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terajkBecause I am the luckiest person EVER, I've been chatting with the fabulous and sparkly esmenet about gender in Rumiko Takahashi's manga Ranma 1/2. It made me remember this godawful analysis of gender in Ranma 1/2 I read a while back (Akira and Ranma 1/2: The Monstrous Adolescent by Susan Jollife Napier, available as part of a Google Books preview for USAians). While arguing that in Ranma 1/2 "boundaries are reinscribed into the conventions of a heterosexual hierarchical society" with a straight face (ahahahaha), she said this. (Out of spite, I fixed a sentence. My correction is in bold and CAPSLOCK):
But is female coded as being inferior to being disabled? In a way that is obvious to everyone in the entire cast? Hint: No. Takahashi doesn't treat one as worse than the other, and everyone's response to Ranma's being a girl sometimes and Ryoga's amazing lostness is basically a flash of"OH MY GAWD" "Wha?" followed by "Eh, that happens."
Also,esmenet and I have been discussing this male norm that Ryoga upholds. It involves protecting women from that guy you're obsessed with men who would sully their honor by day and sleeping with them without their consent at night (That guy you're obsessed with calls you on your skeevy bullshit. Regularly); fantasizing about living with them in a cave full of monsters that terrify them because that way they will be physically unable to leave you; trying to murder the hypoteneuse to get him out of the way (the hypoteneuse is too easygoing to even think of killing you), and using your sudden and inexplicable Neurotypicality Bonus--it's over 9,000!--to stalk them. (In the author's defense, THAT example of the norm only happens in the manga. And yes, that Neurotypicality Bonus vanishes into thin air afterwards, never to be seen again. Which I guess is Ryoga upholding a norm. Or the status quo, at least.)
Ranma's curse isn't "inferior" to anyone else's: everyoneexcept Kuno knows that Ranma is a girl sometimes in the same way they except Akane know that Ryoga is a pig or that Ranma's dad is a panda, and no real fucks are given. Ranma is as ambivalent about their curse as Ryoga is (all the cursed characters' feelings are complicated), because even though Ranma will insist "I am a guy!" they'll don the girl form at any opportunity--to flirt with Kuno to get something they want, to mess with Ryoga, (Ranma pretends to be Ryoga's fiance in the anime), to get free food.
Also, Ryoga *still* hates his pig curse even knowing that he gets Akane's attention that way, partly because he can ONLY get her attention that way, partly because he's a miserable person in general and partly because turning into a small, tasty pig kind of sucks when a significant part of your disability (ahem) which strangers are shocked by (*ahem*) and EVERYONE is aware of (ahem) but pretty much accepts (AHEM) involves regularly wandering lost in the woods for a week.
Check out this shining example of the NORM OF MALENESS. The "male norm" thing does seem to happen at first but it gets...complicated* at the very least:
(He ends up back at this village twice more, still looking for Furinkan High School; someone says he could be a tourist attraction. Nope--no monstrous adolescent bodies here.)
In the manga, this shining example of masculine superiority intends to ask a girl he's (thinking he's) dating to walk him to his own house. I don't hear of too many girls walking dudes home on stereotypical het dates. (FTR, I'm female and have Ryoga's impairment, which he is a scarily accurate portrayal of; strangers are ALWAYS offering to take me home.)
TL;DR:esmenet's analysis of gender in Ranma 1/2 is WAY BETTER.
*And by "complicated" I don't mean "emasculating." Ryoga is very strong and capable--and Ranma's first serious threat--but he doesn't quite fit the very strict box of Shining Maleness that exists IN HIS OWN HEAD. IOW, Ryoga's the one with strict ideas about masculinity--not the series. He is always telling Ranma to do things "like a man" and, in cases where Ryoga's gotten so lost he couldn't find Ranma for a fight (once in the middle of the fight they were having), he accuses RANMA of "running away" or being a "coward" and gets angry/defensive when Ranma tries to defend themself with the facts. ("You wandered off and got lost! "Don't patronize me!")
esmenet about gender in Rumiko Takahashi's manga Ranma 1/2. It made me remember this godawful analysis of gender in Ranma 1/2 I read a while back (Akira and Ranma 1/2: The Monstrous Adolescent by Susan Jollife Napier, available as part of a Google Books preview for USAians). While arguing that in Ranma 1/2 "boundaries are reinscribed into the conventions of a heterosexual hierarchical society" with a straight face (ahahahaha), she said this. (Out of spite, I fixed a sentence. My correction is in bold and CAPSLOCK):Ryoga, one of Ranma's competitors transforms into an adorable miniature pig, unhappily at first, but he becomes increasingly philosophical about it as he realizes this allows him to sleep with Akane. It is clear therefore that male is the norm, and it is the female that is one of a variety of attributes (including panda-ness, pig-ness, [DISABILITY],) that signify difference. Furthermore, being female is coded as being inferior to being a pig or a panda.
But is female coded as being inferior to being disabled? In a way that is obvious to everyone in the entire cast? Hint: No. Takahashi doesn't treat one as worse than the other, and everyone's response to Ranma's being a girl sometimes and Ryoga's amazing lostness is basically a flash of
Also,
esmenet and I have been discussing this male norm that Ryoga upholds. It involves protecting women from Ranma's curse isn't "inferior" to anyone else's: everyone
Also, Ryoga *still* hates his pig curse even knowing that he gets Akane's attention that way, partly because he can ONLY get her attention that way, partly because he's a miserable person in general and partly because turning into a small, tasty pig kind of sucks when a significant part of your disability (ahem) which strangers are shocked by (*ahem*) and EVERYONE is aware of (ahem) but pretty much accepts (AHEM) involves regularly wandering lost in the woods for a week.
Check out this shining example of the NORM OF MALENESS. The "male norm" thing does seem to happen at first but it gets...complicated* at the very least:
(He ends up back at this village twice more, still looking for Furinkan High School; someone says he could be a tourist attraction. Nope--no monstrous adolescent bodies here.)
In the manga, this shining example of masculine superiority intends to ask a girl he's (thinking he's) dating to walk him to his own house. I don't hear of too many girls walking dudes home on stereotypical het dates. (FTR, I'm female and have Ryoga's impairment, which he is a scarily accurate portrayal of; strangers are ALWAYS offering to take me home.)
TL;DR:
esmenet's analysis of gender in Ranma 1/2 is WAY BETTER.*And by "complicated" I don't mean "emasculating." Ryoga is very strong and capable--and Ranma's first serious threat--but he doesn't quite fit the very strict box of Shining Maleness that exists IN HIS OWN HEAD. IOW, Ryoga's the one with strict ideas about masculinity--not the series. He is always telling Ranma to do things "like a man" and, in cases where Ryoga's gotten so lost he couldn't find Ranma for a fight (once in the middle of the fight they were having), he accuses RANMA of "running away" or being a "coward" and gets angry/defensive when Ranma tries to defend themself with the facts. ("You wandered off and got lost! "Don't patronize me!")
