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jajalalaGot into a mood about Shoujo vs Shounen, specifically comparing Magical Girls versus Action Heroes and how it relates to the theory of precarious masculinity...
Ended up posting a bunch of thoughts to tumblr about it. If you have a tumblr and want to expand, consider expanding there, as I love how tumblr lets you tack on and reblog with those additions! I'm loving Dreamwidth so far, but there are values to different social media formats, idk if anyone will engage but I tried to keep it short so anyone with similar thoughts might have an opportunity to expand (as I've though about it and feel like there's SO MUCH to dig into on the subject... and lots of ways it can be applied to particular series).
I've copied it below in case you prefer to read on DreamWidth:
Let’s imagine a typical Magical Girl Shoujo anime. It usually starts with a normal girl, on the cusp of puberty or a teenager, who suddenly discovers some magical artifact or innate part of herself that connects her to a magical destiny. There is usually no choice in the matter; she is (along with some select friends) the only one who can do the magical move that prevents demons/aliens/enemies from destroying her home (or even the whole earth). Her status as a magical hero is not one that’s earned, but rather a responsibility thrust upon her.
Meanwhile Action Hero Shounen tends to be about a boy, also often on the cusp of puberty or a teenager, who goes on a deliberate journey to attain a particular status or power. In some cases he may get one advantageous power at the start, but it’s usually up to him to make it useful and achieve his dream. His story often involves trials, tournaments, and intense battles that slowly ramp up until he becomes the most powerful (or achieves whatever status he dreamed of). That status is one that is earned, not given.
Do these differences sound familiar? If so, you may know about the theory of Precarious Manhood (Vandello & Bosson 2013 has great coverage on the subject). The theory suggests that womanhood is secured (or forced) naturally as a girl grows up; she just is a woman, and that status is generally not called into question on a regular basis. Meanwhile manhood is something that must be earned and can be easily lost; a man must continually “prove” his masculinity to maintain that he is a man. We see this reflected in the two genres I described: The Magical Girl just is the hero, while the Action Hero must become the hero. These genres are targeted towards the demographic of their main characters, kids and teens, and they reflect the values, struggles, and anxieties those demographics carry.
The Magical Girl genre focuses on a lot of girls’ fears about growing up—there’s a sense of power that comes with it, but it comes at a cost. The conflicts in these shows often aren’t centrally the monsters or battles, but rather interpersonal dramas and work-life balance. To a teenage girl, having a friend group falling out can feel catastrophic, reflected in how a Magical Girl may cause a literal catastrophe unless she can get everyone to work together to defeat an enemy. Another huge conflict is balancing saving the earth and maintaining friendships, romance, work, and grades. Lots of girls get pulled in many directions at this age, and if one is expected or needs to help out around the home she has yet another responsibility on her plate that makes time management a relevant issue.
Within the Action Hero genre the fears and issues are of a different variety. There’s a focus on continual growth, best friends, and achieving milestones. Conflicts generally come down to power struggles, though there’s often an emotional component as well. The deciding factor is often willpower, or how much effort (regardless of the danger to his own safety) a boy is willing to put in to beat an enemy. At this age friendships are often built on sports, games, and competition, and there’s many anxieties about being “manly” enough (or sometimes just not wanting to be feminine because of the mockery that entails).
The differences in the genres clearly reflect gender norms/anxieties regarding femininity and masculinity for their demographic… and also enforce them. Girls are taught that their job is not to reach out and take power, but instead to play a careful balancing game with whatever power/responsibilities they are given (though it’s notable that in these magical stories, they happen to be given huge power to work with). Boys are taught that they must wear themselves out, constantly putting themselves in danger and forcing their limits if they want to feel like they have worth or to “be a man”.
What would challenging or reversing these expectations be like? Hmm…
Sailor Moon, with Action Hero Conventions
Hunter x Hunter, with Magical Girl Conventions
These are obviously simplifications of the plots of Sailor Moon and HxH, but it’s an interesting thought experiment. How would girls feel about a plot where a girl has to build up her powers and train? How would boys feel about a plot where the power/rank is almost never in question, but relationships and balancing responsibilities is? If you know any anime/manga that fit or challenge these patterns, I’d love to know your examples.
Ended up posting a bunch of thoughts to tumblr about it. If you have a tumblr and want to expand, consider expanding there, as I love how tumblr lets you tack on and reblog with those additions! I'm loving Dreamwidth so far, but there are values to different social media formats, idk if anyone will engage but I tried to keep it short so anyone with similar thoughts might have an opportunity to expand (as I've though about it and feel like there's SO MUCH to dig into on the subject... and lots of ways it can be applied to particular series).
