People are Just Plain SILLY
Apr. 13th, 2011 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuliana_13I know this journal is super late. I had completely forgotten about it!
Before I comment on the plot of Ooku, I want to point out the manga genre. I find it both liberating and frustrating to see most of the action drawn. On the one hand, it saves both the reader and writer copious amounts of description of action and scene, because one can simply see them. On the other hand, characters' reactions and feelings are more ambiguous because in analyzing their facial expressions and body postures that are drawn for us, a lot is left to interpretation.
I was horrified by the shoguns that kept the men locked up for the sake of being locked up. Of the hundreds that were there, only a select few could even see her, let alone have sex with her. It's a horrible waste and torturous on the other women of the realm, as we learned from the main character.
A lot of the plot points I found really silly. When the guys were all couped up in the palace, they all became more feminine. That's just dumb. I would understand some becoming more feminine to make up for the lack of females. However, some would have to stay more masculine or else in attempts to fill the female role, they would lose the masculine, creating another imbalance.
I was also horrified by all the forced prostitution among the men and the rape present inside the inner chambers. The prostitution I could understand--men were in short supply but in high demand. People who would exploit that are inevitable. What I couldn't understand is their horrible treatment. One man in the inner chambers described being prostituted from a young age and being tortured by sadistic clients, and later nearly starved by his wife's family. Men are a rare entity, why would the women abuse them so? They are only putting their lives in unnecessary jeopardy. And the rape in the inner chambers? Completely unnecessary, especially since there are willing partners available. Though I think it has more to do with asserting dominance over the newbies than need for sex.
I'm not sure what to make of the Russ story. For one, it assumes that society makes no advancement as far as gender equality is concerned. For another, the men's reaction to the women is completely inaccurate, though their sexist views may have remained, they would still be impressed by the colonists successes. I think it's interesting she chose Russian men. Russia has been the only country to come very close to complete gender equality (during the communist years), has had a female czar (though that isn't unique), a fighter pilot squad with at least one "ace" (5 or more enemy planes shot down), and women playing very active roles in war like digging trenches and other "manly" jobs. Despite all this, Russian men are just as sexist as other chauvinistic men any where on the globe.
It's interesting how both the women in Ooku and the Russian men in the short story ignore history. No wonder no one learns from past mistakes. They ignore them instead. Smart.
Before I comment on the plot of Ooku, I want to point out the manga genre. I find it both liberating and frustrating to see most of the action drawn. On the one hand, it saves both the reader and writer copious amounts of description of action and scene, because one can simply see them. On the other hand, characters' reactions and feelings are more ambiguous because in analyzing their facial expressions and body postures that are drawn for us, a lot is left to interpretation.
I was horrified by the shoguns that kept the men locked up for the sake of being locked up. Of the hundreds that were there, only a select few could even see her, let alone have sex with her. It's a horrible waste and torturous on the other women of the realm, as we learned from the main character.
A lot of the plot points I found really silly. When the guys were all couped up in the palace, they all became more feminine. That's just dumb. I would understand some becoming more feminine to make up for the lack of females. However, some would have to stay more masculine or else in attempts to fill the female role, they would lose the masculine, creating another imbalance.
I was also horrified by all the forced prostitution among the men and the rape present inside the inner chambers. The prostitution I could understand--men were in short supply but in high demand. People who would exploit that are inevitable. What I couldn't understand is their horrible treatment. One man in the inner chambers described being prostituted from a young age and being tortured by sadistic clients, and later nearly starved by his wife's family. Men are a rare entity, why would the women abuse them so? They are only putting their lives in unnecessary jeopardy. And the rape in the inner chambers? Completely unnecessary, especially since there are willing partners available. Though I think it has more to do with asserting dominance over the newbies than need for sex.
I'm not sure what to make of the Russ story. For one, it assumes that society makes no advancement as far as gender equality is concerned. For another, the men's reaction to the women is completely inaccurate, though their sexist views may have remained, they would still be impressed by the colonists successes. I think it's interesting she chose Russian men. Russia has been the only country to come very close to complete gender equality (during the communist years), has had a female czar (though that isn't unique), a fighter pilot squad with at least one "ace" (5 or more enemy planes shot down), and women playing very active roles in war like digging trenches and other "manly" jobs. Despite all this, Russian men are just as sexist as other chauvinistic men any where on the globe.
It's interesting how both the women in Ooku and the Russian men in the short story ignore history. No wonder no one learns from past mistakes. They ignore them instead. Smart.
