#fandf asks

[fandomsandfeminism]

What do you think of 8 simple rules?

I did a post on it here

But Some people added some nice commentary, so I'd check that out as well.

[fandomsandfeminism]

I have an original female character who happens to be bisexual. She gets romantically/sexually involved with people of both genders through the story, but her endgame ship is a het ship (though she never loses her homosexual inclinations). Is it problematic in some way?

As long as it's still clear that she's bisexual in the end, that sounds fantastic.

[fandomsandfeminism]

Holy mother of crap, that person who talked about Japan as being in a region with all these terrible crimes against women--that's like that guy I knew who tried to blame North Korea's efforts to launch long-range missiles on Japan. Holy not understanding how regional politics and cultural multiplicity works, Batman!

Mhm. 

From what I know about Japan, they have issues with sexism and racism in their culture, fair enough. So do we. And I don't know as much about those issues in that region as I do about issues over here in America. 

It just doesn't feel right for me to try and place large judgement statements on an entire culture while knowing so little about it.

Yes, I do look at anime and manga often. Just commenting on how a single narrative treats women, or how a single woman is treated by a narrative is very different than trying to make a judgement about whether or not it's sexist for Japanese culture to value very young innocent female characters in their media. 

[fandomsandfeminism]

The Nanny can come across that way sometimes but Fran is so sweet, lovely and caring and often breaks off with men who like her because she's not interested. She's also fiercely protective of her friends and family and while she can seem a bit 'get the guy', I think it's just an exaggerated running joke rather than her entire personality. I loved Fran as a young girl (and now! :D),I think she's a good influence. She might wear crazy clothes and be a bit boy crazy but it's part of her charm

[fandomsandfeminism]

Even if you don't know the culture, I still think its okay to speak out against subjugation of women. The Moe archetype that Japanese Otaku are obsessed with reflects their primitive views on women. Especially when you consider that the region they're in still practices sex trafficking, child brides and female genital mutilation. Women in that region deserve to be spoken for since a lot of them can't speak for themselves, for example the Middle-Eastern Muslim women.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh. 

I really feel like I should help those women speak for themselves in anyway I can, not just try and speak for them, when I know very little about their actual experiences.

I am not a Japanese woman living in Japan. I am not a Muslim woman living in the Middle East. I don't, and can't, truly understand their experiences, how they feel about it, or the best way I can help them when and if they need my help. 

What may APPEAR offensive to me, may not be to them. I think the idea of wearing a headscarf is freakin' ridiculous. BUT BUT BUT many Muslim women, Muslim Feminists, wear them and take pride in them, and find their expression of culture to be empowering. And who the fuck am I to tell them that they are wrong?  To tell non-white women around the world what they should and shouldn't find empowering based on MY sentiments as a western woman is deeply arrogant and ethnocentric. 

The truly best thing we can do, in my opinion, is LISTEN to those people who have very different experiences than us, and assist them in the ways THEY want to be assisted. Not just assume blindly that I should say or do something with so little first hand information myself. 

So I can't say whether or not the prevalence of those archetypes in Japanese media is truly offensive and oppressive to Japanese women because I am not a Japanese woman.

I personally don't like those characters, nor to I find them empowering in anyway. But I don't feel comfortable making judgement statements about a culture than I am not a part of. I would much much MUCH rather hear what Japanese women have to say about it, and defer to them. 

[fandomsandfeminism]

I think you're thinking of "lolita" or "gothic lolita" which is a fashion trend. Lolicon is anime child porn, and moe is a type of anime that tends to idealize painfully cute, child-like girls.

Yeah, I was thinking fashion. Lawl. 

Look at me, embarrassing myself. 

Uh...so....Once again I'm not totally sure I have an opinion. Um...they're characters that really never appeal to me. And it can re-enforce a lot of rather negative gender roles and stereotypes, and it can arguably contribute to the infantlization of beauty standards.

But, once again, I don't know enough about real Japanese culture to make that kind of judgement. 

[fandomsandfeminism]

What's your take on the Moe and Lolicon craze that's swept up Japanese Otaku? Do you think its detrimental and reflects Japan's sexist views on women?

EDIT: After typing this up, I realized that I had misunderstood the original ask. The following is my opinion on Lolita fashion. 

I'm not really sure I have an opinion on it. 

I guess you could argue that the fashion trend MIGHT reflect the fetishization of young girls in the culture. 

But I don't really know enough about Japanese Culture to make that call. It would be profoundly ignorant of me to make that call. 

And Ultimately, fashion is what you make it. It's profoundly unfeminist to say that women should or shouldn't wear any type of clothing. Women should be allowed to wear what they like. 

[fandomsandfeminism]

It is refreshing to see that the writers of Psych have made Juliet a full-bodied character with development instead of making her seem like she was only meant as a girlfriend for Shawn, like many shows do with female characters.