(no subject)
I had responded to luna_hoshino's defense of female characters, but I had been a week late to the party so no luck getting a response thus far at least. I admit I'm guilty of saying stuff against the opposite sex due to their behavior. But this has to do with personal issues. (Which is why am I upset at the opposite sex even though they're in a similar boat to lastborns, whom I was eager to defend.) I'm still supportive of characters like Hinata Hyuuga from Naruto, or Paula from EarthBound. I can at least say something as a theory as to why female characters are often the ones being bashed.
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You may have noticed that I said that females are in a similar boat to lastborns. Well, here's a list of traits of lastborns that I wrote down (note that it isn't necessarily a complete list; the list I wrote has 0 to 3 check marks next to each trait depending on how strongly I have the trait, and I was to a point looking for negative traits due to the conversation I wrote the list for):
*Manipulative
*Charming
*Blames others
*Show-off
*People person
*Good salesperson
*Precocious
*Carefree
*Vivacious
*Joker
*Simple
*Absent-minded
*Outgoing
*Rebellious
*Critical
*Temperamental
*Spoiled
*Impatient
*Impetuous
*Odd
*Control-seeking
*Prince(ss)-like
That's 22 traits total. Now what fits girls? Well, charming sure as hell does (3 points) and so can manipulative (2 points). Blames others? That's a possibly (1 point). Show-off. No. People person is definite (3 points) and good salesperson......they have their looks for that. (3 points) Precocious? Well, they're certainly highly capable of lying if they can abuse it. (3 points) Carefree....2 points there. And they're vivacious if they are overjoyed by shopping or whatnot. 3 points there. Joker....I give 1 point for that. Simple? Nope. Absent-minded....somehow, I don't think so. 1 point at the most. Outgoing, definitely. 3 points there. Rebellious...nope. Critical, however, is a different story, 3 points there. Temperamental? Not really, but 1 point there. Spoiled, though, deserves the full 3. Impatient? I don't think so. No points there. Impetuous....1 point. Odd is definite, 3 points there. Control-seeking and Prince(ss)-like are definite, 3 points each.
Final score: 41/66; it would be about 61 points on a 100 point scale.
Okay, so maybe girls and lastborns aren't altogether alike, even if both are often affectionate. Nevertheless, they're both practically the mages. Girls are often physically weaker than boys, while lastborns are plagued by sibling rivalry due to being less experienced. Both usually learn to compensate by being savvy.
The thing is, people can't identify a person's standing in birth order by looking at them or even checking their personality, whereas a person's gender can, most likely, be identified with a quick glance. Even if that wasn't the case, a lastborn has any variable (even if small) number of siblings, and there are only two genders.
So why is it female characters who more often show up as the defended characters on this community? Simple: gender-bias. Characters like Sasuke Uchiha had usually been bashed, yes, but I'm much mistaken if it isn't usually for individual traits. I don't recall him being bashed on a charge of getting in the way of a Sakura shipping with somebody else like Naruto or Rock Lee.
Thing is, lastborns get passed off as spoiled brats because people don't care why they're the way they are. Girls don't have to work to get people on their side, just by appearing to be vulnerable. But being a coward of low order involves abusing one's security, no matter what form the security takes.
This does make girl bashers sound like they're bullies, but hear me out. Females can be bullies too. All they have to do is manipulate others and they can make others unable to attack them without seriously regretting it. It doesn't even help that there's even gender-bias to help them milk this for what it's worth.
I'm not saying female characters are bullies. Some, such as Hinata Hyuuga, are completely and unquestionably nice. It's a shock they're still bashed, even if they can be smarter than they seem.
I think the underlying problem is absolutism.
Think about it: lastborns are passed off as not to be taken seriously often. Either we have the ones who keep their mouths shut and they get kicked around and accused of not having a backbone. Or we have the ones who do something and they come across as spoiled brats, the ultimate excuse for bashing a character. Either way, they lose.
Females? It's a similar case. The nice ones are accused of being spineless, and the others are accused of being too butch. Anybody want to bet boys have issues about girls they feel are too imbalanced? You can guess what I'm guilty of doing, although it's pretty much due to pretty much personal issues. I actually don't mind if girls want to prove their asses aren't hard to kick as most people would believe, so much as I mind being annoyed by them.
