Forward statement: This video isn't about being woke or having superior tastes. The point is being comfortable with the things that I like and stop giving a damn about what people tell me I can and can't like.
Hey man. Just own it. People who use the word woke unironically are the people you dont want in your audience. I also watched girly anime with my sister all the time.(i mean one thing you didnt touch is shounen and shoujo are also put into "blue" and "pink" kind of division.) Also I used "gay" and even the f slur because it was so popular in the late 00's and 10's. Hate myself for it still. Be well.
I remember you made a video a long time ago where you said you hated Moe, I don't remember all the arguments from that video. Have you change your stance on it?
@@-xphobia You too everyone has phases they dont like. The i shoulsdnt yada yada doesnt help, you did grow an learn, thats the important thing. That experiences shape us for better or worse and learning from it and being able to relect, is the most important, not asking yourself for what should have been. And its good it gets hardly used anymore true, but then, it was normal, sadly, and its good to see its not good, but dont crucify yourself too much. Its the past and what happened happened already. And i love how ranma inuyasha and advertised vision of escaflown were marketed as shounen and forrmer are roantic drama ahoo and romcom mixed. I cant think how revolutionary that was. Good thing its now far less taboo to watch anything really. And goddamit cider is great, and wine, and good cocktails. Or none at all.
i love watching your videos, and you are so right. it's absolutely great that you are ok with liking the things that you like, and that's what's the important thing at the end of the day.
Don't. Use. Loaded. Phrases. Only wokists use the phrase "toxic masculinity". You KNOW this because you made this comment. Then WHY are you using this phrase? Why couldn't you just say "Cute is ok". (Which I doubt was a problem for "masculinity" in the first place) If you use the term "Supressive Person", I assume you are a scientologist until proven otherwise. Everyone would. So stop this crap.
"you gotta get used to it, NO, HAVE IT BE GOOD NOW" I feel this so much with alcohol, why can't I just drink the ones that are good without needing to get used to it, gimme those tasty drinks!
"it's an acquired taste" good, I don't WANT something that's good after 20 million times, I'm not going to have something bad for 20 million times for the sake of it
I know this is funny things to say but I think everyone who wants to drink alcohol gonna taste the strong things like whiskey or vodka or anything like that so they know how it’s taste and respect what it’s can do too you so you learn to drink responsibly.. I don’t want people die of alcohol poison because they are drinking sugar biased alcohol.. like anything in life you got to learn how to handle it so you can enjoy it .. but I can be wrong..
I was born in 91 and I'm a woman. I grew up watching Sailor moon, gundam, and DBZ. I loved all three shows. I was told I shouldn't like DBZ and Gundam cause those were for boys. If I asked for an action figure I got a barbie. My mother had me in dresses and cute pink tops til I was old enough to refuse to wear them, I hated pink for the longest time. I hated the idea of being a 'girl' because of how I was always pushed into a box as a child and told 'This is for girls, your a girl you HAVE to like this and nothing else' and 'Pink is for girls, barbies are for girls. Blue and action figures are for boys.' As a teen I was, god I was awful about anything traditionally feminine. I'd scream at my mother if she asked me to wear pink, we got in loud screaming matches about it. I was a tomboy and I hated being a 'girl' As an adult, I don't care anymore. I'll wear pink, I'll wear dresses, I'll wear makeup. I still like 'boy' things but I like 'girl' things too. Don't push your children into boxes, let play with and experience things
So the video brings up those McDonald's toys - the Barbies and Hot Wheels. I saw them first in the late 80s, and I always wanted the Hot Wheels toy, but my dad always made me have the Barbie toy. I could be literally standing at the counter asking the cashier myself for the Hot Wheels toy, but he vetoed it and said to give me the Barbie toy. And if I complained that it wasn't what I wanted, he threatened not to let me have the Happy Meal at all and I could just skip dinner that day. Those Barbie "toys" were awful. They were just static figurines, they weren't articulated, you couldn't actually *do* anything with them, they just belonged on a shelf somewhere to gather dust. Meanwhile, tiny toy cars are interactive, and those were what I wanted. But nope, I wasn't allowed to want the "boy" toy or else I wouldn't be allowed to eat. ._.
@@purplekittigaming I remembered when McDonald's kinda didn't give a shit sometime in the early 2000's and gave out both Powerpuff Girls and Dragon Ball Z toys in a single kids meal. I love DBZ but I remember playing with the Blossom toy more than the Frieza one (I think that is what I got. I definitely remembered Blossom)
That sucks you went through that I was told that Pokemon was for boys. And I dressed up as a boy for wearing jeans even though they were jeans from the girls'section. Yah
I can understand a tough guy carrying a Donald Duck keychain- once you look past the Disney "cuteness" Donald's primary trait is his infamous raging temper! Donald Duck in Ducktales 2017- *I AM the storm.*
As a person who’s in Boy Scouts right now. My group isn’t much about being boys. It’s more about just learning survival skills and practically useful ones
Eagle here. That’s how it’s suppose to be. The Scouting movement provides more opportunities for experiences of jobs, activities and the like than a public education system ever could. Want to learn how to operate and maintain a gun for shooting sports? Rifle and Shotgun Shooting. Want to know how to respond in emergency situations? Lifesaving, First Air, and Emergency Preparedness. A more tangible, career opportunity? Cooking, Electricity, Engineering, Accounting, Drafting, Metalworking etc. Anyone who has an idea that the Boy Scouts (at least the BSA) is somehow just a misogynist club obviously hasn’t gone to an actual Scout unit.
@@swordsman1_messer Not gonna lie, as someone who was in the Girlscouts, I envied those that went into the "boy scouts" because they immediately got to learn wilderness survival. Hell, some part of it is studying the wildlife there. Literally can`t go to the wilderness as a GS unless you are a Bird Scout, which is... what, 2, 3 years in rank? Before that you gotta learn handicrafts and sell cookies. At least it was that way in my childhood.
@@gNetkamiko I opposed the inclusion of girls into the BSA, but also advocated our merit badge program be introduced into the GSA. The amount of opportunities is honestly disgusting, let alone you typically don’t encounter female Scouts until the Venture Crews.
