on snk’s gender norms: p1- eremika gender dynamics & their cabin
[here’s p2, on misogyny within the walls. ]
masculine vs feminine duties:
within the context of the story, masculine duties are protection and provision (essentially “service”):
we see carla admonish eren for acting recklessly and failing those duties since his actions caused mikasa, a girl, to protect him / endanger herself to help him. (although the latter could just be for eren skimping on his chores, im gonna go w the interpretation that fits my agenda🤷🏾♀️).
leading on from that sentiment, there’s the idea that men are “responsible for women”. parts of erejean’s (and all of eremin’s) fights are about chivalry, on behalf of a woman, i.e. about eren not being “worthy” of mikasa since he doesn’t take care of her properly (even hurts her at points) and jean’s jealousy that someone like that has her attention when he doesn’t appreciate it:
couple of things here:
the underlying message to eren is certainly “consider how your actions affect others”, but it also comes within the assumption that it is up to eren to ensure mikasa is safe, with the subtext of “since it’s his masculine duty”. carla and jean don’t consider the fact that it is mikasa’s choice to be involved, eren is not forcing mikasa to fight for him or “dragging her” into the survey corp, actually he’s telling her not to do that! so although it is true that mikasa wouldn’t fight unless it is to protect eren, it is still her choice to get involved. eren’s failure to be protect mikasa and responsible is immaturity, him not adhering to his gender norm.
armin (and jean at times) certainly fight over mikasa’s honour. armin only tries to assert physical domination over eren (a very masculine way of fighting) to punish him in defence of a vulnerable woman, anything else he’d rather talk through even if eren probably did deserve to be punched for everything else he’s done (the scheming, liberio, the port, running away, the jaegerists and undermining hansi’s position, sasha, the wine, or the literal omnicide happening etc). it’s again this is contrasted to armin’s introduction where he placed himself above physical fighting to assert his philosophical domination over others.
also, with regards to jean being protective over mikasa, a man protecting a woman is immediately emphasised as romantically charged, it is specifically franz telling hannah he will protect her, not a mutual promise to watch eo’s back:
“husbandly duty” = protect your wife, mikasa is masculinised since she has a very fierce desire to protect and defend eren, she is the one who promises him protection (as opposed to asking to be protected), taking on franz’s role. she wants to use her skill and strength to protect eren, even talking back to her superior and downplays her skill specifically so she could do so (despite like…armin being the weakest of the trio, and equally important to her for example, it is eren who she particularly seeks out). the romantic angle of protection is imo important to understanding eremika’s dynamic, there’s the idea of your romantic partner being the Most Important Person Ever and devoting yourself to them.
furthermore, men are providers! mikasa’s father physically catches food, whilst grisha is the breadwinner.
so little recap: a man’s duty is to protect his woman or family, to be responsible for them via provision but also “leading them” (ex away from trouble). we also have “big brother reiner” occupying a very masculine role where he’s the embodiment of a responsible and morally good protector.
so what about women then?
feminine duties, aside from women occupying the role as the “protected” and “provided for” gender, include being selfless, lovable and dependable:
the practically unanimous reaction to “krista” is to call her a goddess, and this is regardless of gender because krista is the absolute pinnacle of femininity. she embodies all the qualities of an “ideal woman” and hence “need to wife her up” reaction from men. remember that krista caters herself to others’ needs, she tries her best to be a caretaker. you see this with mikasa, in universe she jokes about raising armin in recognition of the fact that she is a “mini mother” to eremin despite being the SAME AGE as them. she is aligned with carla in thinking that lives are more important that dreams, she protects them, comforts them, acts selflessly for them and even disciplines them when needed. aside from the subtext, isayama outright states eren even considered mikasa a mother figure:
For Eren, rather than a lover, Mikasa’s presence is more like a mother to him. The love towards a mother is considered valuable [precious], however at the same time, there are annoying parts as well [laugh]. Just like towards one’s actual mother, Eren will start to grow up when he becomes independent [move away/not dependent on] from Mikasa, I might draw this scene one day.
