#and while I won't say that shinji is a paragon of gender non-conformity

[cardentist]

Context: [Link 1, Link 2]

the conversation about how we talk about marginalized men aside, this really is just inherently flawed from a conceptual level.

if you take a character that embodies traditional femininity as dictated by gender norms and you make that character a man that is, quite literally, Inherently subversive of those gender norms.

if you took cinderella and you made her a man that would Easily open up the opportunity to explore and comment on gender, gender roles, And cinderella as a character.

the framework assumes masculinity as non-subversive when the reality is that the form of masculinity that is accepted is highly specific and easy (and Necessary) to challenge.

#discourse #sexism #transandrophobia #thinking my thoughts #shinji ikari was written to intentionally subvert other (largely male) protagonists in the genre #and while I won't say that shinji is a paragon of gender non-conformity #I Will say that there's a reason why people gravitate towards headcanoning him as trans #both in terms of trans masc and trans fem #he's not so much a textually feminine character #as he is an intentional choice to Not embody a very hypermasculine ideal for characters who act as protagonists in the genre #and you know what? #A Lot Of People Hate Him For It #a character that I wouldn't call textually gnc is (nevertheless) singled out as not performing masculinity to the standard that he should #and that failure to depict a male power fantasy is translated into a hatred for the character #I do definitely understand that the hatred that women get in fiction is obscene #but I Do think it's worth baring in mind that people couldn't even handle when shinji ikari was scared