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This is the final section of the essay, "Feminism in Bleach."
"I wondered if I could cut his feet and work my way
up..." - Kurosaki Ichigo on Menos Grande, chapter 48
// Courage
If it is virtues rather than pure power that make worthy characters and role models, then the women of Bleach must be shown to be equal to the men. This virtue is rather self-explanatory, but we’d like to go through and emphasise some times where the women of Bleach have been courageous anyway.
The incident with Shrieker (Volume Two/ Episode Four, or, if you guys wanna see her kick ass =D) is particularly significant to our minds. Between episode one and the Shrieker incident, Rukia lost her powers almost completely and it did not affect her resolve to fight Hollows, nor her courage in taking them on. She didn’t need to engage Shrieker – she surely could’ve worked things out so that Ichigo could do the smiting for her without her having to risk herself. Similarly, she was fully prepared to help Ichigo against both Grand Fisher in chapter 21 and when hollows invaded in the Quincy Archer arc, just because he needed help. During the Karakura arc, Rukia was a woman on a mission, and she was fully prepared to put herself in danger to achieve her objectives.
Orihime is also right up there in the courage stakes. Right from the beginning she’s been facing down Hollows. Hell, in chapter 6 she gave a big angry Hollow out to kill her a hug. When the Hollow that attacked her and her schoolmates rocked up, she promised Tatsuki that she would protect her – and then followed through in chapter 43. During the Soul Society arc she put herself at risk to save strangers from being exploded by Mayuri. The Arrancar arc? She stood up to someone who she just saw rip Chad’s arm off (chapter 192). Her decision to go with Ulquiorra to Hueco Mundo was incredibly brave. And then, as described above, she resisted his psychological torture very well indeed. Also, Loly and Menoly in chapter 274, not cracking, things like that.
Matsumoto is also a good character to mention here. Underneath all that fanservice she’s got quite a bit of backbone. She first displayed it during the fight between Hitsugaya and Gin in chapter 132, when Gin was about to skewer Hinamori. Matsumoto, who had already defied her captain by coming in the first place, blocked Gin’s strike, with the result that her sealed zanpakuto was cracked. She took on a captain’s shikai! With her own, sealed zanpakuto! Later, when we see her shikai, we realise just how much danger she was putting herself in- had she used her shikai, she would have been instantly stabbed herself.
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Then, there is also Nanao to consider - Nanao, who, in the Soul Society Arc, was always a flashstep behind Shunsui, right up to the execution when Ukitake and Shunsui committed treason by destroying the Soukyouku, and then lead Yamamoto away for a private confrontation. Nanao was going to try and assist the Terrible Twosome, except she got pwned (which isn't the point - the point is that she was risking her life and position to take on somebody who literally did squish her flat. Not many could, or would do something like that). |
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Poor, poor, Hinamori was terribly used by Aizen, but during the Soul Society arc his memory inspired her to a fair amount of courage. Believing what he wrote in his letter to be the truth, she broke out of jail and went to fight Hitsugaya – who is a Captain, and one of her closest childhood friends. She was completely wrong, of course, but she still confronted him.
"Only saving them when it's
convenient won't do." - Kuchiki Rukia to Kurosaki Ichigo, chapter 2
// Integrity
The whole point of good guys is that they do what they think is right, regardless of consequences to themselves. The women of Bleach are a moral lot, by and large. Again, character by character:
Rukia. So, Rukia, right from the beginning, has been portrayed foremost as a soldier of Soul Society. For duty, she steps in front of a Hollow, transfers her powers to a human, continues to work Ichigo (with him, too), training him and preparing him for any threats that might come his way. Rukia has been shown from the get-go to believe in the institution of Soul Society, reassuring any Plus souls she meets that Soul Society is a good place to be.
