63940


In anime, most women are shown to be housewives. Even in romantic comedies,
girls dream to be a good housewife after they marry their boyfriends. Very few
are shown to be working, and even if they are shown, they are portrayed as
poor mothers, e.g. _Nisekoi_.

Why is it so? Why do they finally become submissive towards the end of the
story? I haven't seen "many" girls in anime aspiring to be live independently.


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2021-06-07T07:15:41.547
63927
2021-06-09T12:42:47.730
2021-06-08T03:14:14.477
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question
anime-history
Why are most women in anime housewives instead of being independent?


_Since the question has picked up steam, I am going to construct the answer by
including both historical and modern viewpoint and then the depiction of women
in anime and manga_

* * *

## Part I: Historical viewpoint

The proper name for the trope is **Yamato Nadeshiko**. "Yamato" is one of the
older, fancier and more poetic name for Japan and the Japanese people.
"Nadeshiko" is the Japanese name for _[Dianthus
superbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianthus_superbus)_ , a wildflower
found in the Japanese highlands that is related to the
[carnation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianthus_caryophyllus) ( _Dianthus
caryophyllus_ ). So, taken together, "Yamado Nadeshiko" is used to mean
"flower of Nipponese womanhood".

This trope is quite important in anime because housewives had its place in
Japanese History especially during the [neo-Confucian
Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_neo-Confucianism). From
tvtropes.org1:

> The term was generally ascribed to noble women with traditional upbringings,
> but after the formal abolishment of the caste system it passed into wider
> use among the new "middle classes". Being a yamato nadeshiko revolved around
> the Confucian concepts of Feudal Loyalty and Filial Piety, which in the
> latest wave of Confucian revival meant acting for the benefit of one's
> family and obeying and assisting authority figures (father, husband,
> sometimes father-in-law or older brothers, as well as older and/or more
> respected females). Virtues include loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom,
> maturity, and humility.

These virtues stayed among Japanese women for generations and thus they are
portrayed in anime medium as a way to show that Japanese women are very keen
to get married and take care of her loved ones and be a housewife.

## Part II: Modern Viewpoint

Gender inequality has been a huge problem in Asian countries typically in
China and Japan. At work, it is reported that women are the last to be hired
and the first to be fired. Many college-educated women simply aren't hired,
even if they're qualified. There is still an expectation that a married woman
will quit her job to stay at home. Sexual harassment, though technically
illegal, is apparently common at the workplace and women had to quit because
of that.

Moreover, the conflict between marriage and career is also one of the salient
problems. In 2005, 59 % of Japanese women in their late 20s and 20 % of
Japanese women in their 30s were not married. So, staying single for Japanese
women is still seen as nontraditional or abnormal. Most of them are combined
with negative meanings, such as _urenokori_ (“left unsold”, refers to older
than 25 year-old single Japanese women like the Christmas cake after 25th
December, no one wants it), _parasaito singuru_ (parasite single, describe
adult children live with parents like dependents), and _makeinu_ (“loser dog”,
as opposed to a “winner” who is a married mother). Traditional _ie_ or the
_ie_ system is the most prominent concept concerning Japanese families, which
determines that women were valued and accorded status only as it related to
their role as mothers. Although the _ie_ concept was formally abolished in
1947, the core value of gender stereotypes still persists in every stage of
Japanese society.

## Part III: Female depiction in Anime and Manga (Shonen vs Shoujo)

Both historical and modern viewpoints played a role in the portrayal of
females in anime and manga. The adherence of above said "yamato nadeshiko" is
more prevelant in shonen manga. In shoujo manga, the raw emotions of females
are depicted with issues like long-distance relationships (where the woman
work in a company and can hardly maintain her love life), love-triangles etc:

  * **Shonen (male-audience) anime/manga** : In Shonen anime, the male is the protagonist. All the stories go with the development of male protagonists’ abilities, skills, maturity, self-perfection, and honorable service to society, community, family, and friends. The heroic journey is always the pattern of Shonen manga and anime . Women often play roles as mothers, sisters, and girlfriends in a secondary position portraying yamato nadeshiko. Most long-time popular shonen series follow this rule, such as _Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk,_ and _Saint Seiya_. Within the Shonen genre, there is a sub-genre called harem. Many times, the harem manga and anime have overly-sexualized multi-female characters that pursue the main male protagonist, who is considered a social defect (i.e. shy, less-then-masculine physical features, and emotionally “sensitive”) E.g. _Ah! My Goddess, Tenchi Muyō_ , and _Video Girl Ai._
  * **Shoujo (female audience) anime/manga** : The female protagonists in shoujo manga are highly appreciated, or recognized by the boy of-their-dream when they accept and embrace the more private side of these males. The storylines in shoujo manga usually revolve around issues of love and friendship, and is filled with unrequited love, love triangles, friendships forged through the trials and tribulations of high school life. The drama of emotions, attachments, and inner feelings is always central to shoujo manga.

