Okay so like. I caught up in bnha recently, and it’s great and fun and much better than your run of the mill shonen. The characters are great and engaging, and all that, but I just want to make a comment about my gal momo:
And like, I know the subject of her outfit has been beaten to death, and that is definitely one of the things that pisses me off because it’s 100% designed to sexualize a 15-year-old, but that’s not even what has pissed me off the most.
It’s not even Mineta’s lecherous actions during the Tournament Arc, or even that stupid pointless cheerleader scene.
That’s all run of the mill genre grossness, and I hate it but it didn’t piss me off nearly as much as her internship:
For all intents and purposes, this is probably the most benign form of sexism Momo’s dealt with so far, but it struck a particular chord with me…and I honestly think it’s far more insidious than the more blatant displays.
So, basically, at the start of all this, Momo is reeling from a blow to her self esteem after the tournament arc, and signs on with a well known Pro Hero, Uwabami, for her internship. However, she and the other intern are quickly brought into Uwabami’s glamorous lifestyle, acting as PR people and background props in her commercial.
This is the first female-female mentorship that we see in an entire series about mentorship, and I was sorely, sorely disappointed.
I work in a male-dominated field, and let me tell you it is not a compliment to be told:
“Yes I know you’re smart and capable, but I don’t care. I hired you, first and foremost, for your pretty face.”
So here we have a brilliant 15-year-old girl, who is already struggling with her self-confidence, brought under the mentorship of a powerful and influential woman. And instead of creating a situation that would help foster these students, it’s instead communicated that none of their efforts really mattered. That it matters most that they look nice, and put on a show. And it’s played off as a joke, as though this is the way things are and it’s hilarious that Momo should hope for anything other than that.
The fact that it’s a female mentor figure sending these messages? It’s like a kick in the teeth.
And maybe at this point it seems like I’m hounding on a small plot point, and it’s true that I had an intense rush of empathy for Momo due to personal experience, but I think that here lies the core issue with sexism in BNHA. The concept of, “Yes you’re smart and capable, but I only hired you for your pretty face” is the recurring theme with almost every female lead.
Do any of the female characters get seriously beaten and battered in conflict, to the extent that we see happening to Deku? No.
Do any of the female characters have to face inner demons and potential darkness like Iida? No.
Do any of the female characters struggle with physical and emotional abuse like Todoroki? No.
Heck, do we even get to see any of the girls being outright bad, and portrayed with the same villainous inclinations we see in Bakugou? No.
Even in the tournament arc, the girls are more often pushed out of bounds, rather than suffer the heat of battle. And I know that Ochako has a moment to shine in her fight with Bakugou, but that is the first and only chance we really get to see her or any of the girls in that capacity.
All of their character arcs are short and sweet, dealing with simpler issues of self confidence and image. We, as an audience, are not allowed to see them as anything less than cute, pretty, and pure–both physically and in their ideologies. They aren’t allowed to suffer from murderous rage, or be seriously injured, because that would sully that perfect image.
In other words, as interesting as they are, they’re literally only there to fill the space. They’re only there to look at. They’re fascinating characters, but underutilized to the point that it’s hardly worth praising as ‘progressive.’
Basically, the theme of the female characters of this series is:
“Yes I know you’re smart and capable, but I don’t care. I hired you, first and foremost, for your pretty face.”
What I love about All Might is that despite being the strongest and most popular hero, he’s not the slightest bit cocky?
Like he’s a sweet, polite guy who’s almost a little meek. When he was interrupted during the sports arc he very easily could have gotten mad and yelled about it but he didn’t?
Or when he was trying to chat up Endeavor? Even though he’s “the better hero” he had the humility to ask the #2 on how to teach his students. And seemed genuinely disheartened to see that Endeavor (still) hates him.
Asking Midoriya to come eat lunch with him instead of saying “Come eat lunch, I need to talk to you”. Just, asking for his time instead of deciding it’s already his.
His interactions with other teachers??
All Might is Very polite, maybe a little flashy but really he’s just the sweet dad figure who wants to help you but sometimes tells the worst dad jokes.
but when was the last time you saw a shōnen TRY to establish romance in the beginning without focusing too much on it and taking focus away from the main plot? my ship is important to me but it’s not the main attraction to the series. Horikoshi understands that and is trying to balance both. He’s not having Ochako full-blown fall head over heels with Izuku but he’s not waiting too late to introduce this either. It’s gradually growing but Ochako is still in the denial phase of it. The perfect balance has been achieved. And I genuinely respect that.
