What are the things that are most important to women? Well, if you believe what the media shows, it seems we think of nothing but fashion and guys. My eyes were recently drawn to an episode of a spin-off anime of Naruto, following the comedic adventures of Naruto’s friend and comrade, Rock Lee and others in short, mini skits. This particular episode featured a skit about “a maiden’s battle” and depicted four of the major female characters of the series, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, and Tenten so, I decided to check it out. (For those of you unfamiliar with the set up in Naruto, ninja are commonplace and most of the cast, including the girls I’ve just mentioned, are skilled warriors who aid in protecting their village and perform dangerous missions. Yet, as I’ve written about in other posts, the female characters are often given more traditional roles.) Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that this skit was a cess pool of stereotypes.
In the ten to fifteen minute skit, there is a big sale going on at a department store, the kind where hundreds of people line up in front of the entrance before the doors have even opened, all prepared to charge in and grab the best deals. It is revealed in a scene with Tenten’s two male comrades that she has gone of to a “women’s battle” instead of training as she usually does. What’s this “women’s battle,” you ask? Yes, it’s braving the mob and competing with fellow women for the best bargains at the sale. We soon find out that Tenten’s fellow female comrades, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata have also come and even powerful women like Tsunade, who is the leader of the village. This extreme shopping trip is compared to a battle and the women use ridiculous tactics to try to outwit others in order to get what they want.
I searched “shopping” and this is the kind of stuff that comes up. Look at how happy these white women are to be shopping!
So, what’s wrong with this? This is a comedy and I’m sure some people will think that I’m taking this too seriously. After all, while this is one of only a few skits I’ve seen from the show, it’s clear that all the skits play on the ridiculous. My problem with this skit is that the comedy lies in pure stereotyping of women. While the men train, the women participate in petty competitive behavior over a sale. Only one male character is suggested to be partaking in the sale while all the major female characters that live in that village are depicted along with the nameless mob of other shoppers who are depicted as women. By placing all these major female characters in this situation, it makes it seem like all women, no matter their different personalities, are drawn to “girly” activities like shopping. Not only that, but the characters and even the skit’s title verify that this is a “woman’s battle.” That phrasing bothers me beyond suggesting that mostly women show up to these things because to me it draws a line in the sand, so to speak; if shopping is specifically a woman’s battle, does that mean that serious things war, an actual battle, are supposed to be a man’s fight and some women just happen to be there as well?
There is nothing wrong with a woman who likes to shop. Even I like to do it sometimes. There is something wrong, however, with depicting only and all women shopping, especially in such a competitive fashion since that perpetrates the female vs. female stereotype as well. While many cultures, including my own, label shopping as something women do and like to do, I’ll bet you there are men who like to do that as well. While this sale isn’t limited to clothing, in the United States, many stores will have huge sales on a day called “Black Friday,” just after our Thanksgiving Day and tons of men participate in that. And certainly there are some women who absolutely hate to shop.
Finally, as for this skit being a comedy, in this day and age when we’re trying to move away from stereotypes and be more progressive, wouldn’t it be more enjoyable for everyone to make fun of silly stereotypes like the ones I’ve discussed here? Anyway, if you’d like to see the skit for yourself, I’ve put a link to the episode it’s in at the bottom of this post. The skit starts after the second commercial break at the halfway mark. Watch it if you’d like and tell me what you think!
Ug, the Rock Lee spin off… I could hardly stand it after a few episodes, it hardly surprises me that they’d put something like that in there.
And hey, this is still a Naruto spin off. To my knowledge women still have done hardly anything in the series (except Konan, at least she tried…).
Oh, I’ve been reading your blog for a while by the way but just found out I can comment. Looking forward to more updates.
Thanks for following my blog! I’m glad you like it. Anyway, you’re right, given the way the female characters are treated on the original series, it’s no surprise that the spin off also has issues. Naruto has always been a disappoint to me in regards to how it has handled its female characters since I feel like they’ve all had the potential to be interesting, dynamic characters, but end up doing little to nothing. If you haven’t read it already, you might be interested in something I wrote about Temari awhile ago; I feel she’s one of the better female characters in the series, although she still isn’t given tons of time to shine.
Oh yes, the characters are literally bursting with potential and yet the author rarely utilizes it in favor of more testosterone oriented action. And yes I have read your blog, Temari kicks nose (but of course hardly appears).
