Any thoughts?
http://jezebel.com/5437193/memo-to-the-media-in-2010-add-more-dynamic-female-characters?skyline=true&s=x
Quote:
Researcher Mimi Ito published an interesting piece in Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat, called "Gender Dynamics of the Japanese Media Mix." Ito explains how Japan's culture allows for a different type of gender coding than what we see in the US. Using examples like Pokémon and Hamtaro to show where certain franchises were coded as masculine or feminine, but were still enjoyed by children of all genders. Ito concludes:
While gender differences are resilient in Japan as elsewhere, there are also points of fluidity and crossover that differ from what we see in the United States. Japanese media mix cultures are increasingly influential overseas, and cannot be dismissed as informative but irrelevant oddities. Culturally ingrained assumptions about what boys and girls like can stand in the way of alternative gender politics and representations.
I'm often reminded of Ito's research when confronted with searching for new things to read and watch. While I still consume a fair amount of US based media, I find myself obsessively stalking mangadroid and mysoju.com since they are more likely to feature stories about women. This doesn't mean this particular media mix is free of sexism (it isn't) or that it doesn't fall into some very familiar stereotypes (it does), but I can generally have a lot more options when looking for content about women, often created by women.
While gender differences are resilient in Japan as elsewhere, there are also points of fluidity and crossover that differ from what we see in the United States. Japanese media mix cultures are increasingly influential overseas, and cannot be dismissed as informative but irrelevant oddities. Culturally ingrained assumptions about what boys and girls like can stand in the way of alternative gender politics and representations.
I'm often reminded of Ito's research when confronted with searching for new things to read and watch. While I still consume a fair amount of US based media, I find myself obsessively stalking mangadroid and mysoju.com since they are more likely to feature stories about women. This doesn't mean this particular media mix is free of sexism (it isn't) or that it doesn't fall into some very familiar stereotypes (it does), but I can generally have a lot more options when looking for content about women, often created by women.
See the article for more specifics around what should be considered by the American media.
Edited, Dec 31st 2009 5:13am by Annabella