[LMB] OT: Sexism in anime

[Azalais Aranxta]

Actually, I don't find anime that much more or less sexist than I
do American television shows; I also don't find Japanese culture
that much more or less sexist, in my personal experience (which
does not include the entrenched sexism of upper level Japanese
corporate culture, mind you).

What I find is that sexism manifests differently in the two
cultures.  It's possible, Lois, that you don't feel responsible
for the sexism in anime because it's not 'yours' and you don't
feel 'responsible' for it.  It's also possible that because the
insults are different than the ones you've had to put up with
yourself, they don't evoke the same kinds of gut-level feelings.

There's also a common notion that it's somehow "ethnocentric" to
criticise sexism in other cultures, particularly cultures that
are disadvantaged compared to your own.  I had a long-running
argument with my Chinese ex-husband's mother to the effect that
there were lots of things about Chinese culture that were unique
and different from Western culture, deserving of respect and
continuation; it was just that sexism wasn't among them, having
once been just as endemic and severe in American society.  I
remember her shock at learning that women had had the vote for
less than 100 years.

But I have had a lot of relationships with Asian men, and I used
to say that I preferred my Japanese boyfriends, who would
complain about 'feminism' and insist that they weren't
'feminists' yet always did a share of any work that needed doing,
to American men who said all the right things but considered
doing dishes to be 'helping' ME with MY job.  I think a lot of
this is a class thing, though, because I know upper-level
corporate Japanese guys don't necessarily do that, and most of my
boyfriends were working class and knew that work had to be done
by someone.  I really wonder about a lot of this stuff.

In general I was treated really well by Japanese guys except that
they cheated on me and tried to cheat on other women with me
rather a lot--"furin" or affairs don't seem to be as shocking as
they are in America, even though they hurt as much.  I only had
one serious relationship with a Chinese guy and he had a lot of
bugs in his head, and a family that most of our Chinese friends
thought very dysfunctional and old-fashioned, so I don't really
want to generalise too much.

I'm so weird I always feel like I'm in an intercultural
relationship no matter who I'm with though!

~malfoy :)

****************************************************************
Azalais Aranxta (~malfoy)
ataniell93 on LiveJournal and Vox
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/malfoymadness

"I know the true world, and you know I do. But we needn't let it
think we all bow down." --Christopher Morley