I've been wanting to write about Kishimoto's misogyny present in Naruto. I find that in the sns fandom we're often hesitant to talk about it because we feel it might undermine our ship, after all "Naruto and Sasuke are accidentally gay because Kishimoto can't write women" is one of the most prevalent anti arguments we're constantly hit with. However, like other blogs have written, I don't think Kishimoto's writing on women created an accidental byproduct in his writing when it comes to Sasuke and Naruto's relationship. If anything, I find the way Kishimoto writes women supports the notion that Kishimoto knew what he was doing when writing Naruto and Sasuke's homoerotic bond.
Because the way I see it, Kishimoto writes women like a petty fujoshi.
Naruto is a shonen, so like every other shonen it will have a male main character, it will focus on its male characters the most and the bonds between male characters will be usually the most important ones. The writing of female characters tends to not be as compelling as the one their male counterparts receive. The target audience is not that interested in them so the writers oftentimes won't invest their time developing them any further.
This is the case of Sakura, who was introduced as the heroine of the story, potential love interest and the only female character of the main cast. Kishimoto saw she wasn't well received in the audience and didn't bother to give her any more background.
So why do I say that Kishimoto writes the way a petty fujoshi does? The first reason is Kishimoto seems to hold the belief that women can't be friends with one another and see each other as competition for the attention of men, amongst other undesirable traits. The second reason is Kishimoto seems to hold contempt especifically for the female characters that come in between the pair he actually likes, Naruto and Sasuke.
To explain further the first reason. In the interview with Kobayashi I already linked, Kishimoto expressed he wrote Sakura seeking to create a "realistic female character" but was surprised when the female audience of Naruto showed their dislike for her. So let's stop for a moment here and think about what makes Sakura "realistic" in the eyes of Kishimoto. In part 1 she cared more about her physical appearance over training and becoming a better ninja, so there's the first "realistic" trait Kishimoto gave her, Sakura is vain. Sakura doesn't care about the feelings of Sasuke or Naruto and mocks them for being orphans or undermines whatever trauma they've been through and compares her parents annoying her to literal genocide, so those are the second and third "realistic" traits Kishimoto gave her, Sakura is insensitive and superficial. Sakura doesn't have any female friends and sees every other girl as a threat to her, she's in constant competition to get Sasuke which stops her from nurturing real friendships with other women, that's the fourth "realistic" trait Kishimoto gave her, Sakura is insecure about other women. Plus all her constant crying and whining we see throughout the series.
So we learn through Sakura what Kishimoto considers to be "realistic traits" in women, he thinks women can't be friends with one another because we're in constant competition over the attention of men, he thinks we care too much about our physical appearance which in turn makes us too incompetent for other tasks, he also thinks we're so full of ourselves we are not capable of understanding somebody else's pain (or maybe a man's pain?)
Is this bad writing? not necessarily, Sakura still fulfills her role in the series (after all this is a love triangle where she and Naruto are competing over Sasuke) but is it misogynistic writing? yes, it very much is. People seem to think that if you have misogynistic or racist or any other type of bigoted writing in your work then it's bad writing but if that was the case more than half of classic literature would be terrible and we know that's not the case.
Now let's move to the second reason. Kishimoto holds a particular contempt for the women that come in between Naruto and Sasuke, if you don't ship sns it may be harder to spot because you see it as a broader misogyny when it's not. What do I mean by this? There's is specific violence Kishimoto reserves exclusively for the Naruto and Sasuke's potential love interests: Karin, Hinata and Sakura. You don't see this violence perpetrated against other female characters.
There is this misogynistic violence Kishimoto writes against those three girls in which he basically uses them as a punching bag. Even though those three girls are ninjas the scenarios in which Kishimoto puts them don't allow them to defend themselves, in fact, they're not even given the chance to enter the battlefield as skilled fighters like other characters (whether they win or lose).
Let's start with Hinata. In chapter 437 she confesses to Naruto and enters the battlefield knowing she's gonna lose and very probably die
She then gets one-paneled and if it wasn't for Sakura she would've died. A pretty humilliating moment where she can't hit, not once, the enemy. Kishimoto used her as a prop for a bigger arc for more important characters (Naruto hearing the confession he'd then repeat to Sasuke at the bridge) only to then discard her. He cares so little about her as a character he gave zero importance to her confession making Naruto ignore her and not interact with her for several of the following chapters.
