, I didn’t realize that I was influenced by Anime, and of course, I didn’t even know that my gender identity was manipulated by the TV.
The stereotypes of Asian women, shy and passive, could be addressed by our own cultures. When I hear these stereotypes, I can’t necessarily deny, to be honest, especially when we are compared with women of other races. With all the knowledge that I’ve earned from this class, I may say that Anime exacerbates the stereotypes and the gender binary. The pics of Anime that I posted above are famous nationwide without my preference. Although the stories of these Anime completely differ from each other, there are couple things in common. First, boys always outnumber girls. These girls in Anime represent their gender in groups they belong and have to speak up. So, it makes sense why girls tend to be shy since there are potential oppressors who might not be supportive of them. Of course, I am not saying boys are oppressors of girls, but at the same time, they are not supporters either when she is the only one who represent her gender in a group especially at younger age. Second, girls are always subordinate characters who stand behind and follow the main boy characters. In Japan, it is historically believed that wives are supposed to follow their husbands two or three steps behind due to respect. Women are obviously devalued and powerless in that society, and the notion has been normalized. People believe that is the beauty of the traditional Japanese woman. When a woman questions about the tradition of gender role, people tend to say she is westernized, overly opinionated, or a millennial, who are disrespectful and not properly educated. These explain why Asian women, at least Japanese women are passive. Third, no surprise, but everyone is heterosexual. Why? Probably because it is not how it is supposed to be. These three points definitely shaped how Japanese women including myself behave and carry ourselves today. These Anime told me how to be a normal and ideal girl, and moreover, these created people to be gender police to judge and evaluate others’ gender expressions. I was expected to act like one of these girls from Anime. From my perspective, one of the worst things that the Anime culture create is the definition of “prettiness.” No one on this planet looks like characters from Anime, but we admire these non-existing prettiness. Although it might not be the intention of these authors to perpetuate the stereotypes and the gender binary, it definitely builds and normalizes these ideas in children. Children’s brains are just like a sponge, which absorbs everything they hear, see, and experience. These Anime have been watched over a couple decades. Can we really teach them what was normal in old days today?
On every morning before school as well as after school, there is always at least one Anime show on the TV. Also, on Sunday mornings, there is a golden time of Anime including One Piece, Dragonball, and Power Rangers (when I was a kid), and it is probably a strategy that the government plays to make children get up early even on Sundays for building a better time management skill. Watching those Anime shows became our daily routine and a part of our childhood. I as well as many other people can roughly tell someone’s age by which Power Ranger series the person watched. As a child, I didn’t realize that I was influenced by Anime, and of course, I didn’t even know that my gender identity was manipulated by the TV.
The stereotypes of Asian women, shy and passive, could be addressed by our own cultures. When I hear these stereotypes, I can’t necessarily deny, to be honest, especially when we are compared with women of other races. With all the knowledge that I’ve earned from this class, I may say that Anime exacerbates the stereotypes and the gender binary. The pics of Anime that I posted above are famous nationwide without my preference. Although the stories of these Anime completely differ from each other, there are couple things in common. First, boys always outnumber girls. These girls in Anime represent their gender in groups they belong and have to speak up. So, it makes sense why girls tend to be shy since there are potential oppressors who might not be supportive of them. Of course, I am not saying boys are oppressors of girls, but at the same time, they are not supporters either when she is the only one who represent her gender in a group especially at younger age. Second, girls are always subordinate characters who stand behind and follow the main boy characters. In Japan, it is historically believed that wives are supposed to follow their husbands two or three steps behind due to respect. Women are obviously devalued and powerless in that society, and the notion has been normalized. People believe that is the beauty of the traditional Japanese woman. When a woman questions about the tradition of gender role, people tend to say she is westernized, overly opinionated, or a millennial, who are disrespectful and not properly educated. These explain why Asian women, at least Japanese women are passive. Third, no surprise, but everyone is heterosexual. Why? Probably because it is not how it is supposed to be. These three points definitely shaped how Japanese women including myself behave and carry ourselves today. These Anime told me how to be a normal and ideal girl, and moreover, these created people to be gender police to judge and evaluate others’ gender expressions. I was expected to act like one of these girls from Anime. From my perspective, one of the worst things that the Anime culture create is the definition of “prettiness.” No one on this planet looks like characters from Anime, but we admire these non-existing prettiness. Although it might not be the intention of these authors to perpetuate the stereotypes and the gender binary, it definitely builds and normalizes these ideas in children. Children’s brains are just like a sponge, which absorbs everything they hear, see, and experience. These Anime have been watched over a couple decades. Can we really teach them what was normal in old days today?
When I look at Japanese culture objectively, I am a big consumer of Anime regardless of how I personally see myself. I knew all the famous Anime and watched most of them. I can’t imagine my childhood without any of these Anime above, but I insistently say that I’m not a big fan! And that is the point. No matter if someone like or not, it is a part of Japanese culture. Now I, as an adult, know the manipulations of the stereotypes and the gender binary by media, but I might be absent from realizing the effect caused by media on children. Especially since children do not have knowledge of what to believe and disbelieve, it might be helpful to provide an extra attention from ourselves to them who do not feel fitting in the heteronormative society before they force themselves into this narrowly shaped exclusive world just because they want to be a normal for the sake of others.
- Akane Sakaki
- Akane Sakaki
Akane,
ReplyDeleteI didn’t quite “grow up” on anime but looking back at the ones I have watched over the years, I do notice the points you brought up about how women are portrayed. In Fullmetal Alchemist there is a female character named Lust. If I can recall correctly, she was the only woman in her group. Lust has the appearance of a very attractive woman and wears an outfit that emphasizes her breast. She uses her looks to easily manipulate most men which shows the other side of women that isn’t portrayed as much as being cute and shy. With your analyzation and FMA, women are either overly cute or sexy, there seems to be no middle ground where they are both. In yours, women are powerless and in FMA she’s portrayed as remorseless.
Hi Akane,
ReplyDeleteWhile I didn't grow up on Anime, I have watched several series as an adult but haven't really been able to get into them. Just like you said, the stereotypes within most animes are incredibly off putting to me, especially ones that focus on how a woman should look or act. In my blog #3, I talked about an animated film that I grew up with, The Little Mermaid, and I see a lot of similarities between my analysis of that and yours of anime. Just like in The Little Mermaid, the female characters in anime are expected to be not only pretty, but also expected to fulfill the stereotypes of a woman in society. In anime, we see this with women being demure and passive and in The Little Mermaid, we see the same traits portrayed once she loses her voice. Ultimately I think this is terrible for our children to be watching. They need strong role models because when we provide them with images like what we see in anime and Disney movies, they soak it up into their consciousness without even realizing it.
Sarah Cohn