We all know what anime is. By definition, anime is a style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children. There are lots of good anime shows out there. However, there IS a pattern in which the female characters are portrayed. Especially when it comes to shonen genre. Female characters tend to get sexualized for fan service as it is targeted to young boys. That’s definitely not weird at all (this is sarcasm in case someone’s dumb enough to understand). But then it begs the question: Why would a writer write such a thing?
- Male Gaze in Anime
What is Male Gaze?
Male Gaze is a film theory first coined by Laura Mulvey, a feminist cinema critic, in her 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” It describes how the world and women are frequently presented from a heterosexual male perspective in visual media (such as movies, TV shows, ads, etc.), in an effort to appeal to the presumptive needs and interests of a male audience. Mulvey claims that this viewpoint frequently objectifies women, turning them into the passive objects of the male viewer’s sexual desire. This can show up in a number of ways, such how pictures are framed, how particular body features are highlighted, or how women are portrayed in conventional or submissive roles.
For instance, in anime, it is commonplace to watch a shonen (a kind of anime/manga aimed at young boys) and see an almost naked girl standing next to a boy who is fully armored. Or being served a scene where a girl keeps getting brutally assaulted by a guy but the camera is focusing on her tits. Forget about her trauma, here is her pair of breasts!
(I mean, come on.)
In shojo (anime/manga aimed at young girls), the problem usually relied on manic pixie dream girl complex. While it is true, that the lead female character isn’t sexualized, making her a total dumbass is not necessarily good either.
With shonen, I do believe that there is a mixture of misogyny, male fantasy, and pedophilia in the dough of plot. A big part of it comes from the writer (obviously). This was a choice made by someone, not just a coincidence. But why?
With young boys in mind as the target market, shonen is written and produced for them. This is where the misogynistic aspect comes into play. Instead of making a show where young boys can learn how to treat girls and women properly, we sexualized them. And to refer it as a “fan service” is truly degrading since the majority of these characters are minors and the sexual exploitation has no bearing on the story at all. There are countless real-world examples of this. It is so common for adults (particularly adult men) to look down at young girls — reducing their values into just a know-nothing person and completely disregard their opinion because they are just “an innocent naive little girl” (ingénue). All of the above stated, yet, it doesn’t stop grown men to stare. You’d think by having that kind of mindset men would eventually leave us at once. I mean, why do you want to associate yourself sexually with underaged ingénues?
This could not be further from the truth.
I remember getting catcalled at age 10 years old, by a bunch of men twice my age. Hell, even third my age. What is it that makes a 10 year old me so attractive to these scums? The answer is innocence.
Men love to exploit. Women need to perform.
Hence, the need to display women’s bodies over their intellect. The context stays irrelevant, a woman is hot if her cleavage is shown. It doesn’t matter whether the character is underaged or is currently being assaulted by someone or dead, for as long as she’s fuckable.
2. The Reasons Why Jujutsu Kaisen is Popular Among It’s Female Audience
I had talked about this show with my then-crush. Fans of Jujutsu Kaisen, according to him, are wild and deranged. He stated that every time he scrolls through Twitter (now X), there is going to be at least one picture of naked Nanami. I agreed with his statement about the crazy fanbase. However, I couldn’t help but notice how contrast the reaction that these boys gave.
The problem is, they never talked about other anime shows that have insane amount of fan service. There was no conversation made on the objectification that the female characters have received. But God forbid, a girl made a thirst trap or a fanart of her favorite adult male character — that girl must be a nympho! And I’m not trying to normalize it, but these boys are hypocrites.
Recently, with the release of its season 2, Jujutsu Kaisen has provided us with some fan services that are both hot and respectful.
Notice how all of them are fully clothed and not a single one is a minor? Yet still, we are crazier than the fanboys who wished Nami live-action actress’s tits were bigger? Yeah, give me a break!
You know what I think it is? I think that they’re just surprised at how a man can also be sexualized. Because it is a normal occurrence to see women getting objectified, the idea of men being treated the same is incomprehensible.
3. Conclusion
The presence of male gaze will always be apparent in anime. Not because of the fan service demands from the audience — as previously mentioned, it wasn’t the case. But because of the patriarchal values that allow them to maintain their existence. The notion that women are nothing more than mere objects built the foundation.
Although it seems hard to believe that we’re going to have another show like Jujutsu Kaisen in the near future, as long as people are aware of the harm caused by male gaze in media, producers and writers would be more thoughtful when creating a work.