It's very different from the way he had written Hinata in her fight against Neji during the Chuunin exams.
Hinata is still a prop here. She's written to support Neji's arc and development rather than her own but Kishimoto still allows her to enter the battlefield as a ninja who will be able to fight against her opponent "with more dignity" to put it in some way. In both fights her opponent is much stronger than her and she knows she will lose, but she's given more respect as a character in one over the other.
Now let's move to Karin. In chapter 480 Sasuke is fighting Danzo while suffering from a total mental breakdown. Kishimoto has him stab Karin and almost kill her.
The point here is to show Sasuke succumbing to darkness he'd even do that to his most loyal follower. But it's also the most brutal form of violence we see against a woman in the manga. Karin, unlike Hinata didn't enter any battle nor was she fighting against Sasuke knowing the risks. Unlike Sakura, Karin wasn't making any insensitive comments about Sasuke that would "provoke him" or anything either. Karin was just there.
And just like with Hinata's confession, Kishimoto shows zero respect to Karin that he treats Sasuke's apology to her as comic-relief. Like the way Karin and Orochimaru get giddy over getting stabbed by Sasuke like okay...
Then you have Sakura who is constantly the victim of Kishimoto's ridicule because she's part of the main cast. Kishimoto wrote Sakura to be kind of an incompetent ninja which feels more jarring when you consider she's part of team 7 and Kishimoto gave all these power-ups to Naruto and Sasuke. In the Kobayashi interview Kishimoto admits the only reason Sakura got to be trained by a Sannin like her teammates is because he had already drawn and submitted a cover where she appears alongside Naruto and Sasuke with the toad, the snake and the snail creating a dynamic for the three of them on which he could not backtrack.
But where Kishimoto's contempt for Sakura is 100% on display is during her final confession. Everytime Kishimoto wants to write an emotional moment between Naruto and Sasuke (VotE1, the Bridge reunion or VotE2) he always has Sakura interact with Sasuke first.
The idea is to juxtapose Sakura's shallow feelings for Sasuke with Naruto's unconditional devotion for Sasuke. But during this confession Sasuke takes it way too far by putting Sakura under a genjutsu that renders her unconscious which is basically psychological torture.
This is Kishimoto mocking Sakura and her stans. It's a full circle moment back to chapter 36, right at the beginning of the chuunin exams arc where Sasuke had praised Sakura's abilities to spot genjutsus (one of the few positive moments these two have) and she was also the member of team 7 with the best skills to escape genjutsu. Now, out pettiness, Sasuke's the one putting Sakura into a genjustu without her knowing how to counter it.
It almost feels like Kishimoto is so annoyed by them he sees them like bugs he's steps on and then pushes aside with his shoe. None of this brutal misogynistic violence is perpetrated against other female characters.
Even when female characters lose fights as is the case of Konan against Obito or Tsunade against Madara, Kishimoto grants them the grace to enter the battlefield as competent ninjas that will be given the space to fight to their best of their ability instead of just receiving punch after punch. Obito and Madara show their respect for both women acknowledging they're capable kunoichis in the battlefield.
But then again neither Konan nor Tsunade are Naruto or Sasuke's potential love interests.
If anything we should all be thankful SasuIno never took off when Ino was introduced into the series because then Shonen Jump would've made Kishimoto write some fanservice about them and as payback Kishimoto would've treated Ino horribly.
All her development we see in the 4th Great War arc would've never happened.
Kishimoto doesn't have a problem writing heterosexual romance either, when he wants to he will give you lovely love stories between a man and a woman, he just doesn't like SS or NH or SK or NRSK or any het!ship involving Naruto and Sasuke hence the lackluster writing for them.
So Kishimoto doesn't hate all women or is incapable of writing them (although he definitely doesn't have the same interest in them as much as he does for men), he also won't sexualize them the way other shonen mangakas (including Ikemoto) do, instead he writes like a petty fujoshi that likes humilliating the girls that could separate the gay ship he likes, kinda why after SS and NH became endgame he left Karin alone but kept using Sakura and Hinata as his punching bags. It's a very specific type of misogyny that I don't see other stans outside of a few sns shippers talk about.
