femtique

femtique

• 04:46:47 am on December 19, 2007 | # | 1
  

  

  Eureka 7 was essentially a mecha-romantic tale of two teenagers slowly falling in love with one another. The female character of Eureka 7 was named Eureka. She was an alien. Her partner was Renton. He was human. Eureka was just as powerful as Renton mentally and physically. Bones writers did an excellent job of showing that it took the power of both characters to operate the Nirvash. The way in which their romance blossomed was equally a challenge for both of them. Both Eureka and Renton had to face their own internal and external emotional barriers. Internal barriers for Eureka and Renton were many, but mostly around the feeling of shame. Eureka felt ashamed that she killed so many innocent people before becoming a parental figure for orphaned children. She felt she did not deserve to be a mother. Renton was ashamed that before becoming a member of the Gekko State, he was naive and was made fun of because he was not masculine enough for his crew members on the GekkoGo.

  There are several times when Holland (the leader of Gekko State) beats up Renton into submission. The result of the beatings are all about power, as all domestic violence is. Domestic violence may be popular for some, but in feminism, it is a big no-no. The amount of domestic violence that Renton endured was ridiculously extensive and pointless. Holland used Renton as a punching bag every time that he could not muster enough courage to face his fears. Any emotion that was not anger he expressed as anger. It is common place in a patriarchal establishment, wherever that might be, to express most uncomfortable emotions with anger. Anger is seen by other men as a strength. Crying is seen as weak and that only women should express.

  Renton cried a lot. He cried so much that most of the male crew shamed him to change his behavior. Renton was not ashamed of his feelings of fear or sadness, and let them out in front of the whole crew many times. Eureka did not shame Renton for crying; in fact, she cried along with him and validated his feelings.

  Also, let us not forget the blatant physically objectification of the women in this show, particularly Gidget, Hilda, and Talho. It is interesting to note that Talho’s character was hyper-sexualized until she learned she was pregnant. At that point, the writers decided to portray as nurturing and cover previously half naked body. Remember ladies, if you’re pregnant, don’t be too sexy. Heavens, after all, just think of what the neighbors would say!

  If there were not so many elements of domestic violence, gender discrimination, physically objectification and shame in this anime, it would have received a feminist friendly rating. Japanese writers, still you’ve got some work to do to get it right.

   

Comments

• 

  trench 12:59 am on December 24, 2007 | # | Reply

  Dont know where to put this! Happy Holidays April! I haven’t kept up with any anime in awhile!