I've copied it below in case you prefer to read on DreamWidth:
What can Magical Girl Shoujo and Action Hero Shounen manga/anime tell us about perceptions of womanhood and manhood? And how different priorities for genders get expressed in media
Let’s imagine a typical Magical Girl Shoujo anime. It usually starts with a normal girl, on the cusp of puberty or a teenager, who suddenly discovers some magical artifact or innate part of herself that connects her to a magical destiny. There is usually no choice in the matter; she is (along with some select friends) the only one who can do the magical move that prevents demons/aliens/enemies from destroying her home (or even the whole earth). Her status as a magical hero is not one that’s earned, but rather a responsibility thrust upon her.
Meanwhile Action Hero Shounen tends to be about a boy, also often on the cusp of puberty or a teenager, who goes on a deliberate journey to attain a particular status or power. In some cases he may get one advantageous power at the start, but it’s usually up to him to make it useful and achieve his dream. His story often involves trials, tournaments, and intense battles that slowly ramp up until he becomes the most powerful (or achieves whatever status he dreamed of). That status is one that is earned, not given.
Do these differences sound familiar? If so, you may know about the theory of Precarious Manhood (Vandello & Bosson 2013 has great coverage on the subject). The theory suggests that womanhood is secured (or forced) naturally as a girl grows up; she just is a woman, and that status is generally not called into question on a regular basis. Meanwhile manhood is something that must be earned and can be easily lost; a man must continually “prove” his masculinity to maintain that he is a man. We see this reflected in the two genres I described: The Magical Girl just is the hero, while the Action Hero must become the hero. These genres are targeted towards the demographic of their main characters, kids and teens, and they reflect the values, struggles, and anxieties those demographics carry.
The Magical Girl genre focuses on a lot of girls’ fears about growing up—there’s a sense of power that comes with it, but it comes at a cost. The conflicts in these shows often aren’t centrally the monsters or battles, but rather interpersonal dramas and work-life balance. To a teenage girl, having a friend group falling out can feel catastrophic, reflected in how a Magical Girl may cause a literal catastrophe unless she can get everyone to work together to defeat an enemy. Another huge conflict is balancing saving the earth and maintaining friendships, romance, work, and grades. Lots of girls get pulled in many directions at this age, and if one is expected or needs to help out around the home she has yet another responsibility on her plate that makes time management a relevant issue.
Within the Action Hero genre the fears and issues are of a different variety. There’s a focus on continual growth, best friends, and achieving milestones. Conflicts generally come down to power struggles, though there’s often an emotional component as well. The deciding factor is often willpower, or how much effort (regardless of the danger to his own safety) a boy is willing to put in to beat an enemy. At this age friendships are often built on sports, games, and competition, and there’s many anxieties about being “manly” enough (or sometimes just not wanting to be feminine because of the mockery that entails).
The differences in the genres clearly reflect gender norms/anxieties regarding femininity and masculinity for their demographic… and also enforce them. Girls are taught that their job is not to reach out and take power, but instead to play a careful balancing game with whatever power/responsibilities they are given (though it’s notable that in these magical stories, they happen to be given huge power to work with). Boys are taught that they must wear themselves out, constantly putting themselves in danger and forcing their limits if they want to feel like they have worth or to “be a man”.
What would challenging or reversing these expectations be like? Hmm…
Sailor Moon, with Action Hero Conventions
Usagi is just a normal clumsy girl, but one day she sees a cat being harassed by some kids on the way to school. She saves the cat, discovers her name is Luna, and that she’s actually from another planet! There is a secret elite task force, known as the Sailor Scouts, who fight against aliens trying to take over the earth. Luna says that she came to Earth to look for a human who she could train to defeat the evil Queen Beryl, which will also earn the human the right to be the next ruler of the moon. Though Usagi finds it strange and a little scary, when some of Queen Beryl’s minions come down to earth and endanger her friends, she decides to begin her quest to become a Sailor Scout! She’ll have to learn to be more coordinated and pass the Sailor Scout exam first, then battle with other Sailor Scouts to convince them to join her party, but eventually she’ll build up the power and strength to take on Queen Beryl and to become the Queen of the Moon!
Hunter x Hunter, with Magical Girl Conventions
Gon is just a normal boy who loves nature. As he is walking through the woods one day, he meets a mysterious tall man, Kite. Kite says he recognizes him; he knew Gon’s father and knows that Gon has inherited something important: The blood of a Hunter, AKA someone fated to be a guardian of the island he lives on. He has also inherited a special move: “Rock”, a magical punch that can break through anything. There are a few other Hunters Gon must find, add to his party, and work together with to defeat the Phantom Troupe, an evil group with great powers who are trying to invade his peaceful island. Gon is excited to be a Hunter like his father, but right now he lives with his aunt who hates Hunters, so he has to sneak around when protecting his island so she doesn’t find out! It’s hard to balance being a normal kid and protecting his island, but with his new friends he hopes to do it all!
