[EVA] Gender analysis in the series, vis a vis Asuka and Misato

[V V]

I always thought Eva was a good commentary on changing gender roles in patriarchal Japan, which post-WWII were rapidly changing, and this got really exacerbated by the recession (if the men are out of work, the system kind of breaks down).  Low birthrate in Japan due to stark choice between stay at home mother or career, little infrastructure for working mothers, etc.  We've heard that before in various documentaries.

However, what deeply upsets me is that most "Gender studies" on Eva seem to be largely focused on Kaworu and Shinji, rather than having strong female characters like Asuka and Misato.  

For the record -- despite Greg Ayers persistent claims -- Kaworu wasn't "gay" he's an alien, and Shinji at the very least is not "homosexual" (He does not avoid women, but he does deny them his...essence), i.e. instinctive reaction to Asuka's boobs in episode 9, seemingly longing for a girlfriend in episode 4, etc.  Frankly, I think there's a difference between Shonen-ai/bishounen, and downright yaoi, and that some analysis had projected things that weren't there (cultural context, I mean even Frodo and Sam were accused of this kind of thing; you read old 19th century literature in Britain or Japan, there's this..."confraternity" idea.  Did Shinji "love" Kaworu? Yes...in the platonic "suki" sense that Sam loved Frodo, or Rodimus loved Optimus Prime.  But that's another debate...

Meanwhile, the only other "gender" articles are basically just re-used Ghost in the Shell articles, talking about body-violation via LCL (they show that *exactly* once in the entire series)

Overall, the relation between Misato & Co and the rising role of women in Japan seems kind of obvious, but isn't commented on enough.

--- On Thu, 12/10/09, EB <marestes at gmail.com> wrote:

From: EB <marestes at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [EVA] Where to find back-issues of Animerica, Newtype, etc?
To: "The english-language evangelion mailing list." <evangelion at eva.onegeek.org>
Date: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 6:12 PM

On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 9:07 AM, Gwern Branwen <gwern0 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, Anno did say that the Japanese couldn't handle strong women
> like Asuka & Misato. :) Maybe times have changed and Misato is no longer the
> most popular among American fans.
>

I think it has also a lot to do with the typical mindset of japanese culture
versus "western culture"; a lot of jokes and cracks have been made regarding
how Asuka represents the two most defining "western" cultures that shaped
Pre and post WWII japan, however, it's important to notice how in some latin
american countries, fans tend to be more sympathetic towards Asuka/Misato
given how they are more "hot blooded" and the way the act is seen not as
them trying to emasculate the males.


> It has been credited with defining gender roles, influencing attitudes
> toward the environment, and spawning the madly obsessive — and immensely
> profitable — otaku subculture embraced by tens of thousands of geeky fans
> who spend their lives unraveling the larger message of the show and
> collecting pornographic comic books featuring the show's female characters."
>
> It's not wrong exactly, it's just...


 Aptly apropos?

One has to focus on how some fans try to cope with Eva; some will make over
analytical guides, trying to simultaneously prove and disprove everything,
while others will try to re-imagine the ending, or the summit, or the climax
of the series in various ways, be it writing, or drawing.

Besides, they forgot fanfiction writing and fancommentary projects, and
fanscriptings ;)
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