"Female nations are rare" headcanon

[kecen]

I just read a kink meme fill. It was an interesting topic, I liked it until...

I read an offhand remark in the fill that female nations were rare, implying that almost all of the nations were male.

WTF.

Just because Himaruya couldn't draw girls when he created Hetalia doesn't mean female nation-tans are rare! In real life, too, most countries have

Comments

[forlan]

It's true he hasn't exactly drawn the whole world yet, but looking at the current cast as a sample size, there are far more male nations than there are female. Who knows, maybe he'll make Africa and South America full of girls, but as of right now I'd say it's accurate when you look at canon.

Anyway, I don't think the gender ratio in real life is taken into account when he decides on a country's gender.

[qualapec]

And the gender ratio might not be taken into account, but I think it's necessary to remember that half the people in the world are female.

[forlan]

--lol, yeah, but I don't think Himaruya really takes that into account? I don't think he's trying to make any sort of statement. He's stated in the past that he just plain can't draw girls. He prefers drawing men, maybe he finds male characters easier to write (it happens! my own characters are very skewed because I find female characters much easier to create) and hey, he caters to the fandom as well. It's important to note that he's definitely gotten more confident drawing/characterizing women, because the ratio has increased from the days of lonely old Hungary.

I love strong female characters, and I would love more of them, but I don't think the fact that there are more male characters than female is in itself sexist. tbh I have more of an issue with which nations are female - generally, the smaller, less influential ones, while the powerful and imperialistic ones are all male.

[vurmie]

But you can't forget that Himaruya had already created many of the well-known "big boys" of the world and personified them as male. This sort of makes him run out of room for creating an equal amount of powerful females.

But he does compensate with Nyotalia and Hungary's badassery, so I guess he got even...

[arachnes_web]

But you can't forget that Himaruya had already created many of the well-known "big boys" of the world and personified them as male.

All the more reason for him to make India and Brazil female. Ireland and Mexico would be nice too.

[vurmie]

I already consider India and Mexico to be female, even if they haven't been created yet. Although I think Ireland was mentioned as England's brother at some point, so unless that's retconned I think we're having a male Ireland.

[arachnes_web]

It was Northern Ireland that was mentioned as England's brother. At one point he said he wanted to make Ireland (ROI) a female because the dress would be cute to draw.

[vurmie]

...I totally didn't just forget Wales when I counted England's three brothers.

But I looked into the female Ireland he expressed interest in creating, and he seems like he thought a "'crybaby' type of girl" would work, which sounds a bit submissive seeing as we're desiring stronger female characters.

[arachnes_web]

yeah...he also said that Northern Ireland was the oldest of the brothers which makes no sense at all (he should barely be older than Sealand). So I chalk that up to him not doing any real research other than on the national dress...because it's IRELAND...if any girl's going to be more hardcore than Hungary it's Ireland.

*desperately wants to see some PirateQueen!Ireland, raiding England's ships stealing the stuff he stole from Spain*

[vurmie]

The whole age issue was also a reason it would make sense to have a single Ireland character with dual governing, but I can see some problems arise with that one.

She also apparently has bigger, bushier eyebrows than England, which she could rock by either being a badass or MOE MOE KYUUUN.

[forlan]

Hence the generally. Belgium is an exception, but I don't think its presence in the Congo is really comparable to the military strength of any of the male nations.

[forlan]

Why does everyone sound like they're saying Himaruya's tendency to make main characters male a sexist conspiracy? It just so happens that the majority of main character ARE powerful countries, but maybe the reason why they are all male is because he wanted a show with lots of male characters (maybe because he likes writing/drawing guys better; a harmless preference) and all of this is just chance?