Kishimoto himself admitted that he didn't do any reasearch on how to write women until he had to write Naruto Gaiden, mind you by this time he had been professionally writing manga for 20 years. Yet I still had people in my mentions telling me Kishimoto isn't a misogynistic writer, please.
And you can tell Kishimoto did his research, because Sarada and Chouchou's writing is very different from the writing of other female characters in Naruto, even if Kishimoto feels the research is more reflected on Chouchou than Sarada.
Sarada is allowed to have a female friend in whom she can trust and can go to when she's at her lowest, it's a very cute friendship that she has. Something Sakura doesn't have. Sarada's struggles are treated with more care and her writing respects her girl childlike sensibilities in a way we didn't really see for other female characters in prior years. Sarada also feels very human in the sense she can fuck up and be insecure at times but the story still granting her grace to let her grow and learn.
Sakura on the other hand, never truly grows and changes, and Kishimoto can't "fix her" now like some people would want because her character is already well established and her horrid behavior has been rewarded by letting her get the only thing she's ever wanted: Sasuke.
Now, the reason why that marriage sucks is because Kishimoto also needs to keep in consideration Sasuke's character, and making him fall irrevocably in love with Sakura like SS shippers dream would be extremely out of character for Sasuke and what's been established about him during the series.
The Creation of the Uchiha outcaste-order: the significance in their relocation and duty within the KPD framework (Pt.1)
Assigning the Uchiha to police the village (and by extension having them superintend both the prison system and KMPF), isn't the concession the pro Tobirama crowd would make it out to be.
I've taken the liberty of selecting a few iconic phrases used in certain bloggers' metas, and tweaking them here and there:
In an effort to reduce the distance between the community and the Uchiha, Tobirama gave them control of the police force.
When Uchiha supporters attempt to attribute Tpbirama's role in the Uchiha being arrogant and bad cops, you know they are illiterate.. As if it's Tobirama's responsibility to instill moral character in them!
No amount of discourse can make the law enforcement / KPD some malicious scheme to oppress them (the Uchiha) since it is an intrinsically strong position in every community.
The Uchiha were haughty, dishonest police. Let the police take responsibility. Even Orochimaru could see that the Uchiha were dishonest and corrupt.
I detest this conviction that Tobirama's establishment of the Konoha Police Force and having placed the Uchiha in charge of its supervision was some brave and peaceful endeavour, as if it were the epitome of the wise leader's deeds, because it's fundamentally flawed - at a conceptual level, it's quite simple to debunk Tobirama's ostensible moral superiority in this, but this isn't what I'm endeavouring in this specific part 1 meta; rather, I'd like to tackle the matter by piecing together a series of historical notions that serve as parallels to the Narutoverse.
I've already spoken amply of my interpretation of Tobirama's character and how his actions profoundly reflect the Fascist ideology here, here and here, just in case it slipped anyone's attention — Konoha is far from representing a just system and as it lacks the basic attributes of what it means to be "good", which can be interpreted in various ways, the most striking being that it's just a better-oiled war-machine as opposed to the feuding clan system. And that's Tobirama's doing, mind you.
So what exactly occurred with the Uchiha and how were they rendered an outcaste-order?
Now, there's a fascinating significance in the notion that the Uchiha were forcefully stationed at the margins of the village, in proximity of the Leaf's prison, as stated by Orochimaru (a notion partially confirmed by Obito, though his testimony is a little fickle):
Kishimoto was truly brilliant in the ways in which he mapped out striking parallels between the Universe he created and shinto and buddhist mythos - And It's no secret that Kishimoto drew much of his inspiration directly from medieval Japanese history: exaltation of Bushido code of honour practices, heavy references to the Edo period, to the Meiji restoration, and so on and so forth... And this is where another fascinating theme correlates to the Narutoverse and specifically the Uchiha.
I'd like to thank @komehyappyou for providing wonderful information and giving me the input to write this short meta!
