In Ella's Element: A Woman's Right To Anime

A Woman's Right To Anime

6 Comments

Hi my name is Ella, I'm a (nearly 24) year old woman, although I hate being referred to as such, and I like anime. Some of you probably reading this thinking, "yes. And?" thinking it's a totally normal and acceptable thing and you would be right. And all I can say is; thank god for you people. Because there are some out there who believe that because I am a woman I don't actually like anime when I say I do.

Here are a few of the examples of things I've heard when I've stated that I'm a fan of anime:

"Oh. Right. Suuure."

"Only because your boyfriend and brother do"

"You only like the cute shit like Sailor Moon"

Time for a major eye roll, right? So let's go back in time to when I first got into anime, admittedly it's not that unique of a story. I remember being little and watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z with my brother and OK, fine, I had a crush on Vegeta. And Piccilo, but let's not talk about that. Fat forward to the present and I have watched a number of different anime films and series from a number of different genres. Some I've enjoyed more than others and yes I suppose some of them could be considered "cute" and yes I do like Sailor Moon (Sailor Mars is my favourite). However, I like fantasy anime, horror anime, sci-fi anime, psychological thriller anime etc. Your girl is the least violent person in real life but I do like a bit of gore and violence in her films and TV occasionally.

Yes, both my brother and boyfriend do like anime but the thing is, and you may want to sit down for this one, I am my own person, with my own thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes. And whether these conflict or match some of my family's or boyfriend's I don't care. And at the risk of sounding overally defensive it was actually me who got Dan into most of the anime he now likes.

Anime gets a bad rep because of the more, shall we say, eccentric aspects to certain anime and of certain anime fans.But these eccentricities are not universal to anime and to say "I don't like anime" is a bit like saying "I don't like live action films". Anime is not one genre.

So yeah I'm a woman and I like anime. I don't say it to sound "cool" or to be "one of the guys" and honestly it makes me sad and angry that in the 21st Century this sort of posts needs to be written.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you would like me to do a post on my favourite anime let me know.

Do you like anime? What are your favourites?

Thanks for reading!

About Post Author

Ella Whitehead

I am a graduate still figuring out my plan for the future. I love fashion, beauty and helping others by giving advice. I also love travelling, Studio Ghibli films and all the Chinese takeaway.

6 comments:

Cara Twinkbat6 March 2017 at 08:31
I know what you mean totally. My other half does t really like anime but I've been watching it since I was a kid.. but of course it's doe. To him. But I can't pick favourites... ok well maybe. At the moment I love Terror in Resonance but then I'm still watching haha
Ciara Bottrell6 March 2017 at 09:46
I've just started recently getting into Anime properly and many of my friends said 'but you're a femenist you can't like anime, it's sexually exploitative' but from my experince of Anime it's so much more empowering to women than any other western genre and as you say I hate this massive stigma of girls liking it and actually enjoying it omg craaaaazy! I would love for you to do a list of your favourites m'dear it would help a new comer like me a lot!

Marbl☾☽Moon
Kim Petersen8 March 2017 at 13:38
I feel like that happens with so many things women like. If you happen to like something your boyfriend or male friends do, you couldn't have possibly liked it first or perhaps that's what attracted you to each other, your common interests. All i can say is, people are dumb lol. This was a great post lovely, i hope all is well with you! XO - Kim