Thanks so much for talking about this. The gender coding of the 90’s didn’t just effect young boys but young girls as well. I am female and I remember when I was growing up, I would actively avoid anything “girly”. I would avoid pink and floral clothing, dresses and skirts. I would seek out things that my dad and male cousins liked over things my mother and other women in my family were interested in. Young women, their interests and hobbies where never taken seriously. If you wanted boys to like you (not in a romantic way but just as a friend and an equal) you had to denounce your femininity. Which is where I think the idea of the “tomboy” comes from around that time. Now I know that liking a particular color doesn’t determine your worth, but God do I wish we had this mindset back when I was a kid. It would have saved a lot of people the heart ache of not being true to themselves and shunning things they like for societal approval.
In the 90s I tended to get along with boys more than girls. Boys did all the fun stuff, and girls complained that if they did the activities I wanted to do, it would mess up their clothes. They also talked a lot about makeup and designer purses/ clothing and what boys were cute that they wanted to date/ etc, and it was nauseating. I really did grow up with a bit of that "not like other girls" mentality, but I understand it's not because I really was necessarily that different, but that they were trained to behave like that. Adults were constantly trying to dissuade me from participating in highly activity games, but they didn't prevent the boys doing them. There was a boy who lived nearby who had a tree we both loved to climb. One day I was over there and just lying casually against a tree branch (I think I was in fifth or sixth grade) when the elderly lady next door saw me and chewed me out and told me to get down. I said no, so she said she was going to tell my mom. I told her myself. XD And guess what? She had no problem with it! XD
I remember it being rebellious for guys to buy 'real men wear pink' shirt. I didn't raise my son with those expectations, and he barely understands the concept. My mom watched a lot of tv, especially cooking shows. I remember pointing out all the time, cooking is not a 'girls thing' because big chefs in tv are guys.... same with sewing. I liked to point out the male (straight, too) designers who sewed their own clothes. Male and female jobs are an illusion. Do what you love, and enjoy what you like.
Much like you i grew up in the 90's, I watched, Pokemon, Digimon, DBZ and yes Sailor Moon, arguing that sailor moon is still one of my most favorite anime of all time, I mean it's what helped inspire me to want to start drawing in the first place. My dad thought it weird that I liked the show and even had toys for the show, he thought i should be playing sports or at least with GI Joe, which i did play with those too, but mine broke.
Growing up in the 90's through the Late 2000's as an autistic man was rough, to the point where I felt like i was going to kill myself because I felt like I wasn't masculine enough. It was thanks to being friends with another guy like me in high school, my unabashed love for anime and manga aimed at various demographics (I loved ranma despite the main character being a girl when splashed with cold water, and I even preffered girl ranma, at that) and my mom being a genuinely understanding person that kept me going. I think what truly made me feel comfortable with myeself was ebing earnest in my love for Bayonetta, who was badass despite her status as a woman. And then Asura's Wrath came out, and I truly fell in love with myself, because Asura, for all his anger, was someone who showed me that righteous fury was universal, not just masculine, and that tempered by a loving heart for his daughter made me feel better about myself in my early 20's. I never looked back, and I also grew to love Kirby and other cute things, especially after watching Symphogear, Nanoha, and Precure, because they embody the same righteous fury towards evil.
15:52 - 16:50 It's like that one scene from "Babylon 5" where Garibaldi has to explain Duffy Duck to some aliens and does so as "an old Earth god of anger and frustration". Donald Duck to this guy, trying to be hard, may be his "Yokai"(?) of "don't mess with me or I'll mess you up".
17:00 I agree, Japan loves their Mascots! I learned about that in a class I took in college on Japanese Anime & Manga. Japan loves their mascots. Heck, nearly every prefecture of Japan has a specific mascot that represents their prefecture, and we had to look some up for a project for said class. I'll admit: many of them were pretty cute.
Tbh, I feel the same way in regards to how my parents treat me. They don’t like what I watch, they don’t like what I do, but I still do them anyways because that’s what I want to do. Edit: I also swore off alcohol/smoking because I feel like it’s my father’s thing, and I never wanted nor want to be like my father.
I've always unapologetically liked what i like both "manly" and "girly". When i was a kid is used to watch both Dragon Ball, Naruto but i also watched Totally Spies and Kim Possible. Even know i like my shounen One Piece, Black Clover, My hero academia but i also like my Shoujo stuff like Horimiya, Kimi ni todoke. My parents have never shamed me for being who i am though i still find it hard to have friends who share my vast net of interests so mainly narrow it down.
I had the same problem growing up in the early 2000s. I was afraid to tell my friends I liked Hannah Montana on TV. I was afraid to tell people I still played pokemon past grade school. I grew up with pretty much no male figure in my life, but even though in my home I was never shamed for watching "girl" shows or playing with "girl" toys, as that's just how I spent time with my sisters, I did shame myself for it. I never truly felt okay with my masculinity until I finally got the courage to select the female pokemon trainer choice in highschool, just because I thought she had the better character design. oh, and now I'm actually agender/nonbinary too, so like, man am I glad I grew out of those dumb gender norms.
When I found out about Larry Hama’s Marvel Comics run and read it, I immediately ditched the cartoons because 1. People actually got injured/died, 2. The characters were much more complex. The rant to me was perfectly acceptable, and I agree with all your points.
The cringe at honor made a lot of sense to me. "Honor" really is one of those words that gets overused a lot in regards to certain things. "Epic" is another.
Gaijin, I get what you mean. I was a kid of the 50s and 90s. I was lucky my parents weren't so rigid with gender norms. I did like My Little Pony and occasionally played with Barbie, I also played with dinosaurs, fantasy toys, and action figures, I hated baby dolls so much. I grew up preferring geeky pursuits. My dad was a geek. He played Dungeons and Dragons with his buddies. I never bought into the feminine and masculine norms. As a teenager I could have cared less about things like Prom. I was very shy, but my passions were art and video games. I did like cute things like Tails. I never cared much about afterschool activities until I got into karate. Martial arts helped my confidence. I love it so much that I still practice today. Karate is also one of my introductions to Japan-that and my dad introducing me to the Shogun miniseries. My first sensei, Bill Malone, served over in Japan met his wife, Yuki there. Anime is another of my gateways, but karate is the most important factor. I was lucky I had an instructor who taught me about Okinawa's history from when it was its own Ryukyu kingdoms, to the old karate masters like Matsumura Sokon and Motobu Choki.