Introduction
Throughout its history, Japanese culture has stigmatised particular groups of persons or professions as "defiled," or as being below the majority and removed from society. Groups that have been labeled as "polluted" or "base" have done so in accordance with a variety of overlapping, historically varied, though occasionally contradicting criteria — However, one particular cause of marginalisation is indisputable: prejudice was formalised and supported by governmental power, creating inflexible, caste-like classifications.
So instead of focusing on hygiene, purported binary structures in the "Japanese mind," or the eternal truths of Buddhist or Shinto doctrine, one must first examine historically evolving political, economic, and sociocultural forces in order to understand why some people were labeled as vile, contaminated, outside of society, or even "nonhuman."
Kawaramono, Kawata and Eta : discriminants and descriminative epiteths
One particular classification struck me: the "riverbed person(s)" (kawaramono or kawara no mono, who were mainly distinguished as leather artisans), constitutes a genre of discriminated people, frequently seen in medieval texts, notably during the Muromachi period; Kawata people, similarly, can be classified as a kawaramono subgroup.
And while this may be a conceptual forcing of interpretations, done by yours truly, I do think it's quite uncanny that Madara and Hashirama's first encounter would occur by... a river:
Eta/Kawata people were frequently associated with hunting, and, by extension, falconry - and in fact, because of the syncretic religious ideas that developed during these times, killing an animal was connected with ritual impurity, therefor guilds that relied on it for their livelihoods were socially and physically segregated from "legitimate" society. Eta was hence the name given to such outcasts.
In medieval writings, "kawaramono" and "hinin" (another marginalised group that loosely translates to "nonhuman") were not always legally, politically, or ideologically distinct from people who lived in "sanjo" ("scattered" or marginal areas) or from a number of other types whose names vary depending on the era and local customs —The term "eta" (sometimes [y]etta, or enta), which was frequently written with the characters "much pollution," especially after the fifteenth century, and which served as a particularly insulting epithet applied primarily to "kawaramono," suggests that at least some outcasts were subject to gradually increasing levels of discrimination.
Relocation
Economic factors during the late medieval period also contributed to their unfair treatment; tanners and leather artisans (specifically Kawata) had been in high demand by military houses during the lengthy civil wars.
Furthermore, influential warlords and powerful Buddhist temples attempted to ensure a constant supply of leather goods for their armies beginning in the sixteenth century at the latest by giving monopoly rights and privileges to leather makers and leather artists.
However, these obligations and benefits distinguished the kawata from the general populace, who were already frequently associated with discriminatory sorts of kawaramono due to their line of work.
Differences between 'kawata' and "majority society" were fortified when they were relocated to the outskirts of town, where they could more easily be delimited, measured and exploited.
During the Edo period, those who resided on the periphery of a community, in proximity of the prison system, became in fact known as Eta 穢多 (impure) or 非人 "nonhuman".
Kawata as prison guards and executioners
This is the most striking correlation of them all: Kawata were forced to work as executioners or prison guards, which further deepened the rift that separated them from the common majority.
"Majority society," which had for centuries been fed on Buddhist notions regarding the sinfulness of butchering, Shinto taboos on death and pollution, and political ideologies in which the supposed "purity" of the imperial house was used to support the authority of military regimes, was only too happy to relegate the kawata to a position of subordination.
Many of the official tasks of kawata/eta came to be associated with prehistoric ideas of "pollution," such as skinning and disposing of dead animals, executing prisoners, maintaining the bakufu jail secure and clean, working at the two tame, transporting prisoners, capturing illegal beggars, tattooing prisoners, and parading them through town.
The following screenshot is from a conversation with @komehyappyo:
Kawata/eta were hence attributed the role of "unclean work" by the shogunate in order to divert resentment away from the government and towards them instead, as they were also known as "dogs of the government" (a historical phrase for low level police personnel who patrol, apprehend criminals, prison guards, and execute executions).
Surely, surely, just about anyone can see the similitudes to the Uchiha, through this comparison? The Uchiha serve as a stand-in metaphor of the marginalised Kawata/Eta groups, ethnicities that suffered severe forms of ostracisation well into modern times!