Enter Kon, who by Soul Society’s rules, should be destroyed. It is here that Rukia is shown not to be a mindless robot obeying Soul Society’s orders, rather, a soldier who is aware of Soul Society’s shortcomings but says nothing due to her place. What she does, however, is obey Soul Society’s law, right down to the letter, by disposing of Kon, though she doesn’t follow its spirit (ahahaha I’m sorry), by disposing of Kon in a teddy bear (chapter 17).
Rukia is increasingly prepared to defy Soul Society (or whoever, in fact) to do what she believes to be right, starting with saving Kon from destruction. Two hundred chapters later, she’s sneaking off with Renji to go save Orihime. And sometimes doing the right thing means not acting; in chapter 135, Ukitake taught her not to interfere in fights for pride, and she duly allows Ichigo to fight Grand Fisher alone, despite her previous experience with Kaien.
Orihime’s healing in the Hueco Mundo arc also probably falls into this category. The first thing to consider is Loly and Menoly. In chapter 272, Loly and Menoly seek her out in her prison and begin to physically abuse her, saying that it's what she "gets for thinking a human's power could even compare to that of an arrancar." What little that Kubo Tite shows the audience is really, very brutal - Orihime is grabbed by her hair, thrown to the floor, and punched - and it's arguably one of the most awful scenes in the entire series, for the simple fact that Orihime chooses not to defend herself from two enemies who aren’t trying to kill her, but cause her pain.
This is why her healing of them after Grimmjow blasts them to kingdom come is so impressive. We don't believe that Orihime is weak for choosing not to fight back when Loly and Menoly attack her - we believe that it's impressive that she stands by it, and does not break down, even though she is obviously in terrible pain. That Orihime then chooses to heal them in chapter 274 shows her to be the better person – though in fact, it's highly unlikely that Orihime even consciously thought in those terms - her being better than somebody else.
The other notable incident involving Orihime and her healing power is when she refused flat out to heal Ichigo in chapter 278. She loves him, and refused to heal him even when Grimmjow ordered her to, because reviving him only to have him killed again would be wrong. In both cases she acts according to her beliefs, despite potential consequences to herself. Potential consequences being an awful lot of physical pain and possibly death, as well as losing Ichigo, the person she is in love with.
Yoruichi also provides us with an example of doing the right thing no matter the cost. Standing up for what she believed in- Urahara, in her case- meant that she, too, had to leave SS in less-than-auspicious circumstances and that she was in effect, a wanted fugitive. We should remember that Yoruichi could’ve washed her hands of the matter entirely, left Urahara to the wolves, retained her authority and the honour of her family, et cetera, et cetera. But she outright defied the authority of the Central 46 instead, to save her friend. She knew everything- what he’d been charged with, what he’d been doing- and decided to save him anyway. (See the final chapters of Turn Back the Pendulum.) Matsumoto is another prime example of somebody doing the right thing, no matter the cost. At the final showdown on Soukyoku in chapter 177, she stepped behind Gin and held a blade at his throat, choosing what is right over past friendship – because as the storyline has noted, duty does not always equal right. |
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Nanao chose to follow Shunsui into battle, knowing full well that she’d be facing Yamamoto. Even more to the point, she was going to attack Yamamoto; chapter 155, for your reading pleasure.
In chapter 291, Nel feels that she is honor-bound to protect Ichigo from Noi’s attentions, as he risked his life to protect hers. What’s more, in her and Noi’s flashback chapter, she is shown to despise killing for the sake of killing, asking Noi specifically what the point of killing those random arrancar is. Nel does what is right, regardless of her past associations – she is not afraid to protect the “enemy”, and she is not afraid to question her associates over their decisions.