I'm the same way about alcohol. The first time I found an alcoholic drink that I liked was sake when I was in my early-40s. So I went over 20 years just "not liking alcohol".
Thank you for this. My wife and are both 90's kids and grew up with these stereotypes. While I see today the kind of dangers toxic masculinity can bring, I still find myself dealing with it. That crap hasn't died yet and I'm trying not to put that kind of pressure on my son or daughter.
As someone who recently graduated High School, I still got judged for my intrest and not fitting in with out people. While most people are playing games like PUBG or CoD I always enjoyed Animal Crossing or Pokemon over stock cliche shooter games. I was was trying to show a Teacher Aid about the world of Animal Crossing, where some student who I've knew was obsessed with PFPs games commented "Why are you showing Mrs.A, a baby game?". While Pokemon was a little more socially acceptable, and yet I still got pestered being into it. I mean yeah i like alot of guy "stereotypes" such as cars or super heros, and I still get judged from time to time being into them. It wasn't until taking a Game Design class off campus and college it's made me feel more comfortable explaining my hobbies and interests.
My dude, ignore those dumb asses. I'm in my late 30's and proudly own not just ACNH but I own the ACNH Switch and have played every game since the original. Play what you like and what interests you.
That just High School. kids are immature. I didn’t judge anyone till I got a job after HS. Much more mature individuals at that point. Most of my adult friends are cool. Don’t care what others think. Here’s 1 of my definition of alpha. Someone who don’t care what others think.
Cute and pink has been my identity ever since I was a kid. Sure I had my falling out and rebellious phase where I was like "ew pink is too childish, I like blue and black now" but as I grew older, I learned to accept the fact that liking pink and things that are cute shouldn't be a problem-especially for adults and people who aren't girls. Cute things and colors are universal things to be loved by anyone and everyone-and not to be assigned to specific gender roles or age groups. I think its great that society is starting to shift its focus away from gender roles and what's to be expected from adults because it opens up to new ideas and gives people the freedom to feel comfortable with who they are and express that with other people.
I never liked that gender specific marketing - blue has always been my favourite colour, I still like and have liked a lot of anime that were meant for boys and have never been big on real girly hobbies. I'm happy, we're starting to look beyond that - I'm sure we're - as a whole - better of if we allow everyone to be their truest self 🥰
One thing that every time I think about it blows my mind, is that in the 80s or 90s or whenever video game companies were deciding how to market their products to kids, they ended up putting them in the "boy" isles of stores, and thus to this day video games are considered a "boy" thing. Decades of sexism in video games just because of a marketing decision
This reminds me of a story: So I was at Starbucks a while back and I ordered a drink I like. It's bright pink. My order comes up and I walk up to the counter where this older dude just picked up his black coffee. He's probably 50 but tattooed, ripped sleeves, muscles, the whole thing. I walk up and grab my cup and he gives me a look and makes some snide remark. I just turn to the dude, make direct eye contact, and reply "yes, because cowering in fear of the color pink truly makes me more masculine". Then I take a sip and walk away.
Something that happened with me around 20 to 25 years ago was that my grandmother had gotten me into cross-stitching but my step-father (at the time) was getting angry that it wasn't a hobby for boys and it was making me less of a man, so he tried to get me to play hockey (because he also played hockey). And while I did eventually stop doing cross-stitching (primarily because I was getting attached to other interests like video games), I absolutely HATED playing hockey and after playing it for 2 and a half years I just walked away and never went back.
This hits me hard. Even though I was born in the late 90's, I had a similar experience growing up in the early 2000's and going to a private school. My parents enrolled me in baseball year after year, even though I had a difficult time even in the outfield. They also started me in boy scouts, where I was bullied for being very introverted and not liking participating in some of the more "boyish" things. Starting college 4 years ago opened my eyes that it was okay to like cute things and that it was okay to be myself. It also helped open my eyes about my gender and who I really am.
Well this comment section is going be fun It interesting how some thing would be masculine in one country but not and neutral in another culture. Also while Japan has made you find peace with your masculinity, many native Japanese are struggling with their masculinity.
During my high-school years in 2014-2017, we just didn't care what others think. When I went to Japan for a club trip, I instantly went for biggest cutest stuffed animals i could get.
Thanks for discussing this, it's super interesting to hear. Growing up in the '90s warped my perception of what I could like as well. Honestly, it's something that I'm still trying to undo. I was lucky that my family was more out lax with gender roles. I rocked the barbie jeep but loved trouncing through the woods. Eventually, I started really avoiding toys marketed as "for girls" or the colour pink since I didn't want to be looked down on. I definitely overcorrected and am now working to undo that mindset. It's super refreshing to hear this topic discussed. Thanks again for talking about it.
This reminds me that the Sakuras here where I live "São Paulo, Brazil" flourished 1 or 2 weeks ago, but because of this situation now there was no festival, food and music. Very sad.
Ya know, my knee jerk reaction to that word is particularly negative. But, since it was Gajin's video I held my oppinion till the end. And damn if Gaijin doesn't have a lot of the same points of view on the dicotomy from the 90s and early 2000s. Also, The Snake Eyes rant was hilarious.
As a trans woman, there was a lot of what you spoke about in this video growing up. I was really down on myself for not being like the other boys and told how I'm not normal and all of that. While not specifically anime I always felt at ease playing Nintendo, but the little anime I saw and little knowledge of Japanese culture I saw captivated me and seeing men in pink and dressing or acting femininely, even if for a joke, made me feel better about myself. There's a lot of controversy in the trans community about the word trap, but I still love anime traps and feminine male characters.
Western feminine reality show culture cannot find a higher high than "catching their man(the bf/them) cheating on their woman(protagonist/me) with that bitch(another human/park bench)." I lost the plot typing that so Imma just comment this for posterity/entertainment/ roasting my stupid...
