Quote:
Originally Posted by typhonsentra
No, I kinda feel like the whole "The main character MUST be an empty outlet for the male readers" isn't as prevalent in other forms of entertainment. Shit, in Shojo comics readers seem to have no problem with the female protagonist breaking down in tears on a weekly basis. Escapism is prevalent in a lot of fiction yes, but this expectation that the character can never face any real heartache or conflict isn't. And yes, the obsession with the idea that a girl must be a virgin is sexist. Again, there's no such virgin rule amongst female otakus when it comes to their romance comics, is there?
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In fact female otakus like when the main character is a man-slut. You can see a lot of shoujos where the guy has a lots of relationships before meeting his only (the heroine) it is quite popular there. But different genres give different priorities.
For example you will not see in shounen the hero forcing the heroine, while in shoujo it is the most common thing ever. It quite often look like rape even.
Different audience with different tastes.
You could also blame shoujo fans for liking violence against females with such resolve since a lot of shoujo's have that stuff in them.
You can say that looking at the female as an object which value is determined by her innocence (which physical expression is the virginity), but there also some weird connotations regarding shoujo as well.
Its just the matter of audience and what they want. Our society creates some tropes that manga's follow. Why in shoujo it is the girls first kiss while the guy even if not a man-slut is still quite well experienced etc.
Different audiences have different likings, and you can find sexism in the shoujo as well so I cannot say that shounen is worse than shoujo in that aspect.
Its just that in shounen they value the heroine's innocence while in shoujo the preference is put on hero's experience (while heroine is innocent).
The problem is when its expression steps over the limit. But it is also true that clichéd sexist stuff pleases masses more than liberal one, so if it sells better it is natural for mangaka's to aim to get most of it. Which creates a clichés for shounen and shoujo which are expected, difference to which can cause controversy.