"From now on, I'll protect you." -
Inoue Orihime to Arisawa Tatsuki, chapter 42
// Resolve
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Ah yes, just what every shounen protagonist needs. Without it, Ichigo is utterly helpless- everyone remember the beginning of the Arrancar arc? Our leading ladies, Rukia and Orihime, naturally face problems that require that they focus, remember what’s important to them, and then power up quick smart. Orihime activated her powers in the traditional Bleach manner, “I will protect [significant person], no matter what!” and following through. Kick ass, Orihime! Her will to protect Tatsuki, like Ichigo’s to protect his family and Chad’s to protect innocents in the vicinity, was enough to give her a victory over her very first Hollow. Unfortunately, the first Hollow she killed has also been her last, to date. In fact, she’s been having real problems mustering enough killing intent to give people so much as a paper cut, from Jirobou in the Soul Society arc to Yammy in the Arrancar arc. She’s defended and healed plenty of people, true. She went to Soul Society to protect Ichigo, and spent very little of the arc in his company, preventing her from fulfilling that vow by default. She swore to do her best for Ichigo in chapter 192, and only managed to break Tsubaki. |
It got to the point where Urahara, in chapter 227, more or less ordered her off the battlefield because she had no offensive powers. Rukia needed to grab her by the collar and shake her round for a bit before she worked out the obvious solution- get stronger anyway, and in chapter 228 she renewed her vow to be strong enough to fight on her own. As of yet she has not been able to inflict any more damage on any opponent, but the series is far from over and Orihime’s difficulties have been front and centre. It’s coming. =)
Rukia, having spent about half the story without her powers, has unfortunately not had many opportunities to declare that she’ll protect someone and gain the benefits of a power-up for it- though this has not stopped her from trying to protect people. When we first see her fight in chapter 201 during the Arrancar arc, she utilises skills she already had but had previously been unable to use without her powers. Accordingly, her moment of Heroic Resolve™ comes in her first fight in the Hueco Mundo arc, against Kaiencar. On the back foot- okay, impaled on his trident- Rukia has the traditional flashback which reminds her why Kaien wouldn’t mind terribly if she killed the thing using his face, and why she was in Hueco Mundo in the first place- because Kaien is dead already, and she has to fight for her nakama. And so, she gets that power-up, and Kaiencar dies within a few panels. |
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The Shinigami Women’s Association
Guide to Camping
// Surviving
Something that we’re not exactly sure has been covered specifically is that the Bleach women are very good at surviving major emotional trauma. In fact, if you compare the women of Bleach to their male counterparts in this category, the women kick the men’s asses, hands down.
Rukia survived Kaien’s death with an almost single-minded focus on duty. Everything she did in the Karakura arc was all in the name of duty; duty as a shinigami, duty to human lives. There were times where she could’ve just stood to the side and let Ichigo handle everything, but didn’t, even at risk of grievous bodily harm. Then there’s the whole being executed thing – this, she embraced whole-heartedly, because it was her duty to – her repentance for all the awful, awful things she’d done. (Her drawings are pretty awful, ya know? =D)
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Matsumoto survived Gin’s defection, emotionally. It’s obvious that she was fairly distraught by it, if her impromptu drinking session with Kira in chapter 180 is anything to go by. Of all the women in Bleach, she is arguably the one woman who can compartmentalize work and not-work effectively, leaving her emotional problems concerning Gin out of her duty as a shinigami. (Paperwork, she compartmentalizes as being the captain’s prerogative.) As a matter of fact, of all the characters in Bleach, Matsumoto is arguably the major example of somebody who comes out the other side, emotionally stable. Soi Fon survived Yoruichi’s defection fairly well, considering that she actually was very emotionally distraught by her seeming abandonment. In fact, she went on to become the captain of the second division, the captain of the onmitsukidou, and she developed shunko. On her own. The fact that Yoruichi developed shunko before she did is irrelevant to this point, because Soi Fon was also able to do this on her own without input from her mentor. Rock on, Soi. Rock on. |
And finally, Orihime. After enduring the loss of her brother- bouncing back quite well from it, to the dismay of her brother’s spirit- she went on to become a happy and active young woman with excellent marks and a few interests outside of school, even before ‘fighting Hollows’ becomes the co-curricular activity of choice. Orihime’s also surviving her enforced move to Hueco Mundo fairly well, what with Ulquiorra trying to psychologically break her down, and Loly and Menoly beating her up.