although annie is very obviously mocking gender roles, but her comments tell us about the cultural norms, girls are less physical. men are supposed to treat women gently / differently compared to other men -> men supposed to go easy on them since women are more “delicate” (thus jearmin fighting on mikasa’s behalf) and we also see that gabi takes advantage of this very stereotype, she strips to make it clear that she is a girl and wins the battle by pretending to be helpless.
also, men are supposed to speak to women softly. and because eren doesn’t, he simply treats annie as a strong opponent and calls out her bs, he needs to learn how to talk to girls (=how to be a man). again, he’s too blunt and cruel to mikasa, which is unforgivable.
she justifies her fears by citing that she is a “feeble maiden”-> supposedly girls are more fearful / conflict avoidant.
historia being of “lower class” means that she is prone to being sexually open, which is apparently unladylike, presumably paradis has the “sex is only permitted within a marriage” cultural norm too. you also see that characters like alma (historia’s mum who was a reiss family maid) and kuchel (levi’s mum) are lower class AND sex workers.
there is this immediate association with girls, marriage and future children. this is the only scene we get with the ackerman family and it’s intentionally super domestic and has explicit references to both tradition and mikasa’s femininity. mikasa shows her pain and she is allowed to be comforted by her mother (vs eren who in the first chapter refuses to let his father check him out for crying in his sleep). she is naive, innocent and curious, a vulnerable little girl just as faye was. kruger’s similarly charts how how the jaeger siblings could have lived their lives, he associates faye with domesticity, she lost the chance to marry and have children whilst grisha is associated with inheriting work (masculine provision). also, there’s this element that it was grisha’s fault for how things ended up, it is his responsibility to protect faye as her older brother and guide her which he failed to do.
again, here’s a mini-recap: women are maternal, they are selfless, kind and dependable. men fight on behalf of them, for their honour, bc they are loveable (and vulnerable/delicate), they are associated with domesticity and children and the ideal woman is modest and loyal.
how eremika fit their gender norms:
people can comfortably argue about eremika’s untraditionalist romance, after all, isayama designed them to be subversive.
It is quite generic that a heroine is usually a woman who motivates a man. However, I don't really like that way of thinking. There was a time when my head actually filled up with the idea of Mikasa turning that kind of character development around. That is the reason that she became a strong woman who excels in combat. In reality, there are differences between the skeletal structure and muscle count of men & women which cause the difference in their potential strengths.
throughout s1-3, it is eren who is often the damsel in need of rescue and mikasa who is his strong, responsible protector. it is who is the dreamer, he is weaker, more emotional, whilst mikasa is pragmatist, selflessly devoted to him, physically talented, the ideal solider and stoic. however, imo there is a intentional traditional undertone to their relationship that’s pretty interesting to examine by itself! for example, there is already the element that rather than mikasa being the “man” she is the “mother”.
but also eren and mikasa’s first meeting is technically eren meeting the masculine standard, not only does he physically kill two of her attackers, he inspires her to fight back and then he gives her warmth and a home to live in. mikasa without her family doesn’t intrinsically have a will to live in a world so cruel, it is only through eren’s kindness that she developed her own desire to live dependent on his kindness / the memory of it.
scarf scene 2 also reinforces this idea, mikasa is super feminine (hurt, in need of protection, blushy, emotive, seeking physical affection) whilst eren is protective and re-declares that he will provide for her forever.
eremika is STILL untraditional in that eren and mikasa both take turns being the protected and protector, but there is also a “confirmed” grounding in traditionalist relationships, particularly where both partners adhere to their gender norms. the scarf itself is a promise of protection and provision.
gender presentation in the cabin:
in contrast to s1, mikasa is no longer the same height and build as eren, eren is noticeably taller and broader than her, better fitting the masculine standard. again very obviously, mikasa isn’t in the scouts uniform that denotes her equal to eren as a solider but in overtly feminine clothing, pink, eren’s scarf and a long skirt that marks her “different” from eren.
