Within Japanese Animation and Manga, numerous themes can run through a series. One theme that has become more prominent since the 1990s is the role of women, as well as traditional gender roles, within this medium. This is all because of the Sailor Moon Manga by Naoko Takeuchi, which when it was adapted into an Animation revolutionised the ‘magical girl’ genre and brought these themes into question. This essay will use the source material to look at how traditional gender roles are displayed within the source and their impact on the progression of the story.
Sailor Moon crossed boundaries regarding gender roles when it was originally released as both an Animation and a Manga in the 1990s largely down to the title character’s portrayal. Usagi …show more content…
Numerous protagonists and antagonists do this throughout the series, and it works because they were portrayed in a way that the viewer could relate to the character. Two of the protagonists do this the best in both formats and they are Makoto Kino, who is Sailor Jupiter, and Haruka Tenoh, who is Sailor Uranus. Makoto does it in such a way that she exhibits her strength to the point many of the boys attending her school are scared of her, but also enjoys typically feminine things like cooking and gardening. She subverted the standard in such a way that she showed the young girls that they could enjoying typical boy activities, but still retain their femininity. Haruka on the other hand, acts like a stereotypical teenage boy when we first meet her in the Infinity Arc, and is later revealed to act like a boy because it feels right for her. As a result, Haruka’s masculinity is shown more, despite her still having a feminine side and this is usually shown within the Outer Scouts. The Outer Scouts consists of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn, where she is the most masculine of the four, and where she acts as the leader, which would in most normally cases be consider a typical male role. However, it’s because of how the other Sailors accept that Haruka likes living her life like this, that it subverts the traditional norms of gender roles, because by all standards of society they should not due to what they have been brought up believing in terms of gender roles. Both Makoto and Haruka display that the possession of a certain genitalia does not mean that you have to be a man, or a woman, as these are social positions that are determined by genitalia. Some ‘men’ are ‘women’ and some ‘women’ are ‘men’, (Cealey-Harrison and Hood-Williams 2002) and Sailor Moon displays that in a way that young viewers and young
Sailor Moon crossed boundaries regarding gender roles when it was originally released as both an Animation and a Manga in the 1990s largely down to the title character’s portrayal. Usagi …show more content…
Numerous protagonists and antagonists do this throughout the series, and it works because they were portrayed in a way that the viewer could relate to the character. Two of the protagonists do this the best in both formats and they are Makoto Kino, who is Sailor Jupiter, and Haruka Tenoh, who is Sailor Uranus. Makoto does it in such a way that she exhibits her strength to the point many of the boys attending her school are scared of her, but also enjoys typically feminine things like cooking and gardening. She subverted the standard in such a way that she showed the young girls that they could enjoying typical boy activities, but still retain their femininity. Haruka on the other hand, acts like a stereotypical teenage boy when we first meet her in the Infinity Arc, and is later revealed to act like a boy because it feels right for her. As a result, Haruka’s masculinity is shown more, despite her still having a feminine side and this is usually shown within the Outer Scouts. The Outer Scouts consists of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn, where she is the most masculine of the four, and where she acts as the leader, which would in most normally cases be consider a typical male role. However, it’s because of how the other Sailors accept that Haruka likes living her life like this, that it subverts the traditional norms of gender roles, because by all standards of society they should not due to what they have been brought up believing in terms of gender roles. Both Makoto and Haruka display that the possession of a certain genitalia does not mean that you have to be a man, or a woman, as these are social positions that are determined by genitalia. Some ‘men’ are ‘women’ and some ‘women’ are ‘men’, (Cealey-Harrison and Hood-Williams 2002) and Sailor Moon displays that in a way that young viewers and young