I was born in 2001, so toxic masculinity was still a thing for me, but It was starting to die out. Where I live is very much a "the old days were better" place, so wearing what I want is somewhat frowned upon. If I could, I'd wear dresses. They are awesome and so much better than guys clothes, especially in the summer. And for a long ass time, pink was my favorite colour, now it teal/aquamarine/cyan/whatever it's called. Skin care products have been great for me as I break out more, and when I was younger it was almost drilled into me that those things were for women, then I discovered anime and it taught me to just be myself and do what makes me happy. I can relate so much to this video and I love it
Now, Imagine all this concepts of masculinity in the 80's and 90's and add the extra hurdle of being a gay man. It fucking doesn't matter if you are effeminate, traditionally masculine or anything in between, you had the very real pressure of performing a unrealistic standard to save your own life - sometimes literally. I had friends that were the epitome of macho, because if they didn't perform this role, the results could be pretty dread. As a gay man, I don't like to remember that period of my life, because I was forced be something I hated. I didn't when the route of my friend, but I acted life a callous uncaring bastard. This attitude gave me those nice "masculine points" and people let me be.
I've always loved camping. Most of my friends growing up were also girls. I ended up playing with Barbies and Polly Pockets just as much as I went camping and played with Legos. I was born in the late 90's.
Which is more "manly"? Enjoying the things you like even if they are "cutesy" or "for girls/children", or dismissing what you enjoy due to how it's perceived by others?
The thing that I remember in the 90's and early 2000's with anime, specifically with regards to Sailor Moon and such, was how I could tell that a lot of it was censored, but even so I still noticed a lot more mature subject matter, jokes, etc. coming through. I was 13 years old when the Sailor Moon "S" season aired, and me and my friends watched it because it came on before DBZ and Gundam or whatever else was showing. We all picked up on the *ahem* "cousins", and yeah the discussion wasn't whether or not they were lesbians, it was whether or not they were really cousins. I will say, though, I've had a much better experience than you've had growing up, even though we're near the same age. Something that I took notice of while I was in high school was I moved from Texas to New Mexico, and there was a habit that men shared with women there that really surprised me, until I started doing it too: using skin lotion. The area of New Mexico I moved to was dry, and your skin would dry out and get irritated and itchy. So everyone used lotion.
I remember during middle school I heard that from some of my classmates saying that showing emotions means that your weak. Also during 1st I remembered that I was called a girl even though I wore a jacket for a girl and I was called a girl for playing with my hair on the back of my head.
That "showing emotions/ crying makes you weak" mentality is not only false, but it’s toxic as well. There is also proof that not letting out your emotions can leave a negative long-term impact. That sort of mentality should just die!
I actually remember when getting into anime and manga in middle school one of my first reads was Magic Knight Rayearth which quickly made me interested in other Clamp series. I’d later bring this up to one of the few anime aware friends I had at the time and they said something like “You do know those are shows/books for girls, right?”. I admitted I didn’t…and continued checking out Clamp’s stuff (and other shoujo manga and anime) anyway.
Sailor Moon the OG Anime Waifus for many of the 90s and early 2000 kids !!! Awww yeeesss !! Fighting evil by moonlight Winning love by daylight Never running from a real fight! She is the one named Sailor Moon! She will never turn her back on a friend She is always there to defend She is the one on whom we depend She is the one named Sailor... Sailor Venus! Sailor Mercury! Sailor Mars! Sailor Jupiter! With secret powers All so new to her She is the one named Sailor Moon Fighting evil by moonlight Winning love by daylight With her Sailor Scouts to help fight She is the one named Sailor Moon She is the one named Sailor Moon She is the one . . . Sailor Moon! Sorry I started singing the song out loud while watching this
Thank you for sharing this! I definately remember the 90s and early 2000s and how heavy they were on "gender norms". I dont know if this is because of school or their dad, but I know my nephews (13 and 11) are definately dealing with toxic masculinity right now. More so the 13 year old one.
I appreciate how candid you've been about these hard experiences, Gaijin. I, myself, have grown up with instances of doubting myself for facets of my personality that I struggled to accept, and while I appreciate how that inner strife forced me to become what I am today, rather than fall in one box or another, I've always resented the lack of validation of those facets in society. In fact, I've only started seeing such validation in the quantities I desired as of the past three years or so. Naturally, I'm elated that it came to this, but I fear that in the near future, the ball will lose momentum and I'll be pushed back into the shadows once more.
When you comment about the smooth hand thing, I picture “The Way of the Househusband”, and Tatsu saying that exact same line. That’s MANLY! Lmao. Good argument, Gaijin.
Oh lord, hearing the bit about how everything negative was "being gay" made me flash back to my teens back in the 2000s. I could easily sum up the "being gay" situation into three simple little words: "Teenagers are fucking assholes." As an adult, I can safely say that is a time I have no desire to return to, simply because of how hateful everybody was, how much they delighted in being hateful, and also how anti-social and closed off I was as a teenager and wanted nothing to do with anybody. I was basically Neku Sakuraba for anybody who's played The World Ends With You. I think the only reason I was not picked on for my lack of manliness was because of the time in Sophomore year when I got into a fist fight with one of the school bullies. A teacher quickly broke it up and I was able to sucker punch the bully while he was distracted. I was not honorable in high school, I very much did not care as long as it was effective. The witnesses started spreading rumors about how I gave the bully a black eye (actually, I socked him in the cheek) and everybody got scared of me and stayed away from me, which was fine for 15-year-old me because he wanted to be left alone.
As an adult, whenever I get alcohol or even energy drinks, I would sway hard to the ones with very openly fruity flavors because I just don’t like how those kinds of drinks taste normally.
I love cute things. I remember being worried that I was watching Magic Knight Rayearth in front of my parents, but they are awesome and never thought a thing about it (cus yeah, if the main character was a girl, it was certainly not considered "for boys" back then). When I started getting more into anime, as the years went by, thanks to things like Card Captor Sakura which I would watch religiously and seeing how little of a line there was separating "for girls" and "for boys" in more and more shows I watched, it totally helped me break out and realise how little I had to care about that arbitrary separation. Imagine my surprise when I started finding friends that were all big fans of Sailor Moon in secret.