I hope this debunks the assumption that the Uchiha, despite having been assigned to a function that exerted authority, didn't possess any authority at all: it was all just a ruse, an artifice to have them confined in an exploitable role, one that was subject to constant surveillance and curtailing as they were quite literally considered impure (CoH anyone?)
What this means is that, yes, societal schisms are often relevant, but such divisions aren't a sufficient condition to become precursors of genocide - State action is always essential in transforming ingrained beliefs about group dominance or differences into systematic butchery of an ethnic group of people.
To add, Hashirama meets Madara specifically in 河原kawara/riverbed, making reference to 賽の河原sainokawara.
In databooks tonosho307, it says that the Uchiha lived in the basin of the Nakano river and that Nakano shrine is specifically Uchiha clan's ujigami shrine...uhhh... later topic for another day: history of ujigami shrines and how shinto is practiced... things like 人生儀礼jinseigirei/ coming of age rituals, 祭matsuri, like spring/autumn, jichinsai, Meiji period changes which ended up destroying many shrines/temples.
I want make some additions, clarifications, etc. The connections/links make me uncomfortable given story context. This is a rather taboo topic, but I feel as though I should try to talk about it more.
About "Impurity"
穢れkegare/"Impurity, dirty, immoral, disgust, pollution, etc" more prominent belief in the past but still deep rooted today.
Death, bleeding, childbirth, crime, natural disasters, disease/disability, changes in normal affairs, or unexplained powers/strength, etc can be sources of kegare.
kegare spreads-> If one comes in contact/touch with source or "dirty" person, they become "dirty", causes bad things/luck, disease, etc causes seperation, isolation, fear, discrimination.
Slight differences of "impurity" in Shinto/Buddhism.
In shinto, death/deep sadness causes "dirtiness", but in buddhism not. ex. discouraged visit shrines after death of close family but visit temples is fine.
In shinto there are rituals, misogi, harae to purify kagare, but in buddhism, kagare can be permanent/"innate" to person due to karma/reincarnation beliefs and thus "inherited", -actions in previous life determined current life. wikilink
As such, in the past, people with certain jobs or even lived near sites where the jobs took place, such as animals, leather workers, corpse disposal, ritual purifiers, and others like beggars, people with diseases, former criminals, performers, etc were made to live in separate "branch" villages, often near rivers, in the outskirts/corners/margins from the rest of the village.
Various names were given to these peoples, kawaramono/riverbed person, kiyome(清めpurification and sometimes written with kanji of 清目"pure/bright eyes") But 穢多eta- same kanji kegare, 多ta/"a lot/much" and hinin, became to be commonly used by the public/govt. Today, they are taboo/not to be used terms outside of historical discussions.
Edo Period Hereditary Class System
During Warring States Period(1467-1568), since there were competing regions/more differences, hard to keep track etc, jobs/position was not always inherited.
But after the Unification of Japan, during the Edo period(1603–1867), the shoganate established a hereditary class system of Samurai, Farmers, Townspeople,artisans, merchants, and solidified a group considered "dirty" due to hereditary reasons commonly called Eta-Hinin and all groups were made to live in assigned areas. I think I missused 'ethnic', not a separate ethnicity, it's more like caste, but I was meaning to place empasis on hereditary.
linkpicture Left side with Edo period class hierarchy of Samurai-> Farmers->Craftsmens->merchants-> Eta/Hinin at the bottom, is a commonly taught misconception, which causes issues.
The right side is more accurate, depicts Eta/Hinin under the direct control of the ruling class as a separate class system from the farmers, merchants, artisans, who had their internal hierarchies.
Eta/Hinin were assigned 刑警吏役 historical term for police role, performing duties such as capturing criminals, guarding prisons, information gathering, patrolling/keeping the peace, executions. Today, police work is divided into different branches, but in the past this was often performed by the same people.
The govt. assigned role to Eta/Hinin direct the anger of the common people towards them rather than the govt. Executions, interacting with criminals, were considered "dirty" tasks. prisons/execution grounds were built near their communities on the outskirts. Today, when visiting communities around old prisons/exe grounds, can still be seen.
