You know what? I need more men damseled and their love interests doing grand gestures of selflessness to save them. Not only because I like seeing women kicking ass, but as a man myself I’ve noticed that fiction seems to either consciously or unconsciously perpetuate the idea that a man’s worth is defined solely by what he provides, and that he has to narratively “earn” the affection of the love interest instead of having any inherent worth of his own. When a women in fiction is asked what they like about their love interest its almost always “because he did something nice for me”, “he’s reliable and dependable”, or “he makes me feel special.” Notice how all of those reasons seem to be related to his actions instead of any inherent aspect of his? Like if he fails is he no longer “reliable”? If the warm fuzzies go away do you as well? Is there anything special about him specifically or would you have fallen for any knight that rescued you from your dragon-guarded tower?
I want to see more women go crazy with concern for their missing pookie. I want to see them make noble sacrificial gestures for their love interest’s safety and/or happiness. I wanna see women punch reality in the face and overcome impossible obstacles just to be able to see them again. Enough with the passive “my heart will go on” crap, get mad and start swinging! Carve a bloody path of destruction between here and the bad guy’s lair! It’s compelling, it’s captivating, it’s inspiring, and it’s heartwarming!
It’s also very heartwarming when the man does the rescuing when done right, but it’s done so frequently that it’s now an expectation that he saves the day. For female characters it is so outside of their traditional “role” in the relationship’s narrative that it feels truly exceptional when the role is well and truly reversed. I do notice as an outsider looking in that some shojo anime do something close to this, but I can’t name any specific examples off the top of my head.
