Does the Dragonball series treat its women with respect?

[TripleRach]

People are starting to get very dismissive of the issue. Yes, there are a lot of men in the series that are treated poorly too. But that doesn't automatically validate it. If we were discussing the fact that everyone in Canada got punched in the face, it wouldn't be fair to say, "So what? Some Americans got punched too." That's just muddling the discussion.

Seriously. What next? "Dragonball is racist against human beings because aliens take the spotlight away from poor Yamcha, who always contributed so much to the comic before!!!"

I'm pretty sure there have been threads about Toriyama's apparent bias against humans.

[Kendamu]

People are starting to get very dismissive of the issue. Yes, there are a lot of men in the series that are treated poorly too. But that doesn't automatically validate it. If we were discussing the fact that everyone in Canada got punched in the face, it wouldn't be fair to say, "So what? Some Americans got punched too." That's just muddling the discussion.

Seriously. What next? "Dragonball is racist against human beings because aliens take the spotlight away from poor Yamcha, who always contributed so much to the comic before!!!"

I'm pretty sure there have been threads about Toriyama's apparent bias against humans.

Yeah. I was ranting at that point. It's all that stuff underneath showing what all the women in Dragonball accomplish throughout the comic that I really wanted to get across. The fact that some of them do these amazing things on the side while doing what would be a "full time job" for most people (man or woman) is something that nobody else seems to think of. Sure, none of them are Goku or Vegeta, but the women in Dragonball are still treated much better than almost everyone in the universe in Dragonball and better than most humans in real life.

The women in Dragonball would have books about them that looks similar to a list of Chuck Norris facts. The difference is that, for the women in Dragonball, the facts would be REAL FACTS instead of jokes.

[TripleRach]

Something elsewhere reminded me of this thread and made me want to touch on this point.

What?! A woman becoming a mother?! That's sexist!! And (somehow) racist!! That's just a stereotype! In real life human babies (and their parents) are born every time someone laughs at a gag manga!!

You're right that there's nothing wrong or sexist about a woman being a mother. But the problem with it in DB is that the women become mothers and fade into the background in favor of their male offspring. Gohan, Trunks, and Goten instantly become more prominent than their mothers, though they never completely outshine their fathers. #18 is an exception to that, but her kid is female.

And then there's Mr. Satan, who's a normal human and way weaker than most of the cast. We find out he has a daughter, who's stronger than he is and learns to fly and use ki and everything. But it doesn't take long before Videl is brushed aside, while Satan has adventures with Boo and becomes more important than ever.

But in GT, Pan does manage to become more prominent than both of her parents, so there's that.

[Innagadadavida]

Is it sexism though? Or marketing? Who is this show targeted at? Young boys. Young boys want to see characters they identify with and characters they admire and look up to. Men and boys will always be in the spotlight for shows targeted at this demographic. Is Winx Club or My Little Pony sexist for not featuring male characters (IDK, do these cartoons have male characters)? No.

Pan became a main character and outshined her parents, even though Dragon Ball's target audience is young boys. This could be due to GT seemingly starting off targeting a younger demographic than Z. Still it was one girl and two boys, and the girl was not as strong as either boy.

Is there some dark hidden sexism in Dragon Ball? No. For that to be the case, somebody somewhere, involved in the creation, would have to feel that men are superior and try to convey this through the show/comic. Nobody had an agenda. It's all about what the target audience wants to see. And probably a slight bit of influence from the (perceived) sexism ingrained in the Japanese culture.

[VegettoEX]

That all ties in, however, with how much "shonen" has changed with the times. Around the era of DragonBall, the audience started shifting heavily toward females. Not completely, and not by majority, but it's pretty close to a 50/50 split last time I checked up on the stats. You look at a series like Naruto, and you have incredibly strong female characters, child and adult alike, representing the other gender front and center (and by "strong" I mean both in strength and in every other way -- personality, etc.).

[Innagadadavida]

That's a good point. Any sexism one might see in Dragon Ball could be a result of the franchise's ever increasing age. It was a product of its time; there was a different audience, a slightly different attitude about gender-roles, and with little to no precedent set for strong female leads in the genre before it.

But honestly, unless there is some kind of agenda, or, like, an intent from the author to mold opinions of the audience through the story, there shouldn't be a problem. Nobody would point to Dragon Ball as an example of propaganda. It's just pure entertainment.

[TripleRach]

But honestly, unless there is some kind of agenda, or, like, an intent from the author to mold opinions of the audience through the story, there shouldn't be a problem. Nobody would point to Dragon Ball as an example of propaganda. It's just pure entertainment.

I don't think there was any particular anti-female agenda or intent (though I wouldn't be surprised to see people claim it). But whether or not there's a problem is kind of subjective. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with it. But if someone asks me if the women in Dragon Ball are treated well (IE, this thread), then my answer would be, "Not really."

[Piccolo Daimao]

But honestly, unless there is some kind of agenda, or, like, an intent from the author to mold opinions of the audience through the story, there shouldn't be a problem. Nobody would point to Dragon Ball as an example of propaganda. It's just pure entertainment.

I don't think there was any particular anti-female agenda or intent (though I wouldn't be surprised to see people claim it). But whether or not there's a problem is kind of subjective. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with it. But if someone asks me if the women in Dragon Ball are treated well (IE, this thread), then my answer would be, "Not really."

Same here. I barely even notice it and just take it as face value.

[kemuri07]

But if someone asks me if the women in Dragon Ball are treated well (IE, this thread), then my answer would be, "Not really."

To be fair, compared to female characters in a majority of anime, I think the women in DB got off very light.

[Eire]

So we watch different animes.
The medium doesn't determine anything. In anime, like everywhere else you will find authors less or more talented in different aspects of storytelling. There are genious who in one picture or short scene can nail the character and many people who deal with it better or worse. I don't suspect that Toryiama purposely made female character as they are to spite readers, but I see that as a result of lack of abilities or care for that aspect.