If you’re interested, I have a rather strange manga/anime that I believe is relatively feminist: Medaka Box. The main character is actually a girl, which is why I first picked it up and read it (because I need to judge the competition). While Medaka has some Sueish traits, especially in the middle, I think she does rather well overall, and especially after “part one” is finished. I’d be interested in your opinion on it.
Spoiler alert: the powers will never make sense. Never.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve heard the name of that series, but I didn’t know much about it. It looks like Crunchyroll has it so, I’ve put it on my queue to watch. And thanks for the warning about the powers.
As long as it’s only one episode, played for comedy, and too much, then I’m okay with it.
I admit Naruto is not the best series to treated woman. Shingeki no Kyojin and Full Metal Alchemist are the one. Both have badass heroine and badass female antagonist.
I agree that if I only see something once, it’s not that big of a deal. However, because I see this stereotype a lot, I decided to pick on this most recent usage of it.
As for Fullmetal Alchemist, it really is great. It’s definitely a favorite of mine, both story-wise and character-wise. I haven’t read/seen Shingeki no Kyojin so, I’ll have to check it out.
The ”all women love shopping” stereotype used to bother me more than any other one because I used to hate shopping – I found it boring at best and a nuisance at worst. It makes women seem shallow and materialistic, but most importantly, it tells girls from a young age (through toys like Barbie dolls) that they should act this way to be a ‘normal’ female. I’ve always thought that the Bechdel test should be expanded to show how often female characters talk not only about men but also about shopping. Any media that relies on such stupid stereotypes about women as a source of comedy are just lazily written, in my opinion.
That’s a good idea about the Bechdel test because, honestly, female characters seem to talk about fashion, makeup, and how they look just as much as they talk about men. With the combination of that and the toys marketed to girls, it’s no wonder our society gets the message that all women must love shopping. I went into a toy store a few months ago looking for a gift for a little male cousin of mine and I was disgusted by what I saw. It’s so extremely stereotypical with the girls’ sections littered with pink, frilly dolls, dresses, and mini makeup kits while the boys’ section was exuding a stereotypical macho vibe of dark, “manly” colors and manly toys like tools, cars, and sports stuff. It was a pretty sad sight and goes to show you how deeply rooted ideas of gender roles are in our culture.
You know, as a perfectly heterosexual male, I take pride in my wardrobe. I like being well-dressed, and actually enjoy shopping. However, I find it rather sad that I can only freely do so when I’m out with close lady friends, otherwise it’s seen as “unacceptable” by my guy friends, and have my masculinity brought into question regardless of any evidence in my favor. So, I guess this is perhaps the other side of the coin, why can’t guys also participate in the activity without being entirely feminized? I mean, how can something as basic as the enthusiasm for constant monetary exchange for particular goods be a set gender role? I know it’s not much to say, but I just thought I should throw that out there anyways. . . .
No, I’m glad you brought this up. I completely agree that it’s not fair to either gender to say “this is something girls do” or “this is something guys do.” It’s stereotypical and something we are taught rather than something that is natural. After all, why should one sex be completely uninterested in shopping and another sex completely obsessed with it? It doesn’t make sense. Interests depend on the individual, not one’s gender.
I actually want to start talking more about how men are stereotyped and boxed in since feminism isn’t limited to women. It’s a bit harder for me to discuss since I don’t have firsthand experience with men’s issues like I do with women’s, but I’ll try and you and my other male readers can tell me if I’m on the right track.
Sure, that sounds great actually. I’ll definitely be willing to help out.
I have noticed that with the female characters in Shonen series, their hobbies tend to include “shopping”. I remember reading somewhere that the creator of Naruto said that he didn’t know how to write female characters and that is why they aren’t as developed as the males. Um… how hard is it to go out and meet some females and get some help with those characters? We’re only about half the population, shouldn’t be that hard.
It’s funny. I remember reading that about Kishimoto every time I think of how he handles his female characters. I think he himself wrote something along those lines in one of the commentaries he did in the early Naruto volumes. He’d also written somewhere that he had great respect for his mother for her strength so, I’d hoped that his female characters would portray some of that and I suppose they do on occasions. I just wish they’d show it regularly.
Have you heard of Soul Eater? It depicts female characters pretty well for a shonen series, and even has a female protagonist.
Yes, I have. I’ve only seen the anime though, so I’d like to read the manga sometime. It was definitely refreshing to see a female protagonist in shonen manga. The creator of that series has actually come out with a spin-off series with three female protagonists, as I understand it. That’s another one I’d like to check out.