When I was a JET (2002-2005) and Japanese junior high boys would tell me pink was their favorite color - that was an awakening for me too. Since then, pink is actually a big part of my fashion choices because I realized I loved it too, I had just been avoiding it due to the ridiculous stigma.
I'm in exactly the same position you are. I was born in 1985; I was a 90's kid. And I noticed everything you did back then. I also watched Sailor Moon in secret when I was a boy. I played Kirby religiously. The whole reason I wanted to play Sonic The Hedgehog video games, was because the first game I saw was Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and I saw Tails, and thought to myself, "he's so cute!" Everybody in my schools called everything they didn't like, "gay." And in retrospect, as a pansexual fluid man, I also hate that. I hated gender stereotypes. And today? I just don't care what anybody else thinks about me with regards to that stuff anymore. I'm a huge fan of both Transformers and My Little Pony. I love both Mobile Suit Gundam and Sailor Moon. My favorite colors are Gold and Pink. My mom told me that when I was really little, around one or two years old I think, I wanted one of those vacuum cleaner toys intended for girls, and I wanted the pink one. My dad refused initially, because it was a girl's toy, but he caved when he found a blue version to give me. One of the reasons I didn't like all the typical, "boy," or, "masculine," things that I was expected to do was because... a lot of it seemed really stupid to me, to be honest. Like... we were expected to enjoy extreme sports, professional wrestling, and all sorts of stuff like that. We were expected to want to try to do crazy things like do bicycle and skateboard tricks off ramps in the park and risk physical injury. And if you were injured? "Just walk it off you [ insert picture of cute little kitten here ]!" It took me 36 years to come to terms with who I am and what I am. And it's all because the toxic masculinity of the 90's suppressed it. I'm not gonna lie, the 90's gave me some of the best times of my childhood, some of my favorite entertainment franchises to enjoy, good music... but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, because that's also where I was as a kid. Today, I'm happier than I've ever been. In the past few years, I've been doing my own soul-searching, learning more about myself and finding my happiness. I have my girlfriend's unwavering support to thank for that. I only regret it took as long as it did.
I get what you're saying and I dig it, but man the moment I see words "toxic masculinity" I almost check out because they are thrown around like so much bullshit.
@@gaijinperspective133 I don't know, CS Lewis called it "the fear of childishness" in his famous quote about this exact subject, I just call it insecurity.
Speaking of Sailor Moon, I watched it because of it's art and flashes. I grew up mostly on American style cartoons. My uncles are the ones that opened me up on the Japanese styles and i felt in love with it. the anime that i remembered watching are Dragon Ball, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Digimon.
I'm 36. I used to wake up early in the morning before school to watch Sailor Moon as well and enjoyed it. For me it was the transformation scenes, but young and horny. Sailor Moon was my gateway to Japanese anime. I understand your meaning though. I don't like the color pink, but i don't like bright colors. They hurt my eyes. Not in a macho kind of way, but physically i have to squint. Could have to do with my recent discovery that I'm autistic. A different battle growing up in the 90s, but maybe tangential. My best friend growing up loved purple and people was giving him a hard time for even that color. It's wild how much things have changed in the last 20 years. I also didn't like sports, try as I may, but I was head over heels for video games and table top role playing games. Then I would have to ask if people knew what they were before I could even talk about it. Now I can name drop any of them and people get it. Thankfully I never had any physical bullying, given I had a good 50 to 100lbs on many off my peers. Though I heard the whispers. I'm rambling. Thank you for the video and this channel. I enjoy your enlightening perspective.
This was an amazing video. I grew up in the 90s myself so I can relate to a lot of this, and when the anime boom happened I did gravitate more to sailor moon, Tokyo mew mew, than I did dragon ball. I just found cute things like that better than than guys beating up each other
Yo Gaijin, you got a minute? I want to thank you for making this video. I'm a 90s kid, and I'm younger than you (born in 1990), so I would have been your kohai growing up back then; your story speaks to me to my bones! I remember growing up in the 90s, and one aspect of this toxic hate on pink was Starburst! I LOVED Starburst as a kid, and guess what my favorite flavor was? It wasn't yellow lemon, it wasn't nasty grape; it was Pink Strawberry! And I remember a group of older boys coming up to me and actively making fun of me, calling me all the horrible names you've talked about, because I liked STARBURST! I hope that kids these days don't have to deal with shit like that, the 90s SUCKED. I didn't like sports, I didn't like wrestling, I didn't like any of that shit. But I LOVED Anime growing up! ..... but Sailor-Moon was one that I avoided BECAUSE of this toxic masculinity... I was terrified of being discovered watching it, so I would only watch it in secret... but I watched it a lot! I LAUGH MY ASS OFF at Sailor-Moon memes because I GET IT! I was there, I watched it... but there was always a secret guilt when I did watch it. And all of this suffering, and toxicity, and dare I say *EVIL* behavior that my culture visited on innocent boys was Unnecessary and Cruel! Now? I LOVE My Little Pony, and She-Ra, and Anime of all kinds! And I can happily say that I'm proud of who I am now, and I reject all forms of Toxic Masculinity on principle! I am strong, I am kind, I am Disciplined, and I love cute things! I'm a man in a class of my own! I'm going to see about getting some of those Japanese drinks to talked about too. Western Alcohol is trash!
11:21 Over here in Montana our climate is perfect for cherry blossoms, it's a native plant in these areas. 14:31 I drink both beers and wines to be honest, I really don't care how it tastes as long it's not an overwhelming flavor. Most of the time I drink beers only for the alcoholic feeling and not for the taste, though my tongue has a high tolerance for bitter tastes as well. 17:02 Even the Japanese children are cuter, I don't understand why but western children are not very cute, at least most of the time. I am a shotacon and lolicon so my perspectives differ a lot because of western views about these such things. Of course you don't need to be a shotacon or lolicon in order to love children, that's a normal instinct humans have, it only when the romantic and other feelings are involved when it becomes something else. Just because a person loves children it doesn't automatically make them a lolicon, shotacon or whatever, it's only when that heads towards romantic and adult subjects when it actually becomes such things. I'm not implying illegal activities, only fantasies, emotions and feelings. This is who I was born as so I should know, I've had these feelings since early childhood; for me it's an entirely different category. I still have parental instincts like everyone else I just also have romantic emotions on top of that instinct, as if something is cross wired in the brain. Of course I enjoy fictional, anime and cartoon characters as well.