mikasa also grows her hair out whilst eren cuts his, they resemble their s1 selves but more “correcter”, in terms of fitting their gender.
also she has the hair eren picked for her!
cabin dynamics:
within the cabin, mikasa does get the “girl treatment” that annie is alluding to (and basically the treatment she’s been giving eren this whole manga and what carla, jean and armin continually fight for her to have) since she is being taken care of, she is being prioritised above all.
eren is protecting her (he pulls her away from conflict and into safety forsaking his duties to mankind to protect her when she asks):
…and, providing for her (the scene plays out like it’s eren who was catching their food by himself, then came across mikasa sleeping and woke her up):
like mikasa’s father, grisha and the stereotype of a “man”, eren is the provider, he is the one who catches their food and engages in very manly axe swinging. he is incredibly responsible and gentler with her, the whole thing is domestic and romantic, man and a woman choosing each other and being a family together.
in contrast to eren, mikasa isn’t shown to be doing any physical work. much like how grisha sits aside whilst carla washes dishes or cooks food (“feminine chores”), she sits aside and watches whilst eren is doing masculine chores. again this is contrasted to before, where mikasa was being the “man” by providing firewood and eren the “woman“ via the cleaning:
[note: we only have a little glimpse of their cabin life and it could very well be that this is eren’s shift for chores after mikasa did hers, but remember this is a story, what is shown is done intentionally to portray a certain idea. although it is a glimpse, it is a glimpse isayama CHOSE to show anything else is headcanon.]
mikasa also fits the other ladylike traits frieda lists (selfless, kind, dependable, loveable, modest) but imho genderising traits is foolish since eren, levi any other uber male and masculine character can also technically fit those traits some point in the story, just like in real life how characteristics aren’t limited to gender. boys can be kind, girls can be strong etc. within the context of the story again though, ymir is supposed to be freed through mikasa and i think listing her supposed qualities is done intentionally to show how similar they are, it is also distinctly feminine roles too. furthermore, there’s this idea that after the titan curse ended, mikasa “returns” back into an ordinary (“conventionally feminine”), unathletic girl, just as ymir was once an ordinary girl without hallu-chan.
traditional women are expected to defer to their husband, aka be submissive or subservient to him, ymir’s unconditional obedience of fritz is that trait taken to its most extreme. but we've sorta seen this thing before, when grisha speaks up carla quietens mid-sentence although she doesn't agree with indulging eren / rewarding his curiosity by showing him the basement, she only tells eren privately only after seeing her husband off with a smile.
however, mikasa isn’t wholly “deferential” to eren the way ymir is since she prioritises her feelings over his, she sticks close to him since it’s what she wants, not what her perception of eren’s wants are (she knows that he doesn’t want her joining the scouts, taking care of him, jumping to protect him for example). then she knows he doesn’t approve of her keeping the scarf, yet she doesn’t give up the scarf because she wanted to keep it. and very obviously, he wants to continue to rumble the world and she put a stop to it by untraditionally killing him*. she kept him in her heart, but she lived a long life without him. mikasa is described as prideful for a reason!
*there's also the interpretation since eren wanted to die, mikasa was simply deferring to his wishes, as suggested by yui ishikawa (mikasa’s VA):
how you read her choice determines your take on the traditional, normative elements. in terms of how snk defines traditional masculinity and femininity, i wouldn’t say mikasa acts in line with either in the end and that “untradition” is interesting, she acts selflessly, she doesn’t protect eren, she acts violently, she acts benevolently, she takes responsibility, she kills her family etc, it’s both and none. imo i like the idea that mikasa defied eren, that she refused to let her love dictate her morality and killed him despite his wishes to rumble 100%. that sort of bravery and individuality is something i like more since this applies to anyone. it’s probably never going to be the level of omnicide but you shouldn't ever stand by and enable abusive/wrong behaviours out of love and loyalty. blind devotion that erases individuality and encourages you to stand by and let your self or others be harmed is wrong and you should fight against it.