Compare to how some of the men have come back from deep personal trauma.
Byakuya turned into an emo shell. He avoided contact with Rukia, to the point of not even looking at her, because Rukia reminded him too much of Hisana. Then he tried to help Soul Society kill her.
Renji loved Rukia so much, he tried to help Soul Society execute her. And responding to her adoption by cutting off all contact with her. And dealing with losing her friendship by vowing to one day pwn her brother. (It kinda sucks to be Rukia, we think, slightly.)
Ishida survived his grandfather’s death by nursing a terrible, awful, no good very bad grudge on shinigami, the culmination of which involved hollow bait that summoned up heaps of Hollows and a Menos Grande. Smooth move, Ishida.
But the point is not to insult Bleach's menfolk. We're just trying to show that the women are a tough lot. We're not trying to go all women reign supreme, it just so happens that in this aspect, the women dealt with their issues slightly better than the men.
Fanservice
Boobies!
Like many other manga, Bleach also has its share of fanservicey moments and characters; Orihime, Matsumoto, Nel, Yoruichi, Kuukaku, and Halibel. Actual fanservicey moments are few and far in between; Yoruichi and Ichigo in the hot springs, and Matsumoto and Orihime in her apartment. In fact, most of the time, the fanservice is played for laughs – often at the expense of the menfolk, and not the women, who perpetrate the events (Yoruichi and Ichigo in the springs, and Adult!Nel hugging Ichigo). Nel and Orihime are distinctly unaware of their own attractiveness. Kuukaku and Halibel are distinctly uninterested. Yoruichi and Matsumoto are very aware of the power of their bodies and enjoy flaunting it at the expense of others - but the important thing to remember with Yoruichi and Matsumoto are their personalities. Both women are strong and independent, and could easily tie up anybody who looked at them crosseyed. To add to that, even if KT shows these women in various states of undress (big example: the most recent cover of Bleach, featuring Nel), the context portrays them as being majestic (seriously, NO PUN INTENDED), strong, and powerful. Or at the very least, in control of the situation. |
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The important point is no woman in Bleach, no matter how fanservicey, is shown as vulnerable or as anything less than what they are because of their chests or personal attire (or lack thereof, really). There’s also more than a little male fanservice. Quincy archer has surprisingly good abs. As does Renji. And Ichigo. And Chad. And Ikkaku. During the Hueco Mundo arc, there have been two instances where it could be strongly argued that Orihime was objectified- the incident in which Grimmjow tied her up, and the incident in which Noi stuck his fingers in her mouth. These incidents are objectifying and degrading- but neither was portrayed as an admirable way to treat another, especially the latter. Furthermore, Ishida spent much of the Hueco Mundo arc being toyed with by Szayel- the degradation, rather than being gender-specific, is perpetrated exclusively by the villains, or Mayuri, who might as well be a villain. KT's aim is not to tell us anything about relationships between men and women there, just to show us that these really aren't nice people. One has to remember several things; first of all, many of this villainous acts have been perpretrated by nasty people who are being portrayed in a negative light. Secondly, individual and relatively isolated incidents do not reflect the entire attitude of the author; KT has far more often shown examples of women being proud of their bodies than men humiliating women. |
On the Other Hand
It’s not that we’re complete dismissing the faults of the women of Bleach (especially Rukia and Orihime, who must overcome their flaws as part of the story). The significant flaws of the main female characters are like the flaws of the main male characters- varied from person to person according to personality. A lot of the time, their flaws are also their strengths.