@@jamessicard1705 especially a favorite series of mine pretty cure Especially considering how the most recent season was basically Kamen rider Ex-aid with kawaii and animal's
Magical girls anie are pretty wholesome fun. I knew some as well. one a pre cure knock off. Whats funny is in soe advertisement visuion of escaflown was advertised as action, haha, i mean it has but its shojo drama, good one. i dont like the shojo style that much but the stories can be so good drama.. And irs funny how inuyasha is a shojo with action elements and that makes it, well as iconic as it is.
To me there are levels of acceptable cuteness and levels of acceptable edge till the "weird" meter starts ringing. Really depends on the kinds of things you like, say difference between having cute Pokemon plushies/figurines in your display as a man vs having straight up a baby dress doll thing or straight up barbie with doll houses with those tea party things and so on, or having characters looking like they came from an action video game or rock album vs straight up skeletons and skulls in your closet xD Then again im the kind of edgelords who loves playing violent action video games and watching grim/mature kinds of anime/shows while drinking strawberry milk with cookies and cries like a little kitten when anything slightly emotional shows up so idk really lol "I came for the blood and violence not feels man, we didn't agree to this!" **Sips iced tea with little finger up**
Yes, I've had the same change, and we're about the same age, and had similar childhood experiences. If I ever had a friend over after school if tell them I'd never seen Sailor Moon, and was just checking it out this one time to see if it was cool. I was embarrassed. Not enough to not watch it, until... I had two friends over, used that line again, but forgot I already said it to one of them. "He said that last week," I hear one whisper to the other. Then I was too embarrassed to ever watch the show again after that. Toxic masculine stereotypes ruined my ability to watch that show ever again.
My hsuband saying his video was boring... (pokes) HOW DARE. Please remember that I stayed alert and watched the entire video, unlike the movie... which I fell alseep during, TWICE.
To be completely fair to tuxedo mask, he did save their butts quite a few times. If you say you weren't expecting that signature rose to come flying in during those "oh jo, what are we gonna do" scenes, then you're lying or you didnt learn the pattern lol
This is a great video. Very thought provoking too. I have been a victim of this toxic masculinity bullshit as well being called a pedophile just because of the fondness I have for characters like Princess Jasmine, or for being a fan of stuff like Totally Spies, and have been accused of all this other nonsense, so thank you for this.
Same story here. I wish I was able to more open about my love for anime in high school and I am glad for the friends I made in college who allowed me to be myself.
kirby is the most powerful nintendo character ever created. something like giygas is a normal boss for kirby to fight on a daily basis. he can split a planet down the middle with a karate chop. 0squared is a big example. dont mess with kirby
I felt embarrassed for watching Sabrina: The Animated Series, but my friend watched Sailor Moon, so I realized I shouldn't care. I didn't watch Sailor Moon though, because the naked transformation sequences also embarrassed me for a different reason.
I very much remember what it was like in the 90's and this aversion to "girly things" but I'm lucky in that I had Older & Younger sisters and my parents never pushed the separation of gender with toys. My Power Rangers went to the Barbie dream house, my SD Gundams went to the Bratz Spa, we all watched The Powerpuff Girls, my Aunt got me started on Godzilla & Star Wars, both of my parents are huge Trekkies, Pokemon & Digimon knew how to balance the Cute & Cool, Cardcaptors & Hamtaro were just as important as DBZ & Yugioh in our house, and don't even get me started on Pretty Pretty Princess... needless to say all the toxic gender hate online pisses me off and it was so confusing for me when my dad started pushing the "Manly" mentality in my teens.
I'm a 90s baby (94), and I would play with either my toys or my brother's. I don't remember if I got flack for playing with my brother's Hot Wheels (Mom bought a few for me), but we definitely played on the N64 together. After we moved from our hometown, it was pretty much same business as usual. I still had my toys, but I would often play with Beyblades and Yu-Gi-Oh cards with my brother.
I grew up firstly as a half Japanese kid in the 2000's. I'm like the earliest group of zoomers, so my experiences are basically 50% millennial, 50% zoomer for context. And when I was a kid, it was right on the cusp of the breakthrough that was anime culture. In elementary school, I got BULLIED for reading Dr. Slump. I tried asking "why is it wrong to like this?" and legit the answers were "this is just a reason to bully you, don't fight back". There are some "ecchi" stuff in it (my mom was ok with me consuming sexual content) that got me labeled a pervert. When I brought dragonball manga, I was a nerd. And hamutaro? I don't know why but I got ridiculed. In my generation, not everyone pushed athleticism on masculinity, but I was sure bullied for being unathletic. In my case, I felt the reasons I was being bullied weren't as important as me being the target for all of it. I had a class mate who was also half Japanese, and we later were somewhat close, but since we didn't share common manga/anime interests, we weren't able to connect. The two of us were on occasion paired together, being the only 2 japanese kids in class (and of the whole school, her sister included the only 3 japanese kids). For me, I experienced almost no prejudice liking both shonen and shoujo stuff. I don't know about the reverse though. Like in elementary school, I do remember one kid being annoying and saying "girls can't like pokemon", even if he was the only one. I feel as though within Japanese and Asian American culture, girls are welcomed into Weeb culture, but broadly in Western, or at least online american culture, there's still a lot of discrimination towards women. Like assumptions that most girls are into a masculine series because they're a fujoshi, and just want to pair guys together, or that they are posing as fans for attention. I remember a conversation I had with a weeb girl about liking a show that was really only popular in the fujoshi circle, and if I was insecure about it. Actually, looking back maybe I was. I had to explain to my weeb friends that "I'm actually not interested because of the yaoi pairings, I genuinely like the characters", but if I was more secure with my masculinity, I probably wouldn't tell them "it's not like THAT", and just say "give it a try you might like it". It's been 5 years since I was in Public school myself, but I can say for certain that most gender stereotypes have faded (at least in the schools in my vicinity). Guys wore nail polish, makeup, and did hair routines and were popular for that. I can't speak to the experience of girls in public school, but I know support for them is growing. Its almost impossible to believe this all happened in the same place where I faced so much discrimination towards my culture and how I enjoyed things in my youth. I look forward to the future we seem to be headed towards as it comes to otaku and weeb culture, as well as general asian american culture. just recently we got an h-mart near us and it was impressive and surreal to see a 'western/asian fusion market' with so much good stuff!