Remember this, boys and girls: magicians aren't the first-class threats you can make them out to be.
Comments? Questions? Stupid dog tricks?
--
You may have noticed that I said that females are in a similar boat to lastborns. Well, here's a list of traits of lastborns that I wrote down (note that it isn't necessarily a complete list; the list I wrote has 0 to 3 check marks next to each trait depending on how strongly I have the trait, and I was to a point looking for negative traits due to the conversation I wrote the list for):
*Manipulative
*Charming
*Blames others
*Show-off
*People person
*Good salesperson
*Precocious
*Carefree
*Vivacious
*Joker
*Simple
*Absent-minded
*Outgoing
*Rebellious
*Critical
*Temperamental
*Spoiled
*Impatient
*Impetuous
*Odd
*Control-seeking
*Prince(ss)-like
That's 22 traits total. Now what fits girls? Well, charming sure as hell does (3 points) and so can manipulative (2 points). Blames others? That's a possibly (1 point). Show-off. No. People person is definite (3 points) and good salesperson......they have their looks for that. (3 points) Precocious? Well, they're certainly highly capable of lying if they can abuse it. (3 points) Carefree....2 points there. And they're vivacious if they are overjoyed by shopping or whatnot. 3 points there. Joker....I give 1 point for that. Simple? Nope. Absent-minded....somehow, I don't think so. 1 point at the most. Outgoing, definitely. 3 points there. Rebellious...nope. Critical, however, is a different story, 3 points there. Temperamental? Not really, but 1 point there. Spoiled, though, deserves the full 3. Impatient? I don't think so. No points there. Impetuous....1 point. Odd is definite, 3 points there. Control-seeking and Prince(ss)-like are definite, 3 points each.
Final score: 41/66; it would be about 61 points on a 100 point scale.
Okay, so maybe girls and lastborns aren't altogether alike, even if both are often affectionate. Nevertheless, they're both practically the mages. Girls are often physically weaker than boys, while lastborns are plagued by sibling rivalry due to being less experienced. Both usually learn to compensate by being savvy.
The thing is, people can't identify a person's standing in birth order by looking at them or even checking their personality, whereas a person's gender can, most likely, be identified with a quick glance. Even if that wasn't the case, a lastborn has any variable (even if small) number of siblings, and there are only two genders.
So why is it female characters who more often show up as the defended characters on this community? Simple: gender-bias. Characters like Sasuke Uchiha had usually been bashed, yes, but I'm much mistaken if it isn't usually for individual traits. I don't recall him being bashed on a charge of getting in the way of a Sakura shipping with somebody else like Naruto or Rock Lee.
Thing is, lastborns get passed off as spoiled brats because people don't care why they're the way they are. Girls don't have to work to get people on their side, just by appearing to be vulnerable. But being a coward of low order involves abusing one's security, no matter what form the security takes.
This does make girl bashers sound like they're bullies, but hear me out. Females can be bullies too. All they have to do is manipulate others and they can make others unable to attack them without seriously regretting it. It doesn't even help that there's even gender-bias to help them milk this for what it's worth.
I'm not saying female characters are bullies. Some, such as Hinata Hyuuga, are completely and unquestionably nice. It's a shock they're still bashed, even if they can be smarter than they seem.
I think the underlying problem is absolutism.
Think about it: lastborns are passed off as not to be taken seriously often. Either we have the ones who keep their mouths shut and they get kicked around and accused of not having a backbone. Or we have the ones who do something and they come across as spoiled brats, the ultimate excuse for bashing a character. Either way, they lose.
Females? It's a similar case. The nice ones are accused of being spineless, and the others are accused of being too butch. Anybody want to bet boys have issues about girls they feel are too imbalanced? You can guess what I'm guilty of doing, although it's pretty much due to pretty much personal issues. I actually don't mind if girls want to prove their asses aren't hard to kick as most people would believe, so much as I mind being annoyed by them.
Remember this, boys and girls: magicians aren't the first-class threats you can make them out to be.
Comments? Questions? Stupid dog tricks?