Rukia’s acceptance of her execution doesn’t change the fact that it was, in actuality, self-destructive behaviour. What it is not, or more to the point, what Kubo Tite did not do with Rukia in Bleach, is depowering her with the intention (subconscious, or otherwise) of showing that women are weaker than men. Her state-of-mind was a reflection of her character and experiences, and her character alone, as opposed to a commentary on the strength of women.
Orihime’s strength lies with her loved ones – she relies on them for support, and tries to support them with whatever she can offer. Ichigo in particular is a source of inspiration and strength for her. By that same token, however, her focus on Ichigo is so absolute it can be detrimental to her attention for details (i.e. forgetting that Nel needs to be healed until Ichigo asks her to heal her, neglecting to raise a shield until reminded). However, it is never implied by Kubo Tite that it is wrong for her to be in love, nor does he trivialize her feelings in any way. He does not imply through Bleach that women are necessarily made weaker for being in love. Orihime, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Soi Fon and Renji all lose their senses to an extent because of the people they love (be it platonically, filially or romantically). (We could go on, but… yeah.)
Hinamori’s persistent pursuit of Aizen’s approval meant that she worked extra hard. This is good. Her desire for his approval, however, was so strong that she overlooked the fact that his “final words” were in fact very suspicious and without basis in fact. She was played by a master of manipulation. This doesn’t change the fact that her staunch desire to stay by Aizen’s side, and to redeem him, regardless of evidence to the contrary, was ridiculous, because it was. This is a reflection of her character, and not of Kubo Tite/Bleach’s opinion of women in general. Note that Hinamori wasn’t the only one tricked by Aizen. Others who fell for his deception include Yamamoto, Shinji, Unohana … actually, the whole cast of Bleach save Gin and Tousen (and only cos they were invited to the goodbye party).
A similar situation occurred with Gin and Kira, in which Kira was actually portrayed far less admirably by Kubo Tite. Hinamori's sincere admiration for her captain led her to make foolish choices; Kira's sincere admiration for his captain led him to make bad choices. He knowingly assisted Gin in doing Bad Things, by continuing to follow him despite the carnage in Central 46 headquarters, up to and including attacking Matsumoto. The only other explanation for his actions towards the end of the Soul Society arc is that he hadn’t noticed Gin’s evil intentions, and that would require almost criminal stupidity. Either way, poor Izuru can’t win. =(
(Compare with Matsumoto and Hisagi, who were also personally betrayed, and conducted themselves with the utmost integrity and courage. They were the ones to hold sharp pieces of metal to their betrayers’ throats, in that confrontation.)
Soi Fon’s devotion to Yoruichi, while admirable (and also useful, in the sense that it pushed her to achieve great accomplishments in the meantime) is also emotionally unhealthy. Her resentment festered within her for a hundred years. This is not a reflection of Kubo Tite’s opinions on women. It just so happens that Soi Fon here was female.
Matsumoto is a lazy flirt who never does any paperwork. What’s your point? Shunsui sleeps and lazes around, drinking sake. (Secretly, it’s Nanao who’s running the Eighth Division. Not so secretly, it’s Hitsugaya who’s totally pwning the Tenth Division.)
Apocalypse, Now
// The End
Very long story short. Though KT has indeed presented us with female characters who are physically weaker than quite a few (but not all) of their male counterparts, he has never failed to show the strength and courage of those female characters. Indeed, he has gone out of his way to explore and explain their emotional difficulties, and to show them overcoming those difficulties, much as he has shown the emotional troubles the boys have gone through. Like the male protagonists, the female protagonists are growing as people.
We’ve looked at how much Rukia and Orihime have been in the story and how the women of Bleach have affected the course and tone of the story. They have. They undeniably have. And through two rescue arcs and “depowerment” of major female characters, KT has never failed to show us how strong these women are as people, with or without swords and/or city-levelling powers. He’s developed his characters, male and female alike, carefully and given them all flaws and strengths. Far from being chauvinistic, KT shows great respect for the female characters of Bleach, whether or not he’s shut them up in a tower somewhere.