Man, I can relate so much with what you said from the mindset forced upon boys in the 90s. I still feel uncomfortable remembering how isolated I felt from not being able to be anything but what was enforced as "manly". Even into high school I felt that if I didn't be "like the boys" I'd be ostracized before I even knew the meaning of the word. It wasn't until a year after high school I started to show more of my appreciation for cute things. It ironically started with Dora The Explorer, of all things. Then I found myself interested in the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake cartoon. However, while I started accepting that I was liking things people with that old mindset, I was still made to feel like I was wrong for it, both from a now ex friend at work, but two of my own sisters too. The moment those 2 sisters found I I was enjoying Strawberry Shortcake, I was belittled and treated like a foolish man for letting myself like something so "gay". The irony of it? They were both hard tomboys. It wasn't until that ex friend at work spent months trying to convince me to hate My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and everything to do with it like he did, my having not even known about FiM before he tried to make me hate it, I looked into FiM and realized I liked it. That was when the floodgates finally opened and I realized it wasn't wrong for me to like cute stuff. I wasn't hurting anybody by liking it, I wasn't the one making people unhappy because I like it, I had nothing to feel bad about. Of course, that ex friend became ex after finding out I'd accepted liking mlp and cute stuff in general calling me "a hollow shell of my former self", but what do I care if that's how he feels? If being more open minded, willing to listen to others and just a happier person in general makes me "a hollow shell of my former self" then good. The old me must've been a toxic, poor example of a person.
Something I was told once and I'm curious if it is a real saying is: Exercise lightens the body, enjoying sweetness (cute) lightens the heart. 100% agree. Especially everything negative = gay. It was so common a statement that I honestly didn't know it was ment as homosexual for longer than I care to admit. I think enjoying cuteness is like enjoying wholesome sweet shows. It just makes you feel good and that there is good things in life. Grace of the Gods is an anime that is wholesomeness squared
Watching this, I couldn't help but remember how it was, finding out and being comfortable with liking shows and things that are considered more for women. And in the process, I found out even more, how uncomfortable I was being male. These feelings were ones that existed before and they are feelings that I find, don't go away by being OK with liking feminine. It just doesn't work that way for me. I now identify as Gender Queer as that seems to match up the best with how I feel and I have the better for it. And this is why I encourage people to try out things, outside of the norm for them and see what sticks and what doesn't. You never know what you will find out about yourself.
Boy scouts is for every one I hate bugs and the sun but plants animals and making stuff and learning are all things I love so there something for everyone
Yea back in the day a lot of boys secretly watched Sailor Moon including me. It was around late elementary and middle school times for me and i didn't talk about Sailor Moon with my male friends but I surely did with my female friends.
For me someone talking about what is manly from the West is so alien because in Eastern Europe we have a completely different outlook on it. This is also something that frustrates me when people in the west would call something "toxic" that for us is completely alien.
@@--julian_ Generalisation that every "white male" is the same. Especially when in terms of what is masculine you can go down to the national level here in Europe. What is masculine in Italy is not masculine in Germany etc. etc. Especially when this broad brush comes from the US where a lot of people don't know that the rest of the world exists. But I digress. Edited something so it sounds better.
@@Auriorium so if something in the US traditionally considered "masculine" is labeled as toxic it frustrates you even if in your country it is not considered "manly"?? (that is what I am getting from your comments)
@@--julian_ Oh dear the language barrier hit me sorry. What I wanted to say is that at least for my country and culture something that is toxic in the US is by default considered unmanly behaviour. Sorry again for the confusion.
I think that I am mostly over my internalized toxic masculinity, I will still always get hype with the boys and maybe treat women a little different without noticing. However, other then not being able to cry in front of people, I'm pretty good about it.
13:47 In my (not so) humble opinion I think being a kitten is better because everyone can agree kittens are great As a mostly non alcohol drinker I get what you mean, the amount of times I've had to defend myself let's just say if I got 1 buck for every time I would be living in a pricy villa now. Same with cute stuff, "cute stuff is for small children" no it's not. I'm an adult and I love cute stuff and I had to learn to openly love cute instead of deny it, hide it and feel ashamed. I wanted to be taken seriously but I also wanted to openly like cute which... I suppose I can now because aside from my relatives and in competitive environments there's no one who will tell me that I can't or look ridiculous. I even get compliments sometimes.
As a guy who grew up with sisters, one a tomboy too more than brothers I agree with what you said and the process it takes to phase out the toxic masculinity we grew up in.
I remember back in 95 when I was in my sophomore year of high school, we used to have anime showing on TV in the early morning before I had to leave for school. Dragonball, Ronin Warriors, and what became my absolute favorite at the time, Sailor Moon. I was just starting to really get into anime, so I thought to myself that since Sailor Moon was an anime like Dragonball and Ronin Warriors, it's okay for me to like it (I didn't know at the time that there were sub-genres in anime, such as Shoujo and Shounen). Fast-forward a few months, I've mostly kept my love of Sailor Moon to myself, at least until I overheard a couple of girls in my grade discussing Sailor Moon while waiting in line for lunch. The conversation took an interesting turn (I think they were discussing something about the Outer Senshi, which I barely knew anything about having only watched the first season and a little bit of the second season of the English dub) and I couldn't help but join in, asking about what they were discussing. I got some surprised looks for a moment (probably them being surprised a guy was interested in what they were discussing), but they brought me up to speed and introduced me to the manga, which was being published by Tokyopop's old Chix Comix label (THAT was certainly an unfortunate name for a publishing label). We all became good friends during the rest of high school, talking about Sailor Moon and other anime. I kinda blame them for starting my manga collecting habit, which continues to this day. One of my prized sets: the entire 35-issue run of the Chix Comix Sailor Moon manga.