What part of Founder Ymir each part of the nine represent and how they may influence their users.
1) The founding Titan
The founding Titans core powers is the ability to control Eldians, turn them into titans and have access to paths. This is Ymir's desire to be connected and loved by people. This I believe could make holders instinctively crave connection. As seen mainly with Frieda Eren and Uri.
The founding titan needing royal blood to command Founder Ymir shows how one of her cores is being in service to her people and king. Ymir enacts others wills over her own, trying to please her people. This shows in the founding titan to the founders wishes. Similar to how a controlling parent may influence their child. This stems from Ymir’s titans being akin to children she spawned. (Note when female founding titan holds enter their titan form they have fully skinned distinctive breasts)
2) The Female Titan
The female titan reflects how Ymir had to live under and oppressive patriarchal force, and how it cause herself and other to view her. First off it’s labelled as “female” due to the titans breasts. It lacks skin only being made of muscle or “meat”. Similar to how women and presumable Ymir herself are reduced down to their body’s.
The titans “special” ability of being heavily adaptable reflects how Ymir had to adapt to King Fritzs orders. This could cause Titan holders to be able to formulate plans and change on a whim.
The Female titan can call others titans to itself. However it can not control them, this could be reminiscent again to parenthood and the inability to completely control your children. Like how Ymir could not control her daughters unlike how she could control titans. Female titan holders may be more likely to be family focused. Wether it’s blood family or chosen family, reflective of how one of Ymirs expectations was to be a mother and faithful wife.
3) The collosus Titan
The collosus titan is Ymirs separation from feeling human. In her titan from it’s speculated to be 200-300 meters tall with visible bones. Meanwhile a typical collosus titan is 60 meters with only muscle and bone visible. This ensures it hardly has a human resemblance. This along with it being referred to as a god of death shows how the collosus makes users feel more titan than human. This I suspect stems from Ymir and trickled down onto how Titan shifters viewed themselves.
The collosus is slow and designed to push others away when attacking. It’s non-confrontational and so is it’s users. Not acting unless instructed.
The collosus comes from Ymirs feeling of isolation. Being the only one in her time to be a Titan shifter something distinctively other.
4) The armoured titan
The armoured titan is Ymirs desire to protect others, shielding themselves and herself. The armoured titan and its users shield others using their own body. Harming themselves to ensure others aren’t hurt.
It can be fast running to be a sheild.
The thick protection ensured Ymir couldn’t be killed or even hurt when a Titan.
It’s Ymirs will to live and stay unharmed. A users will to be alive directly correlates to how much protection is on the titans body.
It enacts onto its users a deep need to sheild others taking the brunt of attacks and a need to help them. It way also fuel its users will a need to stay alive.
5) The war-hammer titan
The war-hammer titan shows Ymirs creativity. Although in AOT the war hammer’s ability’s are limited to crafting weapons it presumably requires a knowlage and imagination to make those. Ymir was ultimately a child to a young woman who would have had an active imagination, the war-hammers creative abilities would have been one of her only outlets for this creativity. Holders of the Titan may have more imaginative minds.
The war-hammer is also a reflection of Ymir wanting to protect herself.
Tw for paragraph mentions of rape.
The crystal ball the war-hammer forms is designed to only protect its holder. This can be interpreted as Ymirs need to protect her body from King Fritzs rape and assault. Joogio here tumblr also brought attention to this analysis and their post is linked here —>
Very simply the attack titan is Ymir’s desire for freedom. She longs for freedom, for herself, her people and her daughters. This passes onto the users of the attack titan wishing for freedom.
It’s her most basic human desire. Leading the attack titan to be noticeably having a more human appearance then the other nine. As form of protection that eventually will be her saviour.
