https://www.tumblr.com/lolivorous/802512523554373632/as-much-as-i-love-tcoaal-i-cant-help-but-feel-so?source=share
The reason why people say that it's misogyny is because when Ashley does remotely anything, antis immediately assume the worst of her and labeled her as "irredeemable" and a "master manipulator." They just see her character without taking the time to see her perspective on things and refuse to acknowledge her own trauma and abuse. It's very surface level reading.
Meanwhile, when Andrew does anything terrible, antis default it as "Ashley's fault" or "it's understandable" or that Ashley "ruined his life" when Andrew has made his own choices willingly and made things worse for the sake of being "normal" throughout the game. He's labeled as an "innocent victim" and has been receiving sympathy for the past 3 chapters when he's been gaslighting more than half of the fandom with his lies and mask.
I've seen so many Ashley haters spreading misinformation about her character that isn't even true in the game. They villainize her too much and the hate is unfairly targeted. I've yet to witness any false information about Andrew's character compared to Ashley.
I love Andrew, but come on now. The game even calls out his behavior. But for some reason, people with media illiteracy refuse to acknowledge that Andrew is a contradicting liar that's a hypocritical piece of shit who blames Ashley for his wrongdoings and manipulated people around him.
Not to mention there are still people after playing chapters 1-3 that wishes that Andrew and Julia would get back together when Andrew has been using his ex for his selfish reasons, cover-up for the incest rumors, secretly insults her appearance and writing, manipulated her so many times, hated being her boyfriend, wanted to kick her teeth in so she'd give him better oral sex, pities her and yet gave up on the relationship because it didn't alleviate Andrew's guilt, Julia was crying the whole time they had sex for the first time, uses her as a sex object for his feelings for Ashley, babytrapping Julia to be "normal," etc. This abusive relationship lasted 4-5 years and thank God Julia rejected Andrew and finally found out that she's afraid of him the whole time.
The game spells out that Ashley's problems are caused by his. Which makes sense because Andrew just loves giving mixed signals to Ashley and always pretends that nothing is wrong. It's no wonder why she has a hard time trusting him.
Anyways, it's all comes down to misogyny, biases, hypocrisy or projection with the way how people treat Ashley vs how people treat Andrew.
i totally get your points and you're absolutely right. but im not really making a point about antis. i think their opinions dont have much merit when they already have the most dogshit takes about the game entirely, you know?
i HAVE been called misogynistic for simple jokes on the game, by fans of the game, who are proship. people definitely have the right to point out misogyny when it comes to antis, since antis have a track record of being racist and everything. idc what theyre called lmfao.
im just noticing a pattern of everything getting cracked up to misogyny when ashley is criticized, or punching down on andrew to uplifting ashley (e.g. people who say ashley did nothing wrong and its all andrews fault cause he raised her or didnt teach her boundaries, or straight up deadnaming him for no good reason lmfao)
i do believe andrew caused a LOT of problems for ashley. thats what happens when a neglected child has to raise another neglected child. but i see people saying stuff like "andrew caused ashley's isolation and low self esteem" and such, and honestly it feels reductive to give either sibling all the fault for the way the other acts you know?
antis dont want to have genuine discussion on this game or its characters. they probably only listened to only one biased video essay talking about the "incest game". i totally think that misogyny influences their view on ashley. but again, i wasnt talking about them, theyre antis after all ๐ im just saying that its thrown around too loosely, and to deflect criticism on ashley in SOME!!!!! ๐๐๐๐๐โผ๏ธโผ๏ธโผ๏ธโ๏ธโ๏ธโฉ๏ธโฉ๏ธโฌ
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ashley is misunderstood as fuck. I agree. but I just dont think discussions about fiction, especially in non anti-spaces, should roll back in order to jump to identity based accusations like misogyny.
i just dont generally interact with antis, so i've had the pleasure of not having much first hand experience with those crazy ANDREW DID NOTHING WRONG!!1 people, im just speaking from experience with the more proship side of the fandom I guess.
(EDIT) and its clear ashley is written more insufferably than andrew. not in a "shes more abusive; shes more morally wrong" way, but shes just more chaotic. its not exactly something i could fully chalk up to misogyny. i honestly DO think if andrew acted the same as ashley everyone would hate him too and have no issue in depicting him like everyone does ashley, not that its right or respectful to either character. this is coming from an ashley kin too, lol, like i cant blame anyone for wanting to throttle her or disliking her more, its honestly just human nature? most people dont like loud ass bullies, like its a 50/50 gamble if anyone watching my hero academia would even like bakugo despite them liking a villain for example.