## References

  1. [tvtropes: Yamato Nadeshiko](https://tvtropes.org/Main/YamatoNadeshiko)
  2. [Gender and Gender Relations in Manga and Anime](https://www.mit.edu/%7Erei/manga-gender.html)
  3. JAPANESE ANIME AND WOMAN’S GENDER-ROLE CHANGING by Shunyao Yu, 2015
  4. SAITO, KUMIKO. “Magic, ‘Shōjo’, and Metamorphosis: Magical Girl Anime and the Challenges of Changing Gender Identities in Japanese Society.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 73, no. 1, 2014, pp. 143–164. JSTOR, [www.jstor.org/stable/43553398](https://www.jstor.org/stable/43553398?seq=1).


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2021-06-08T06:03:31.707
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answer


**TLDR: The premise of the question is only true for male-oriented works.**

The main bulk of the question (the reason for women in anime being portrayed
mainly as housewives) has been answered by Fumikage Tokoyami quite
comprehensively, so this is more of a frame challenge to the question than a
straight answer.

There is significant gap between the portrayal of women in anime/manga between
male- and female- oriented works. In male-oriented works, female characters do
indeed frequently end up as full-time housewives or at least dream of becoming
one – however, this really is not the case in shoujo (works targeting girls)
or josei (works targeting adult women).

> Even in romantic comedies, girls dream to be a good housewife after they
> marry their boyfriends. Very few are shown to be working, and even if they
> are shown, they are portrayed as poor mothers, e.g. Nisekoi.

Note that _Nisekoi_ is shounen (and a harem comedy, the most male-wish-
fulfillment style of romantic comedy at that). In shoujo, if the future beyond
school/university is mentioned at all, female characters will very frequently
(if not almost always) have concrete career goals, and will be shown achieving
them if the story does progress that far (e.g. Yukino becoming a plastic
surgeon in _Karekano_ , Shizuku passing the bar exam in _Tonari no Kaibutsu-
kun_ , Koizumi Lisa wanting to become a stylist in _Lovely Complex_ )

In Josei (targeting adult women), this is even more apparent – very rarely
will the main female lead not have a career (see _Nodame Cantabile_ , any of
Nishi Keiko’s works, _Natsuyuki Rendezvous_ and so on) In fact, the
stereotypical Josei romance plot could be summed up as: Careerwoman tired of
her job and life in general meets handsome man romantically interested in her
– hijinks ensue.

The example of Hinata Hyuga (as given by Fumikage Tokoyami in their answer
before their edit) and the ending of _Naruto_ in general is interesting,
because the major female characters, with veritable abilities and merits, end
up as domestic supporters for the male characters, rather than holding
significant positions of their own. This kind of “sudden housewife” shift (or
as the OP put it, "become submissive towards the end of the story”, is almost
exclusive to shounen or seinen.

In shoujo or josei, characters who appear mainly as housewives or in an
otherwise domestic role will generally start out enjoying or showing interest
in such roles (e.g. _Love So Life_ – the female lead of which does dream of
becoming a nursery teacher), at least disillusionment or a lack of interest in
her career (e,g, side characters in Nishi Keiko’s works, _Nigeru wa haji daga,
yaku ni tatsu_ – the female lead here does end up working again, IIRC) or as a
mother of a main character.

In short, the idea that most women in anime are housewives (or aim to be
housewives) is for the most part a phenomenon limited to male-oriented works.
The situation for female characters in female-oriented works is much more
complex.

Sidenote: That said, many shoujo and josei works DO end up in marriage – While
there certainly are exceptions like _&_ (that’s the title), it can be deduced
that marriage is still considered important, as Fumikage Tokoyami has stated.


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2021-06-08T06:40:27.750
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answer


Most women in anime are either students, nobles, or an overworked corporate
employee.

Probably the near complete abscensce of housewifes in western media makes you
over estimate the amount that appear in non western media. That or you are
reading a narrow set of genres.


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answer