I’m still upset about Momo
…And it’s not about her outfit.
Okay so like. I caught up in bnha recently, and it’s great and fun and much better than your run of the mill shonen. The characters are great and engaging, and all that, but I just want to make a comment about my gal momo:
And like, I know the subject of her outfit has been beaten to death, and that is definitely one of the things that pisses me off because it’s 100% designed to sexualize a 15-year-old, but that’s not even what has pissed me off the most.
It’s not even Mineta’s lecherous actions during the Tournament Arc, or even that stupid pointless cheerleader scene.
That’s all run of the mill genre grossness, and I hate it but it didn’t piss me off nearly as much as her internship:
For all intents and purposes, this is probably the most benign form of sexism Momo’s dealt with so far, but it struck a particular chord with me…and I honestly think it’s far more insidious than the more blatant displays.
So, basically, at the start of all this, Momo is reeling from a blow to her self esteem after the tournament arc, and signs on with a well known Pro Hero, Uwabami, for her internship. However, she and the other intern are quickly brought into Uwabami’s glamorous lifestyle, acting as PR people and background props in her commercial.
This is the first female-female mentorship that we see in an entire series about mentorship, and I was sorely, sorely disappointed.
I work in a male-dominated field, and let me tell you it is not a compliment to be told:
“Yes I know you’re smart and capable, but I don’t care. I hired you, first and foremost, for your pretty face.”
So here we have a brilliant 15-year-old girl, who is already struggling with her self-confidence, brought under the mentorship of a powerful and influential woman. And instead of creating a situation that would help foster these students, it’s instead communicated that none of their efforts really mattered. That it matters most that they look nice, and put on a show. And it’s played off as a joke, as though this is the way things are and it’s hilarious that Momo should hope for anything other than that.
The fact that it’s a female mentor figure sending these messages? It’s like a kick in the teeth.
And maybe at this point it seems like I’m hounding on a small plot point, and it’s true that I had an intense rush of empathy for Momo due to personal experience, but I think that here lies the core issue with sexism in BNHA. The concept of, “Yes you’re smart and capable, but I only hired you for your pretty face” is the recurring theme with almost every female lead.
Do any of the female characters get seriously beaten and battered in conflict, to the extent that we see happening to Deku? No.
Do any of the female characters have to face inner demons and potential darkness like Iida? No.
Do any of the female characters struggle with physical and emotional abuse like Todoroki? No.
Heck, do we even get to see any of the girls being outright bad, and portrayed with the same villainous inclinations we see in Bakugou? No.
Even in the tournament arc, the girls are more often pushed out of bounds, rather than suffer the heat of battle. And I know that Ochako has a moment to shine in her fight with Bakugou, but that is the first and only chance we really get to see her or any of the girls in that capacity.
All of their character arcs are short and sweet, dealing with simpler issues of self confidence and image. We, as an audience, are not allowed to see them as anything less than cute, pretty, and pure–both physically and in their ideologies. They aren’t allowed to suffer from murderous rage, or be seriously injured, because that would sully that perfect image.
In other words, as interesting as they are, they’re literally only there to fill the space. They’re only there to look at. They’re fascinating characters, but underutilized to the point that it’s hardly worth praising as ‘progressive.’
Basically, the theme of the female characters of this series is:
“Yes I know you’re smart and capable, but I don’t care. I hired you, first and foremost, for your pretty face.”
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