one piece essay: boa hancock

[hsiuism]

((So by "Monday" I apparently really meant "Thursday night". But whatever; this thing takes up 7 pages on MS Word so I hope you've got a nice big mug of tea.))

Disclaimers and Notes: this post contains spoilers for the most recent arc, especially chapters 516, 517, and 518. Questions, comments, discussion, and arguments are welcome; statements

Comments

[cupcakesusie]

Well, here's an issue I think is a problem. Take Zoro's protecting of Robin in SkyPeia for example: within the story it makes him seem a sympathetic character and we can empathize with his 'heroic' nature in not wanting to see a female be hurt. But in the real world that sort of thing could be misconstrued as him being sexist in that he thinks a female being hurt like that is worse than a man getting the same treatment.

On the opposite end of the spectrum though, if he were to show the same 'lack of concern' to Robin over her injury as he did with the male members of the crew (sans Luffy, of course), within the story it would make him look rather heartless/less sympathetic and without the story (i.e. us here in the real world) it could be misconstrued as Oda belittling violence against women by using it as a plot device.*

It's a lose-lose situation, really.

As for Boa Hancock, I also read her statements about being forgiven because she's beautiful as being tongue-in-cheek. I think ultimately when she fights Luffy and has to rely on her own strength rather than what's worked for her so many times in the past she'll actually be grateful to him for indirectly helping her to get stronger (and I don't find that sexist at all, to be honest). It's like the problem Ace had: he was too reliant on his Devil Fruit powers to bother with improving himself significantly in other ways because his DF powers had always worked before.

[3goodtimes]

Personally, I think Zoro could have shown concern for Robin without bringing up her gender. Maybe a grimace or an exclamation. Maybe jumping into the fight. I doubt it would have been misconstrued as belittling violence against women because Robin is a fighter with strength and abilities. She's not an abused woman or a damsel in distress, she's an opponant to Enel.

Also, there has been violence involving women throughout the entire manga. So yeah, I gotta disagree with you on that point.