Gaffer Tape wrote:Hmm. Don't know if I agree that putting them in the head of household roles made them any more independent or integral than they were in the earlier stories. It's really just switching from one stereotype to another. When they're young, they're fanservice. When they're older, they fall into "wifey" roles. And that's a pretty common idea for Japan, for the women to stay at home and run the households while the men run off and earn money.
That said, I don't even know if I would consider that counting all that much. Only Chichi really falls into that role, which, again, is a natural extension of her character already and makes a humorous counterpoint foil to Goku's lack of understanding/interest in traditional households. True that the end of the series has Blooma make a few annoyed comments about that, but, again, that really just plays more into Vegeta's character and obvious lack of interest in household activities. But Blooma herself doesn't really seem like a "wifey" character. I mean, from what little we see, Capsule Corp. is run by robot servants. Not to mention that it's really her father's house that she never moves out of, and that she's really mostly seen working on gadgets and stuff than housework. That I suppose is independent and integral, but that's really no different from her early roles, just with fanservice toned down because such elements were turned down in general as the series went on.
Head of household was the wrong phrase. Maybe it's the Funimation dub that's sticking in my mind but I always felt like even though they held "traditional" housewife roles, that they had more control then the husbands. There was always this tone of "You may be the prince of Saiyans but I run this place and we play by my rules" coming from Bulma in terms of their relationship. And when Vegeta would make a stink about something she was the one calling him out on it and making him look like a fool. I dunno but I always interpreted that as Bulma holding the real power. Like here are these gods and yet they are still answering to these
female earthings. I guess Chi-Chi fits the stereotype the most but it doesn't really break character. This is a role she basically wanted since she was a child. Take from that what you will I guess.
As I was typing this I started to think about their sort of implied impact on the universe. Off hand Bulma:
- Built the Space-ship to get to Namek and save her friends
Built a Time Machine for Trunks to warn the past(noble prize shit right there 
)
Replicated Saiyan Armor for everyone to train in
Reconstructed the "off switch" for the androids
Re-wired 16 to have him fight on the heroes side(a later catalyst for Gohan to go SSj2)
and it GT she made that machine that essentially allowed Vegeta to go SSj4
Chi-chi hasn't done all that much on camera, but when you really think about it she's acted like a single mother for most of the series. She took care of and put her sons through school all while being the only source of income for the household. I'd assume this is something that isn't as common in Japan. Granted this is a bit of a stretch but I think it speaks volumes about her character.
Videl and 18 didn't get as much time to develop so it's hard to call foul. However even though it's clear Krillin(and maybe even Roshi) answer to 18, I will say there was some missed opportunity for her to shine. Like I said if there was any new character that could keep up with the Saiyans and Piccolo it would have been 18. I don't think Toriyama would have objected to the idea so much as it never really crossed his mind.
I will say, that for a late 80's early 90's Shoenen series, Dragonball handled women and female characters better then most other series(even American series in some cases).
...Wait what are you doing? Are you still reading this? I finished what I had to say, why don't you move on to the next post?
