#While doing so and once she's reclaimed her self worth by kicking his ass dressing masculinely again

[bijoumikhawal]

NGL I think if you're writing RGU analysis and you call Utena's gender nonconformity sexist you may not be writing good RGU analysis

[bijoumikhawal]

fuck you. My tags should be in the main body of the post. Faggy little bitch/butch solidarity

#Girl has long pink hair and wears lipstick and she's too butch for you #The problem in RGU isn't masculinity its patriarchy. The problem with Utena trying to be a prince isn't because she's not acting like a gir #(The show is rather direct in this by having Touga degrade Utena to the point where she dresses 'like a girl' and is obviously depressed #While doing so and once she's reclaimed her self worth by kicking his ass dressing masculinely again #And by having Akio comment on how 'girlish' Utena looks after he rapes her) #Her masculinity does not imply other girls are lesser #The problem is that being a prince REQUIRES you to deny agency to others and requires the creation of a villain and a victim for you to #Perform the act of being a prince. In this case a witch and a princess. This is system is still bad when the genders change but in its form #Is a vehicle of patriarchy #The prince is not masculinity itself. It is toxic masculinity/patriarchal masculinity #How ugly RGU would be if Utena's failure to save both Anthy and herself was because of her masculinity! #And not because when confronted by her rapist she tried to claim the language of abuse and power to distance herself from being a victim! #Subsequently casting the girl she loves- another victim- into an objectified role as a tool for Utena to reclaim a sense of power #In the moment of confrontation with the man who abused them both they both slide into toxic but familiar behaviors #Which have little to do with Utena's masculinity or Anthy's femininity and everything to do with abuse

I'd also like to add- while Anthy is generally, feminine, it is a major plot point that she takes up the identity of a teenage boy in the black rose arc, and is still objectified by a man. Though (s)he is manipulating him, (s)he is still being victimized. Being a boy does not protect Mamiya. I think there's also a lot to be said about how Mamiya is easy to read as the effeminate counterpart to Mikage, due to being younger, sickly, and associated with flowers, as well as being South Asian when embodied by Anthy- given that South and West Asian men are often cast as effeminate as an insult by heterosexist xenophobia, and xenophobia against South Asians being unfortunately very present in RGU.

This also connects to how its heavily implied Akio raped Togua and Saionji, just like how he raped Utena. Under patriarchy, boys and especially effeminate boys are explicitly acceptable targets for violence. Hell, violence is how you turn a boy into a respectable man under patriarchy. That particular commentary is explicit in the implication of sexual violence there as well. Akio approaches both boys to get them to play part in his plan, which is a giant metaphor for patriarchy.

I saw a post a bit ago about how Utena is about how rape, pedophilia, and incest are portrayed as natural results of patriarchy, and I don't remember if I reblogged it, but I think it's very true.

NGL I think if you're writing RGU analysis and you call Utena's gender nonconformity sexist you may not be writing good RGU analysis