JJK : Misogyny, Homophobia and Feminism
Hi guys! I've noticed a lot of stuff both in the show and the fandom recently and I thought I would compile my thoughts in an essay as practice for my exams!! Please be nice and give me your thoughts!! Reblogs are very much appreciated 🫶
Firstly, JJK has a wide array of queer coded or canon queer characters. A few examples of this would be Megumi, Kirara, Uraume, Mai, and Mahito. Homophobia is an issue I've taken particular notice of recently. To begin, JJK has a lot of implied queer action going on, from Todo hinting that Megumi might be attracted to boys rather than girls (and being very chill about it too, unslanderable king) , to Gege indicating that Mai might be into girls. Gege also stated that he drew on a BL he likes to write Gojo and Geto's relationship. The addition of queer undertones in the show appears purposeful. Of course, as with any fandom, there are lots of ships. These ships are usually based on real reasons, like story, tensions between characters and emotional connection.
A common accusation is that MLM or WLW ships are 'fetishisation', meaning people assume fans are sexualising queer relationships rather than engaging with character dynamics. The term is often used loosely by some fans, without a clear understanding of what it actually means. The misuse of the term diminishes the issue when fetishisation does occur. A common argument against the very popular ships ItaFushi and SatoSugu is that 'cant two guys just be friends'. This obviously comes from a place of frustration, they see it as platonic, and get mad when someone else sees the same relationship as romantic. Most people who ship either of those ships will be able to see the platonic side, because at the end of the day, its a headcanon. Shipping is inherently down to interpretation, and you can interpret media differently to others. Often, people will promote straight ships like YutaMaki or GojoHime, and use them to dog on queer ships, saying things like "can we normalise straight ships," Straight ships have been the norm for centuries, so framing them as marginalised within fandom spaces ignores the long history of homophobia in society.
This all stems from a lack of fandom etiquette, the concept of 'don't like, don't read' may be familiar with AO3 users, but it carries across all elements of fan culture. If a person doesn't like a queer ship, they don't have to ship it. Another argument is that its 'mischaracterisation', which it usually isn't (especially Satosugu). However, if a ship is mischaracterisation, that shouldn't matter, its an opinion, not a fact. Some people, particularly male fans, use these arguments to dismiss or ridicule fangirls, reinforcing both misogyny and gatekeeping within fandom spaces.
Kirara, who has recently been in the spotlight, is widely understood to be trans. Shes an excellent portrayal of a very underrepresented community in anime. Some fans seem to have a big issue with this, claiming that Hakari is gay instead. The blatant transphobia shown by these people is deeply concerning, misgendering her out of spite. Furthermore, some people think its acceptable to comment on her genitalia, making crude comments about how they 'Don't care and they would still crack'. This is completely unacceptable, one of few canon transfeminine characters in mainstream anime and she gets immediately disregarded and objectified as soon as her episode airs.
One thing JJK does excellently is gender ambiguous characters, Kenjaku, Uraume and Mahito could all be considered gender fluid or non binary. Though people still like to hate on trans or trans coded characters, in JJK they are well-written examples of how representation can be integrated naturally into a story. They are accepted by other characters, and their identity is never a point of contention to drive the plot. They are allowed to exist alongside other characters, rather than being ostracised. Despite this, some people will choose to single them out to further a transphobic agenda.
Naoya Zenin is a very controversial character among the fanbase. He's blatantly misogynistic, but people claim to like him because 'hes well written'. This is true, Naoya is a great example of how being raised in a toxic environment can give a person extreme views and deeply embedded misogyny. However, a common opinion is that like Maki, Mai and Toji, "Naoya is a victim too," There is an important difference between a victim of a toxic household, and a product of a toxic household. Maki and Mai were shunned and told they were useless. Toji was ostracised and thrown into a pit of curses as a child. These three are most certainly victims of the Zenin clans abuse. On the other hand, Naoya was constantly put on a pedestal. He lived with extreme privelege, and was always reassured he would eventually be the head of the clan. Naoya becomes an abuser later in live, believing that women are inferior and exist to serve him. Some readers interpret some of his comments as implying sexual violence against Mai, though this remains debated. If interpreted as sexual violence, this would be an unforgivable act, regardless of a person's background.
People who defend Naoya use another argument, that there are other, worse characters in the show. "How can you hate Naoya but love Sukuna or Kenjaku?" Simply put, most women experience sexism on a daily basis, whereas they don't get eaten and shredded by magic powers or get brought back from the dead to participate in a death game. To add to this, both Sukuna and Kenjaku hate absolutely everyone, on the contrary, Naoya hates just women. Others may say that women only like Sukuna because hes attractive, but without his attitude, most JJK fangirls agree Naoya would be pretty cute.
Furthermore one could even argue that Sukuna is actually a feminist character (yes I'm defending sukuna here ik im crazy) Firstly, Sukuna himself actually presents a lot of feminine qualities, during childhood, he was objectified and shunned for being deformed. This could be referring to the idea that women have to be beautiful to be respected in society. Sukuna then overcomes this, becoming the most powerful of his time. Cannibalism is sometimes used in feminist horror as a metaphor for reclaiming agency and power. Sukuna blurs the lines between human and curse, embodying the trope of 'the monstrous feminine' Instead of submitting to his circumstance and trying to survive by following social standards, Sukuna embraced destruction to gain power. This shows a shift in power dynamics we often see in feminist body horror, transforming from prey to predator. Feminist cannibalism is also closely connected to a praying mantis eating her mate, and Sukuna ate his own twin in the womb. This act can be interpreted symbolically, echoing themes in feminist horror where consumption represents transformation and control over one's fate.