KT has always treated his female characters with respect. Rukia has her own memories-in-the-rain pathos, treated as seriously as Ichigo’s own. Orihime has never been told to "get over" her crush, despite her love for Ichigo becoming so all-encompassing that she occasionally forgets to act – Ichigo is, after all, as much her strength as he is her weakness. Hinamori’s adoration of Aizen is painful rather than comical, and her frantic excuses on behalf of her former captain are truly pitiful. Sooner or later she’ll have to accept what has happened and stand up for what is right. The important thing is that she has never been mocked. No problem has been trivialised in the course of the story.
Furthermore, what the women do affects the plot of Bleach. Yoruichi saving Urahara 100 years prior to the storyline, Rukia’s initial offer to Ichigo, Hinamori’s desperate attempts to fulfil her captain’s wishes and Unohana’s decision to investigate Aizen all shaped the subsequent actions of many protagonists. KT’s female characters are not incidental or just there to cheer on their male counterparts, they have goals and desires of their own.
They face the same challenges as their male counterparts, too. There does not seem to be such a thing as a ‘feminine’ issue in Bleach. Ichigo and Orihime both have to cope with the loss of a parent/mentor. Ishida and Rukia both have to deal with cold, dysfunctional families. Orihime is dealing with the issue of unrequited love- but Renji seems to be dealing with the same, a lot more quietly, if you ignore the whole sending-Rukia-back-to-be-executed thing. Kira and Hinamori were both betrayed by someone they admired.
Oh, and then there’s the evil, evil man out to take over the world. He’s a bit of a problem too.
So, we hope you enjoyed that? And again, discussion/comments is muchly appreciated. =D
Comments
Much love for that. <333333333333333333
More later when I digest more breakfast!
OMFG. And I thought Code Geass was the only anime/manga that had fanservice! >w< OMFG. Hawt stuffs, Matsumoto!
-cough- Anyway, YOU ARE RIGHT! KT never fails to give each character a certain strength, be it physical or mental.
And I also really object to the idea that women will be seen as equals to men if they behave like men. What a joke. So, I really liked your emphasis on the virtues as opposed to pure physical strength. Looked at in this light, the men are just as, if not more effed up than the ladies. (Hello, 11th division?)
Great work! thanks for sharing!
As for the comparison with other manga, to be honest I personally have not read past volume seven or so of Naruto, and no One Piece at all. (Betchneenja's read Naruto, though.) I did contribute to this essay with Rurouni Kenshin in mind, however- to my thinking, that is a chauvinistic manga, and comparing the two helped develop our criteria for an egalitarian series.
Thank you very much for commenting. We really appreciate it.
I started thinking about this issue when I read some meta about how Rukia/Orihime/___ was being depowered because OMG they got stuck in a tower/turned into a child etcetc, and I thought that it... sorta missed the point that these women were awesome regardless of whether or not they could blow up earth.
(I adore the worldbuilding for Naruto, but the characterization in Naruto can be appallingly flat, in my opinion - for both male/female characters.)
Thanks again for your kind comments. <3
I don’t have much to say about the essay because it was so good, if you see what I mean, but you did remind me of a semi-consistent relationship dynamic I’ve seen in Bleach: when a male and female character are friends, it’s usually the woman who is the more vocal and stereotypically dominant character, and the man who is passive. Rukia and Ichigo, Yoruichi and Urahara in the flashbacks, and Shinji and Hiyori all fall into this category, and Stark and Lillinette might also. The reverse is nowhere near so common, although it crops up with Gin and Matsumoto, Aizen and Hinamori (a bit diluted by the fact that he’s her captain), and perhaps Byakuya and Rukia. Note my caveat about a friendship, so Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, for instance, wouldn’t count. I hope I made myself clear there – I have a feeling I was a little hazy.
And we just had to include Unohana, once we worked out how she'd affected the plot. Thank you very much for commenting!