These are obviously simplifications of the plots of Sailor Moon and HxH, but it’s an interesting thought experiment. How would girls feel about a plot where a girl has to build up her powers and train? How would boys feel about a plot where the power/rank is almost never in question, but relationships and balancing responsibilities is? If you know any anime/manga that fit or challenge these patterns, I’d love to know your examples.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 03:59 am (UTC)This was a really cool read! I learned about this for the first time and wow I never thought about it that way, but it makes so much sense:
Really enjoyed this! And imagining Sailor Moon training montage is fun :D
no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 09:19 am (UTC)I'm gonna think about whether I've seen shoujo with training sequences, etc :D I wonder if isekai, which is often about a guy being thrown into another world and having new powers/responsibilities thrown onto him (Log Horizon comes to mind, and another hilarious one that was on Crunchyroll but the name escapes me right now. I think the "hero" had to also learn to get along with people/possibly form alliances or he would never be able to go home - but maybe that's a different kind of tropes.)
Interesting post!
no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 11:31 am (UTC)I'm not that familiar with shoujo stuff—my interests usually align with shounen fandoms—but this is super interesting. The few shoujo fandoms I'm vaguely familiar with dovetail with what you're describing.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 07:59 pm (UTC)Yeah there's a lot of literature on precarious manhood (and despite searching, I couldn't find a good source on the more "static womanhood" that it's usually briefly compared to in those articles). In more thorough discussions there's often comparisons to things like the quinceañera or how when someone first gets their period they're often told "you're a woman now"... It's a static marker from age/biology, whereas for men there's not always an equivalent, though some cultures may have a traditional "rite of passage" involving particular trials a boy should go through to become a man. There's even some literature that suggests part of the reason boys/men in modern western culture are often so insecure about their own masculinity is because there's not a common rite of passage they go through... it creates a need to CONSTANTLY reaffirm his own masculinity (especially surrounded by misogynists who sneer at and accuse men of femininity as a way to mock them). I think womanhood isn't as static or "easy" as the literature suggests (and again, the articles I found were frustratingly light on elaboration on womanhood), but masculinity seems particularly precarious and contingent on frequently doing rather than something set at a certain age (I think nowadays depending on your culture/friend-group/family, a guy might consider himself a "man" after losing his virginity, getting his first job, getting a car, going through some sort of frat hazing process... Again, all often based on doing something, and rarely associated with a set age).
And oooh isekai... There's definitely something to analyze there, but I don't have it in my brain yet. I'm also pretty focused on girl-centered and villainess isekai, so I don't think I have the full knowledge to compare it to male-centered isekai atm
no subject
Date: 2022-02-26 08:13 pm (UTC)Meanwhile with something like Tokyo Mew Mew, the main character is suddenly told she has cat powers she needs to use to defend the earth from aliens, and she can't tell anyone about it. She ends up taking a job at a cafe for part of her cover (though it is legitimately a job where she has to work and takes time away from other stuff), she has times when she falls behind on homework because she's so busy, and there's all sorts of drama with her crush/boyfriend because she keeps missing their dates to save the world.
I know I'm sort of rambling, but it's really fascinating to me that series aimed at boys tends to have a pretty central focus, where their conflicts revolve around battles and such, while series aimed at girls tend to have conflicts regarding balancing different areas of their lives. Of course when we get into shoujo in general there's plenty of variety, but for magical girls the work-life balance is usually pretty central.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-27 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-03 12:59 am (UTC)The Magical Girl just is the hero, while the Action Hero must become the hero.
Oooo that's really poignant and hits the genre differences right on the nose.
I've always resonated more with the Magical Girl genre than the Acton Hero. But I also lean towards shows that have more interpersonal growth/slice of life involved too.
Also if someone told me I had to go through training or A Tournament Arc I'd probably nope out LOL. But, if a magical cat handed me a wand and said "you're it. Get your game on" I'm far more likely to say "oh shit... guess I gotta".
How would girls feel about a plot where a girl has to build up her powers and train?
I would be faaaascinated to see someone take the shoujo trope and go that route.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-04 03:13 pm (UTC)To be honest a lot of Magical Girls start out super strong (barring the occasional power-up), and there's pretty much no doubt that they'll defeat the monster-of-the-episode, but it's those interpersonal dramas and work-life conflicts that keep me engaged (unlike in a shounen, where building up power/technique to beat a big bad tends to be the bread and butter of the plots).
no subject
Date: 2022-05-28 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-05 05:45 pm (UTC)