But anyway, TIME TO SCREAM AT HOW AWESOME THIS PAGE WAS!!
(please forgive any grammar issues here, English isn’t my first language so…)
Fucking. Thank you. I wanted to say something like this for a while but I couldn’t find the words, and taking what you said into consideration, the way Horikoshi is building up Izuku and Ochako’s relationship is anything but generic. Especially if you take into account how shonen series usually handle romance.
Think about it, romance in shonen, if it happens at all, usually falls into one of two categories: either there’s hints all over the place, ships being teased every which-way without any clear clue as to what pairing(s) will end up happening, and when it ends people usually have to sift through the manga to see if they missed anything because it wasn’t developed very well. (e.g. Naruto)
Or, a relationship, or something close, is established very early on, very quickly, and very bluntly, and then it promptly gets ignored for 90% of the story in favor of the action or something else, maybe getting acknowledged a few times, only to show up again near the end, seemingly for the sole purpose of tying off lose ends but failing to really give a good conclusion because, again, it wasn’t developed very well. (e.g. Yu Yu Hakusho)
But in BNHA? The author is clearly taking his time to slowly and carefully develop the relationship for the bottom up, starting out as friendly strangers, then friends inspiring each other , then a crush and so on, carefully placing it in places where it feels natural to see while giving it equal, but proportionate, importance in the story, that is it neither gets ignored or overshadows everything else.
And as for being basic? I love this manga, but if you stop to think about it for a second, BNHA is a very basic shonen story, with a very basic premise, very basic characters, with basic motivations, along with a basic plot and so on. BUT! The appeal of this manga, at least for me, is that while the elements of the story are basic, the way Horikoshi executes these elements are very well done, and usually with a unique spin that makes them feel fresh.
So, the main character, a teen aged boy, gets into a relationship with the first girl he meets and has regular contact with, which is basically whats going on in BNHA, and this is one of the most basic types of romances I can think of when it comes to shonen, or even manga in general.
The two characters having a natural and steady progression, instead of falling head over heels straight away? The relationship not being the main, or even secondary, motivation for either side? Having other elements to their personalities besides the romance? Having other relationships with other characters besides each other, both of the same and opposite gender, all of which are just as important to them, not more or less, just as, than the the bond between them?
Added to that the already stated fact that none of this gets in the way of the actual story? Or ignored in favor of it? Doesn’t sound so basic and generic anymore, now does it?
On that note…WHY DO SO FEW PEOPLE SHIP THEM!? THE LACK OF CONTENT FOR THIS ADORABLE PAIR IS DRIVING ME UP THE GODDAMNED WALL!
*Ahem* Anyway, to conclude this gigantic ramble, that came completely out of no where by the way, I really like this page.
ya know…..its kinda ridiculous JUST how often i forget theres supposedly a “UA traitor”
….i still think the most likely explanation is that someone was brain-washed into leaking info, or the villains have some kind of fortune-teller quirked member who used that ability to get the jump on UA. not that someone at UA is actually a traitor.
Becca pointed out that the villains have That Shapeshifter Girl (…Toga…?) and thats like a v good explanation for how they coulda gotten info
Toga only joined later in the game though!
I personally suspect the principal, as much as I adore him. He’s so nice, chipper, and was the one to suggest All Might come to the school to choose a successor in the first place I think? He was pointing towards a few candidates too (or maybe just Million, who… Bears (lol) an eerie resemblance wouldn’t you say? The eyes, the disposition? I could just be wearing my tin foil hat). All Might comes to the “safe” school, but HAPPENS to have a security breach, meaning he’s served on a silver platter. And if Million or a “chosen” successor is hand picked by All-for-One, they could keep the One-for-All power for themselves, on their side, possibly. Like Million could possibly be some weird lab rat clone of the principal, prime for brainwashing who freaking knows, it doesn’t really look like that imo I know I’m reaching
The principal was also so willing to lower the gates to have police come in another time I believe? That could just be proper cooperation though. God I’m so sorry my memory is horrible, I just vaguely remember a lot of mildly disconcerting things that seemed a little too convenient.
My money’s on the principal for now. Just feels like a heavy enough twist, with a handful of little troubling things.
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