In Defense of the Shojo Heroine

hello,
i like this post. as for me i don’t like yasashi girls much. i’ve also heard them be referred to as ‘kawaiiso girls’. however i like Tohru a lot, i think she’s different from the other yasashi girls, i’ve seen worse. i like that Tohru had a goal that she was willing to achieve. i agree with your conclusion.

Thanks! Yeah, Tohru is kind of the best of the best. I do get annoyed with some – Hatsumi from Hot Gimmick comes to mind.

you’re welcome. omg i never read Hot Gimmick because i heard about Hatsumi. from what i heard it wasn’t worth the read. have you read Maid Sama? i’d like to hear your thoughts on Misaki.

I like this post too. It’s something I’ve been thinking about over the last couple years as my manga-reading habits shifted mostly to shoujo and I began to notice how different “girly” shoujo-heroines are from the tough tomboys found in a lot of American media. For me, it’s a lot easier to relate to and admire a character who wants to bring happiness to others, to both depend on and be a support for her friends as the situation calls for. More than being the “strong” girl who can (supposedly) handle anything and anyone, I’d like to be known as someone who can cheer up my friends and family. Hooray for shoujo girls!!

I’ve never read Maid Sama but I’m definitely going to check it out now!

lys – I agree. For instance I just finished reading a classically “western” novel where the heroine is tough and independant and pushes people away because she’s so headstrong. That’s fine but I can’t help but wonder if her quiet, younger sister portrayed as this weak thing wasn’t really the strong one. Constantly just supporting her older sister and loving her in a quiet way, trying to help out instead of take it all on you know? Because I think it’s actually harder to try and make yourself useful to the greater good than to try and take it all on yourself. Not to say that the western women aren’t strong but I reject the idea that the “softer” side is weak.

I’m not a big fan of most shoujo heroines. One of the things that annoys me is that I get the impression (though I admit it could possibly be the wrong one considering the small amount of shoujo manga I’ve been able to bring myself to try) is that the issues or “problems” of the strong girl type character are are often addressed at some point in a lot of series, whereas the “problems” yashashi girls face for being the way they are don’t seem to be addressed or alluded to nearly so often to me. This probably irritates me more than is reasonable because, sometimes much to my chagrin, in most ways I’m practically a poster child for the yasashii girl. I can’t help looking at those girls and thinking ‘That’s not what it’s like. Unless you’re maybe slightly brain-damaged, that’s not what it’s like.’

There are maybe a small handful of yashashii girls I like, but that’s because there’s a big difference between the type of person who seems to truly understand what’s happening when they put others above themselves in a situation, who really comprehend what they’re doing when they give something up for a friend or family member (preferably with minimal angst ^_^;), versus someone who seems to have a very simplistic view of things, who doesn’t seem to fully process neither a friend’s problem nor what they’re ‘giving up’ to devote so much to others, who seems to be working on some sort of indiscriminately sweet, brainless autopilot. If I wanted to read a manga where the main character makes those close to them happy with the force of their good intentions and happy demeanor and sweet, simple acts of joy and kindness and absolute devotion, then I’d read a manga where the main character was a dog. But when I’m reading about humans, I just expect something else.

Sometimes I put others above myself and it makes me feel strong and happy. Other times, I do it and then I feel like a wimpy doormat. The difference I think is in whether I did it on be-nice-to-people autopilot, desperate to please, or whether I felt like I assessed the situation and made a choice to do or behave the way I did. I think I judge characters this way, too. Yasashi girls *can* be strong, but it depends on *why* they do what they do, whether or not they’re making informed choices. And while it’s debatable whether or not any given shoujo heroine is doing that in any given situation, personally I found it usually not to be the case. (I do love the idea, though, as the idea that the bossy/brusque girl is the only type of ’strong’ girl is one that bugs me, and as I think you kind of suggested, embracing other kinds of strength is totally one of the things feminism is all about.)

/vent. Aaah. ^_^; …But I’m assuming with such a topic you knew you’d draw someone like me, so I don’t feel too bad, hehehe.

Haha, ok, that last comment made me laugh. But you bring up some really really good points. I think the average salary for a woman in Japan is something like 70% less than her male counterparts. That’s not exactly a good self sacrifice. Some shojo heroines make me feel like they self sacrifice because it’s expected of them or because they are just a stereotypical badly written character. I’m having a real problem liking Yura in Honey Hunt for this reason. She’s just..well, kind of an idiot. Like she’s sweet and cute and wants to be good but for what? To get back at her mom? to please an agent? The motivations aren’t really clear and it’s more like a plot devise to get her into the arms of some boy bander. *side note: if you want a really great look at fun boy band love check out Chocolate*

I think the difference in the bland yasashii girl and the one who really stands out is that the strong ones don’t give up on themselves. They might make sacrifices, or they may act in a way that seems like they are wimps but not once to they compromise their goal which is ultimately happiness for all. I’ll go back to Tohru since she’s such a great example – while she kept poking at Kyo to be better, do better, believe in himself she also kept telling herself the same thing. Yes, she often put his needs above hers but I never got the feeling that her needs (hee, sound like a cheesy relationship counseler)were completely surpressed. For example, she refused to let Akito win all while making Akito her friend! Who but a yasashii girl could pull that off??

A more difficult example would be Hachi from Nana. For a long time I struggled with liking her. Especially after she decides to give up her happiness, ruin the man she loves and became a trophy to a man she doesn’t. How is that strong? Then I realized that she did it because in the end she believed that if her child could be happy and taken care of then it would be worth it. And, really, she’s right. If her child is happy, then it will be worth it. And ok, i have doubts that her child will be happy in that situation but Hachi isn’t the brightest bulb. Still, it’s a noble sacrifice and for a good reason.

I imagine when you feel strong for making your friends happy it’s because you made a compromise that didn’t betray your own desires. Like, (stupid example) you want to eat something sweet and agree to ice cream even if you wanted cake. You still get a treat and you made your friend really happy. The times I feel like a doormat is when I give up on myself in order to keep the peace or to be nice.

It’s been so long since I’ve read what little bit of Nana that I did (though I keep intending to read more as I actually rather liked it…) but I do recall even from the beginning not being as exasperated with her as I usually am with that type (even if she clearly did not make the most…admirable of life choices). It’s been too long now for me to pinpoint why, but it makes me think I might be inclined to agree with you had I read up to the part you mentioned. It makes me wonder what other strong yasashi shoujo heroines I might like/not hate. (Once in an attempt to try more shoujo manga I asked for recommendations of manga with “strong heroines” and ended up with a lot of manga about pushy, hot-headed, holier-than-thou girls I couldn’t much relate to either. ^_^;)

[...] like to bring the hate.  Ok, no that’s not true.  Anyway, I expressed how much I admire the shojo heroine last week and got lots of great comments.  But some shojo heroines are too much for even me. Here’s my [...]