Harassment is not romantic
I started reading webtoons to practice Korean but I really enjoyed them and now I branched out and am reading them in English from authors all over the world. But one thing really bothers me, and this happens no matter if the author is from the US, UK, Indonesia, KoreaâŚÂ
95% of âromanticâ moments in webtoons are pure sexual abuse
I mean, is it really that difficult to write a consensual romantic encounter? Harassment is not romantic!
It should be simple enough:
- If the person is sleeping or unconscious DONâT kiss them or touch them, especially if they have never explicitly stated they want to be kissed and touched by you. Just wait until theyâre conscious and ask
- If the person (and this is especially true for female characters) says theyâre not interested, tell you to get away from them, ask you to get out of their bedroom etc. they are not confused, they are not just shy, they are not too innocent for their own good, you donât need to break their willpower, you donât need to give them confidence, itâs not sexy to ignore them and push on (and itâs not manly!). Just get away from them ASAP
- Female characters are not harmless just because theyâre female. If a guy asks them not to touch him and they still do, itâs not funny, itâs not cute, itâs sexual harassment and equally as bad as if the genders were reversed
- Male characters are not out-of-control beasts that have no power over their urges. To write them like this just because theyâre male is insulting to men and is teaching girls that this is normal. It is not. Male character being alone with a female character and wanting to express his liking for her shouldnât tell her that he canât control himself around her. This is not a way to write a man in love, this is a way to write a sexual predator.
Itâs even more worrying that commenters squeal with glee at moments like these and ship these kinds of couples.
