Ivan & Misogyny
Apparently, people think that because Ivan doesn't consider the feelings of girls who confess to him/steals their attention when he suspects they're into Till he's a misogynist.
I've also seen people say this is also because he bothers Sua intentionally, but the little shit does that to Till as well so I scrap this one immediately. I fear this is not a gendered thing. I saw someone say Ivan uses his position as a man to his advantage, though unintentionally, as a defence to his character for the people hating him, but even so, I fear that applying the same logic of our modern society onto the characters of Alien Stage within the environment of Alien Stage doesn't make any sense. One (and if his is me not seeing something, then please call me out), Alien Stage hasn't, IMO, shown favouritism towards characters based off gender. The system of oppression is Aliens vs People, not men vs women. That isn't to imply that there aren't panels/comics that showcase the unique experiences of the men vs the women (Mizi's ability to adopt a harmless and 'lovely' personality does stem, partly, on her being a pretty girl), but it isn't stressed or extremely prevalent. Using the Mizi thing I mentioned earlier, for instance, I don't think this is exclusive to her because she is a woman, it's easier because she looks softer, but someone like Luka could easily do the same thing considering how gentle his appearance is.
Ivan also has no real understanding or grounding in emotion. Him being raised in the slums made it very difficult for him to socialise and empathise with people. He learns to put on an act the more time he spends in ANAKT with other people and can gage what is appropriate and makes him likeable and what doesn't, but that doesn't mean he understands why he has to behave that way, necessarily. He adopts the persona for his survival mostly. He has a very shallow understanding of his own feelings, so when he asks out those girls only to neglect them, it isn't malicious, and has nothing to do with him being a boy taking advantage of girls. He'd do this if it were men confessing to him too, since the only reason he accepts these confessions is out of boredom. Ivan is also gay, so naturally, the relationships would come to an end since he's not even interested in women at all.
For this to be misogyny, it would have to be grounded in either a hatred or feeling of superiority towards woman, because of being a man. Not only does Ivan not believe that, nor is it implied anywhere, but there is no gender hierarchy (that has been implied/established) in Alien Sage. (Again, if I'm missing something, please do tell me.)
This argument also, again, falls flat because it doesn't contextualise the environment of Alien Stage. By this argument, Till's crush on Mizi can be interpreted as misogynistic in that his view of her as sweet and pure and untainted can stem from the infantilisation of women. But this wouldn't make sense necessarily for Alien Stage because we know Mizi does put on that act for survival, and there isn't a based logic that women are inferior or weaker than men in Alien Stage. Mizi's case stems from who her 'parents' are; not her identity as a woman.
The people are pets. Do we apply the logics of sexism to animals? (I would call this comparison a little crude considering the people in Alien Stage have more free will and intelligence than animals, but it's just to put into perspective how the characters are seen, and socialised. Their understanding of autonomy and how much they think they're allowed to do is very limited; they are pets, not people. Especially those who were raised solely within ANAKT, like Luka. That's why it's difficult to condemn his actions against Hyunwoo. He didn't know death was permanent, and has not understanding of family, or healthy love) Again, Alien Stage operates on a system of oppression between Aliens and Humans. Not the sexes, or genders.
If you want to apply modern logic to Alien Stage, then I can see the argument that some of his actions might be rooted in misogyny unintentionally. But genuinely it bothers me so much how many people read or analyse the Alien Stage relationships and characters as if they're existing in our modern world ruled by our logic. (I feel this way about how people view the kiss scene between Ivan and Till in r6). They are in an apocalyptic world, being treated as subhuman, and essentially doing whatever they can to survive and stay tethered to the remnants of humanity that exists within them. They rebel the only way they know how because it is human to want independence and freedom, and it is human to feel.