Sukuna also shows his feminist side through his actions. He praises Maki for her strength and he also adopts Uraume, who is non binary, indicating that he doesn't care about gender. He is happily willing to fight Nobara, saying that she has lots of 'vitality' he will 'have some fun' A lot of people take this out of context and interpret this as Sukuna wants to sexually assault Nobara. In context, the line appears to refer to the thrill of combat rather than sexual intent. While Sukuna is hedonistic, we see him rejecting the sexual advances of Yorozu, so we can infer he is indifferent to this. In his introduction, he asks 'where are the women and children' The specific mention of women could be an implication of sexual violence, given that Sukuna appears largely indifferent to sexual desire, the line can be interpreted as reflecting his cruelty toward the most vulnerable rather than sexual intent. During Shibuya, Sukuna actually addresses Mimiko and Nanako before Jogo, considering hes from the Heian period, this is highly unusual, perhaps suggesting he once again doesn't care for gender stereotypes. (im a villain not a monster ahh)
Nobara is an kind and confident young girl. Shes decently strong, knows her way around a fight, and yet somehow, male fans still find ways to put her down. The biggest reason for Nobara slander is her 'attitude'. This is rooted in a hatred of outspoken young women. Her personality is similar to Yuji, but while hes 'the goat' shes an 'annoying bitch' Nobara doesn't show romantic interest in her friends, joking that Yuji would get a girlfriend before she got a boyfriend. Perhaps her open romantic desires are off-putting. Nobara has a conversation with Momo during the tournament arc. The message of the conversation was that in society, women need to be perfect to be respected, whereas men just need to be strong. As a result, when people hate on Nobara for her outspoken nature, they prove Momos point. Nobaras character exudes self love, and she doesn't rely on male validation, which often gets interpreted as having a big ego, which isn't the case. Nobara in this scene has a sort of girlboss moment, she says she loves herself when shes pretty, and when shes kicking ass. This is a really nice sentiment, and its great for young girls to hear. However, framing the moment purely as a "girlboss" scene can sometimes overshadow the deeper message about systemic misogyny in Jujutsu society. (a metaphor for women in professional settings perhaps)
Maki is another character brought up in the conversation about JJK and feminism. She overcomes her misogynistic clan and annihilates them. This part of her storyline is empowering and its great, no issues here. Unfortunately, some people sexualise Maki (calling her mommy etc) which is fine in theory as its just headcanon. However, it leads to the feminisation of Yuta in their relationship, people say she is the 'man of the relationship' This implies that women cannot be strong and empowered and feminine at the same time. Before Maki was burned, she was quite feminine presenting, we see her in skirts, legwarmers and with long hair. This is before her awakening, so she was weaker. After she is burned, she starts wearing trousers, showing her arms and has shorter hair. As Maki became less feminine-coded, some male fans appeared to respond more positively to her character. It’s positive that male viewers admire strong female characters, but admiration should not depend on those characters adopting traditionally masculine traits. There is nothing wrong with Maki being more masculine on its own, but its something that's happened with Megumi too.
In season one, Megumi is a very feminine presenting man, notably, he has very long eyelashes. In the latest season, as hes becoming more powerful, hes no longer animated with his eyelashes. This repeated shift from feminine to masculine presentation as characters gain power can reinforce the stereotype of 'woman weak, man strong' Megumi often gets called a 'potential man' by fans, which implies that because Megumi is more feminine and weaker than he could be, hes not a 'real man' Yuta also gets slandered for a similar reason, because he relies on Rika (a girl) to protect him, hes 'a bum' He also presents more feminine qualities. There is a common theme that femininity means weakness.
JJK also attempts to spoonfeed feminism to teenage boys, through Nobara, Maki and Yuki, they show strong female characters. Another way they do this is through male characters. Todo for example, has an obsession with an idol, Takada. His qualities here are very similar to teenage fangirling. Through this, it tells its male audience that the female audience is chill (like nonchalant Todo) Todo also never questions anyones masculinity, and hes also never homophobic, presented through his scene asking Megumi his type, where Todo assures Megumi that its okay if he likes guys. Megumis response to this is also a model answer young boys could look up to, listing emotional qualities rather than physical attributes.
Yuji answers with his type 'tall women with a nice big ass' This makes Yuji relatable to his male audience, but it doesnt affect how he sees women. Yuji is very respectful of women around him. Not only that, but he himself shows feminine qualities, Traits like compassion and cooperation are often culturally associated with Yin—the receptive or nurturing side of the Yin-Yang balance. Yuji has a fairly small ego, and open body language. All of these make Yuji an ideal role model for teenage boys. JJK excels at showing healthy masculinity in an easily digestible and appealing way.
Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed!! pls feel free to disagree but also pls be respectful, interact if you liked it!!