7) The Beast Titan
The beast titan represents how founder Ymir dehumanises herself, and how others view her as a beast, sinner and devil. This passing onto the users of the beast titan typically having low self esteem, low self images and a general low view of humanity.
Similar to the collosus the beast is a separation from humanity, but rather than being barley human it’s Ymir not viewing herself as human at all. This may be why beat titan features only appear once shes died. Ymirs final image of herself being something completely nonhuman.
The beast titan is typically weak as it runs on Ymirs base urges and a general distain for herself and others.
8) The Cart Titan
The cart titan is the most obvious in its affects on its users, causing exhaustion and muscle lethargy. The cart titan hold the ability to stay in its form for months at a time and to be able to shift rapidly. This may bring to light the conditions founder Ymir was forced to operate in. Working for king fritz for months at a time.
Ymir was an overworked child soldier and slave who passed down her ability to push through limits eight of the nine would have.
It’s use as cargo transport reflects how Ymir both in and out of titan form was made to transport and use equipment to build the Eldian empire. As well as being briefed as little more than a weapon. Cart titan holders may be more susceptible to want to commit hands on labour.
9) The Jaw Titan
The Jaw Titan similar to the armoured is Ymir’s desire to protect other by being their shield and weapon. However it differed from the armoured by being protection through self sacrifice. Jaw Titan users have a drive to put themselves in danger to protect others. This ultimately causes their death, similarly to how Founder Ymir died by using her body to sheild king Fritz.
The jaws agility comes from Ymirs need to be the one to attack first once shes been ordered and to be the first one to be hit deflecting attacks.
Tw for menstions of sa and rape
The crystallisation around the jaws hands/claws and mouth could also be read into as another ingrained defence mechanism against the rape Ymir would have faced. A passed down protection from sexual assault similar to the war-hammers crystal ball
*for reference, I don’t consider Hange’s gender to be ‘female’ since the creator himself was adamant about them remaining as gender neutral as possible :)
Hit the 10-image limit so imagine a picture of Carla and one of Hitch :)
Did Optimus and Megatron ever find out that Ymir Fritz gained the Power of the Titans when that spine-like alien parasite fused into her body?
Did they try to find a way to remove this extraterrestrial organism from her body? What happened to it at the end of the story and in other AUs?
Previous Episode of the Peaceful Timeline
So Optimus and Megatron did ask about Ymir’s powers because obviously it’s not possible for a human to become a massive Titan that can heal wounds. However Ymir’s account of the events that led up to it were unreliable at best. She was heavily injured and was seeing with one eye. She saw a tree and went inside the base before falling into something dark and wet. Something attached to her back and she transformed.
Ymir in writing: I just remembered that I didn’t want to die.
With no adequate location for Ymir to give, they can’t research the place and do a proper analysis. Megatron did suggest doing a study but Ymir immediately said no. She didn’t want to be opened up and tortured. It would be too much.
Optimus: We would never do that to you.
Ymir:…(speaks) I still can’t.
The only thing they can really do is monitor her health. Did her healing protect her from illnesses? Could her powers be passed down? Would she stop aging? All these questions do get answered over time. And even if they wanted to remove this power, they didn’t have the resources to properly remove it without hurting Ymir. So she dies with the power in her body.
But as I’ve stated in Part 23: Modern Day AU Optimus has to give her a Viking funeral because he didn’t want people figuring out who she was and defiling her grave. The flames that turn blue and the unholy scream that’s let out is the parasite dying completely. No regeneration. No host. No body part to plant in the ground. Nada. The power dies on the vine in the ocean.
As for the other AUs, Primus is involved for like most of them so he just takes the power of the titans and prevents it from turning into that tree at the end of the series for the most part.
Also here is an Althea and King Fritz II sketch because I don’t think they’ll have good numbers by themselves.
I’m doing an OC campaign design on the side. It’s a good drawing exercise
All my favourite characters are dehumanised/alienated one way or another, whether being seen as a doll, a decorative object, a god, a devil, a beast, a witch, and or a freak/weirdo