It's a very good point you made about Bleach, one that I definitely agree with - but I also have to add that KT is one of those few awesome, awesome authors who manages that fine balance of pwnage, with the end result that the relationship/s are very equal. The men aren't pushovers - they just don't push back all the time, but by that same token, the women aren't complete nazi bossy harridans - they know when to push and when to let go. (This is a big reason why I adore Bleach; KT writes equal partnerships incredibly well.)
Thanks for your kind comments, and your thoughts too. =D
I've always been a fan of the strong women of Bleach, and your essay even pointed out some examples that I had missed or overlooked.
Thanks for the read!
I've worked the front lines, abortion clinics back in the days when bomb threats were daily business and I'd find tiny coffins outside the door when showing up for work. I helped found the first NOW chapter on my campus. I spoke and read and attended symposiums for womens' issues all over the US--
AND YES I'M A BLEACH FANGIRL BECAUSE DAMN IT, KUBO-SENSEI KNOWS HIS WOMENS.
I find it compelling that Rukia's backstory is given so much attention, that her coming of age story is paralled with Ichigo's, that Orihime's shoujo-like story is treated with such touching depth--it's not the fairy tale and I believe that many of her fans who want it to be and who bring up the chant that Kubo would be a "bad writer" if he didn't give her the object of her crush don't understand Kubo's take on women at all. There's a profound sympathy here. Oh yeah, don't get me wrong--I've seen the wicked fanservice. Nnoitra's fingers in Orihime's mouth and the mild bondage scene with Grimmjow. But for the most part, Kubo has given Orihime honest panel time. Her scenes, her reactions, her jealousies, her dreams, her fears--nothing rings false. She's no angel. She's no fairy princess. She's a girl who hasn't discovered the meaning of her own power--and there's a metaphor for feminism if I EVER heard one.
A great little essay on Orihime: A Unified Field Theory of Orihime Just a tiny post by my friend
Kubo isn't afraid of giving his female characters power and that makes me very happy.
I'd be interested to see you write a similar analysis for Naruto, which I think would fail the feminism test spectacularly. I've tried to bring up the issue in Naruto forums but I've never been able to find an intelligent debater. Notice how never ONCE in Naruto has a female character in Naruto won a battle against a strong male character without help. Even Tsunade needed a 12 year old boy to help her fight another Sennin because (irony of ironies) she's afraid of blood. The people at the forums tried to argue that it didn't matter because they put up a good fight, but I disagree. If anyone can find an instance of a kunoichi defeating a strong male ninja without help I would be very interested in seeing git.
Thank you so.so.so much for this Feminism essay. You made the feminist in me very very very happy.
Thank you.
I don't particularly think Yachiru can be dismissed as a weak female character, no matter how tiny her role is. Despite her looks and naughty nature, one can still argue that she's a powerful force in her own right as she can withstand hanging around three people with very strong spiritual pressures: Kenpachi, Ikkaku, and Yumichika.
Yachiru manages to impress one, in fact, due to the silence of the manga regarding the nature of her zapankutou. Remember, this is a little girl with the physical strength to flash-step and carry her captain across Soul Society. Just like Unohana, she can be projected by the fandom as someone immensely strong but how strong has yet to be revealed.
Nemu, however, presents a totally different matter. If there's a female character in Bleach who embodies female subjugation she may be it. A passive creation, even her character design (mini-skirt!) just hints at her function as an object. It's hard to envision her as other than abused and mistreated.
Regarding Nemu, I previously wrote this: "Nemu's entire existence is based on violation -- she is Mayuri's science project, her body is a receptacle for his poisons, and now she is used to spawn the re-birth of a mad scientist." My complete rant is here: http://laurie-bunter.livejournal.com/31
I hope you don't mind me bringing up these points. Regarding everything else written, I agree on so many of the points raised. I'm glad you both took the time out to write this, and it's totally going into my archives. ♥