Double standards on sexism!

[animenutcase]

There is one other reason for his behavior, and it’s actually a very depressing one. The truth of the matter is, Shirou does not have any goals or sense of self. His only desire is to help other people. He’s always running ahead and getting hurt because he genuinely thinks of himself as worthless if he isn’t helping others. In other words, he’s

Comments

[ringing_phone]

That reminds me of a fantasy novel I read awhile back. There's an all-out melee battle in which everyone who can hold a sword, club, pointy stick, or frozen tuna has to get involved to fend off hordes of scorched-earth invaders. The heroine's right in the thick of the fighting... at least until her bf sees her almost get killed, drags her out of it, and tells her to stay hidden. After the invaders are routed, she yells at him, "Why did you tell me not to fight?"

His response: "I did?"

Nobody, no matter what gender they are, wants to see a family member or loved one, no matter what gender they are, get into a dangerous/potentially fatal situation. Most people, if given the choice, would gladly take a beating/injury in said loved one's place. A male character who jumps in front of his sister to protect her from a bully's punch is less likely to be thinking "Girls shouldn't be fighting! I have to stop her!" than "That asshole is trying to hurt my sister! I have to stop him!" The jumping itself is likely to be an instinctual action. (

[animenutcase]

Exactly.

As far as the Umineko story goes, Battler slapping Beatrice happens after she laughs when Eva-Beatrice kills Battler's aunt Rosa and his nine-year-old cousin Maria. And this is after the aforementioned murder of his family (this story uses the Groundhog Day Time Loop) and his murder by her servants stabbing him until he's nothing more than a stain on the floor. Quite frankly I'm surprised he didn't slap her sooner, male or female.

[beata_malfoy]

An emo drama queen? Right, because as we all know, Battler has absolutely no right to be upset over his family being murdered, then re-playing the same scenario over and over again, and then being asked if he's enjoying it. :eyeroll: This just feeds into my personal suspicion that the Fan Dumb who bash characters for getting upset over tragic events even when this angst is portrayed realistically and sympathetically, have probably never been through any kind of major tragedy in their own lives themselves. Which is good, but still, it's a little thing called "empathy".

[animenutcase]

And it's not like he spends the whole time sulking. Once he gets over the sadness and shock, he gets mad.

[akai_senshi]

Double standards, gotta love 'em.

A lot of Shirou's behavior is plain old Values Dissonance. Doesn't really matter that Saber's King Arthur, Japanese people interpret male characters trying to protect female ones as a declaration of romantic intent. So yeah, what you said.

Also, I see a lot of "women HAVE to be more special than men" out there, so they want to be both badass ladies AND be protected from violence AT THE SAME TIME. Can't have it both ways.

[animenutcase]

Furthermore, Shirou's behavior toward Saber also stems from his own lack of self-worth. As far as he's concerned, Saber's life is worth more than his.

Just once I'd like to see a woman take a punch from a man and not have the guy demonized because the woman is a badass who can take it. Now, I'm not advocating violence against women in the slightest (I am a woman myself), but it just doesn't seem fair that women can get away with assaulting guys (even have it played for laughs), but a man hitting a woman is portrayed or interpreted as an instant Moral Event Horizon. Even Ronove (Beatrice's demon servant) said that he understood why Battler was so pissed at her.

[kankurette]

To be honest, I can't blame Battler. Beatrice treated the murders of his family like some kind of game. As the Endless Witch, she can just rez people and doesn't have the same understanding of life that humans do. The poor guy had already seen his family be murdered twice - I'd be upset if my mum and dad got turned into human pinatas, and the person who did it was laughing about it. And then the murderer made me into her bitch and fed me to her goat slaves. Of course, Beatrice isn't as horrible as Bernkastel (poor Ange!) but Battler's entirely justified in calling her a monster. This isn't a bash, I like Beatrice, I just don't think Battler was in the wrong. Plus she's way stronger than he is, don't forget.

[animenutcase]

I agree. Battler has every reason to be upset and I'm actually surprised he didn't hit her sooner. Beatrice acts the way she does for a reason, but Battler doesn't know that.

[tari_silmarwen]

Ugh, I hate it when people rag on Shirou for that. He doesn't treat all the girls that way, just Saber, and only in the route where she's his love interest and he nearly saw her die in front of him. His "Stay In The Kitchen" attitude is just his excuse to try and protect her and keep her safe.

[animenutcase]

Indeed. He never objects to Rin putting herself in danger, even in the UBW route. He's a bit protective of Sakura in the HF route, but that's because he has to deal with the fact that Rin will kill her if she thinks she's a legitimate threat.