Meiji era policies ended the hereditary class system and attempted to equalize, but it was only on paper. It didn't not fix the deep rooted beliefs or the discrimination faced which lasted years after. Descendants came to be called discriminated buraku people.
There's been progress/fading yet still persists esp. in rural areas, older generations. But, oftentimes since the topic is "taboo" people simply don't discuss it and hide their family history from others if they know.
neji with his caged bird seal… sasuke with his hawk summons… the endearing, fledgling sense of kinship neji shows towards sasuke in the first few volumes of naruto…
neji with his caged bird seal… sasuke with his hawk summons… the endearing, fledgling sense of kinship neji shows towards sasuke in the first few volumes of naruto…
less than one day after i posted about live action naruto (BOTH of them) starring in a BL together, i find out live action kakashi is starring in a BL too……..
It Comes Back Biting Him or Naruto Is Crudely Reminded That The Hyuuga Practised Slavery
"It's been decided that Uzumaki Himawari, courtesy of her possessing the Byakugan and her being the cousin of the heir of the Hyuuga main family, is to be sealed."
Naruto is sure that he has misheard. "Sorry?" He coughs and catches himself. He politely rectifies, "I must have misheard that. Could you, uh, repeat that for me, please?"
Being the son-in-law of the Hyuuga's clan head, Naruto had been strongly advised to be as cordial and polite as possible, even before his marriage to Hinata.
"Higasa-sama, Hanabi-sama's son will be three in a few days from now. So we, the Hyuuga, have decided that Uzumaki Himawari is to be sealed."
"Excuse me," says Naruto eloquently. "Sealed?"
"Uzumaki Himawari will be receiving the Caged Bird Cursed Seal on Higasa-sama's third birthday."
It takes all that Naruto has to not let out a scream. "Third birthday," he weakly says. "But ― isn't Hinata still a part of the Hyuuga main family?"
"Hinata-sama is. But both of her children are not."
It feels like reality is punching Naruto in the face as the muscles of his face go slack. "Why? Why do this at all?" he demands.
"For the good of the village. For the stability the Hyuuga have maintained for centuries," an elder proposes. She adds, "This will also benefit your heir, Hokage-sama. Uzumaki Boruto might not possess the Byakugan, but he will have his sealed sister as his loyal aide."
Naruto stands there gawking in the middle of the Hyuuga's training room.
"Uzumaki Himawari will have to be a gift to Higasa-sama first and foremost," one of the Hyuuga elders says imperiously.
An elder interjects with a sneer, "Her first priority can be both Higasa-sama and Boruto-sama."
"Of course," a few elders voice their agreement.
"Of course," Naruto echoes dumbly. It sure feels different when this... thing personally involves him.
Neji was 4 when Hiashi put the curse mark on his forehead.
And just a little after that, he saw his father getting tortured by Hiashi.
And then, he lost his father, dying for the main branch.
I'd like to add one question... is Naruto the only person who bothered to ask why Neji hated so much his family ? Because he didn't need to do much for Neji to tell his whole story in front of everyone... it wouldn't really surprised me honestly. In the primilaries, four jonin intervened in his fight just to stop him (a genin) and protect Hinata. Only Gai stopped Gaara to kill Lee. And only Lee helped Tenten when Temari was ready to hurt her even more.
Anyway, back to the topic... my beef with Hiashi doesn't stop there. Neji learnt the truth about his father's death when he was 13, almost 10 years after said event...
I don't know what went throught his head to think it was okay to lie to a child. But not really shocking since he happened to be from Konoha (the village who thought it would be smart to lie to Naruto about his status and his parents...)
Then Hiashi decided to train Neji only after realising his full potential.
It's written right there. Neji surpassed the main branch. He was the future of the clan. Hiashi is very surprised and in awe during the whole fight. How did Neji happen to be better than the main branch ? That's the question he has. And it's the sole reason he decided to train Neji.
How am I supposed to believe that man changed ? He had no problem enslaving a child, torturing his own brother, lying and using his nephew. And then overnight, he changed ? Yeah, right in your dreams.
I'm very upset that the victim had to die for a very ridiculous ship and that the persecutor was allowed to grow old. Hiashi should have died instead of Neji. Then maybe I would have believed the Hyuga could change.
dededos
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