Read you pinned comment before I watched & alright good to know. I hate the term “toxic masculinity” for various reasons I won’t go into. If it’s not about the woke definition but instead is about you feeling comfortable liking cute things and not giving a damn about what others say then that’s nice to hear. Though even if it was I’d still watch just because I am interested in hearing what you have to say. I enjoy listening to the opinions of others seeing how others think helps me out. I do want to say this. I hate it when I’m told what I’m allowed to like and not like. I feel today as a man I’m told I’m not allowed to like things that are more masculine in the traditional sense. I’m not allowed to like traditional gender roles. UNLESS I like the more effeminate things too. I feel I’m not allowed to dislike certain shows that appeal to women and girls. I’m shamed for these things. I don’t like this and as a result I don’t like it when people tell others what to like and not like.
I grew up in the 90s and I definitely remember the “battle of the sexes” in that era. Even as a young boy, I watched everything from Care Bears to Star Wars. But a lot of my favorite movies were Disney and about 90% of the lead characters were female. I was also an only child and characters like Ariel, Belle or Jasmine or even Cinderella were role models for me in the way I guess having a big sister would be like to anyone else. I remember watching Sailor Moon before it hit Toonami, and I used to make fun of it bc I thought it was just for girls. But a small part of me would not let me hate it or even stop watching bc I felt that same warm feeling when Usagi and friends were onscreen, like I was hanging out with an older sister or a close friend. Even tho my friends would mock it, I knew there was nothing wrong with it, and I would even find myself daydreaming about fighting to protect one of those characters, or in the case of the Sailor Scouts, I would fight alongside them; and to be honest, I don’t think there’s anything more manly for a boy to dream about than that.
Glad to see that even across the continent, we 90's kids have more in common than we thought. Super relate, especially w/ regards to kawaii things & being emasculated for liking said things. And yeah, Sailormoon wasn't my 1st Anime, but it sure was my gateway, as well. So.. "Arigato" for making this "rant." In a way, it was a nostalgic trip, too. And a welcome one at that. 👍♥️😊🇵🇭
I very much appreciate you for making this video. I have many similar experiences to you in regards to thinking there was something wrong with me for enjoying Sailor Moon as a young boy. I grew up in an area of the USA that leaned very heavily on restrictive toxic gender roles. It was very difficult to like anything outside the status quo without severe negativity from my peers. Life was hard, but got better the more I decided to trusty myself, and share my real self with others. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Peace + Love
I typically wear a lot of black and grey and dark blue, but I love pink and cute things. Did I have a phase where I didn't? Of course, that was inevitable for any kid in the US. But these days, after going to college and expanding my horizons and yeah, studying Japanese culture which started me down this path where I want my master's thesis to be a "genome sequence" of Japanese art going out of Japan by Dutch traders to the US and Mexico to see how far its influence goes, I dress in cute clothes, like suspender skirts, and keep cute plushies in my room. I grew to embrace the cute.
I remember these gendered toys. I remember absolutely hating them. I still remember when video games were a boys thing and the reaction a fellow male classmate had when he found out I liked and played FF or Medievil. He asked his dad about it and his dad labeled me as "a misguided tomboy" and that I would grow out of it. This video reminded me of that and how funny it is to me now.
Forward statement: This video isn't about being woke or having superior tastes. The point is being comfortable with the things that I like and stop giving a damn about what people tell me I can and can't like.
Hey man. Just own it. People who use the word woke unironically are the people you dont want in your audience. I also watched girly anime with my sister all the time.(i mean one thing you didnt touch is shounen and shoujo are also put into "blue" and "pink" kind of division.) Also I used "gay" and even the f slur because it was so popular in the late 00's and 10's. Hate myself for it still. Be well.
I remember you made a video a long time ago where you said you hated Moe, I don't remember all the arguments from that video.
Have you change your stance on it?
@@-xphobia You too everyone has phases they dont like. The i shoulsdnt yada yada doesnt help, you did grow an learn, thats the important thing.
That experiences shape us for better or worse and learning from it and being able to relect, is the most important, not asking yourself for what should have been.
And its good it gets hardly used anymore true, but then, it was normal, sadly, and its good to see its not good, but dont crucify yourself too much. Its the past and what happened happened already.
And i love how ranma inuyasha and advertised vision of escaflown were marketed as shounen and forrmer are roantic drama ahoo and romcom mixed. I cant think how revolutionary that was. Good thing its now far less taboo to watch anything really.
And goddamit cider is great, and wine, and good cocktails. Or none at all.
i love watching your videos, and you are so right. it's absolutely great that you are ok with liking the things that you like, and that's what's the important thing at the end of the day.
Don't. Use. Loaded. Phrases.
Only wokists use the phrase "toxic masculinity". You KNOW this because you made this comment. Then WHY are you using this phrase? Why couldn't you just say "Cute is ok". (Which I doubt was a problem for "masculinity" in the first place)
If you use the term "Supressive Person", I assume you are a scientologist until proven otherwise. Everyone would.
So stop this crap.
"you gotta get used to it, NO, HAVE IT BE GOOD NOW"
I feel this so much with alcohol, why can't I just drink the ones that are good without needing to get used to it, gimme those tasty drinks!
"it's an acquired taste" good, I don't WANT something that's good after 20 million times, I'm not going to have something bad for 20 million times for the sake of it
I know this is funny things to say but I think everyone who wants to drink alcohol gonna taste the strong things like whiskey or vodka or anything like that so they know how it’s taste and respect what it’s can do too you so you learn to drink responsibly.. I don’t want people die of alcohol poison because they are drinking sugar biased alcohol.. like anything in life you got to learn how to handle it so you can enjoy it .. but I can be wrong..
I was born in 91 and I'm a woman. I grew up watching Sailor moon, gundam, and DBZ. I loved all three shows. I was told I shouldn't like DBZ and Gundam cause those were for boys. If I asked for an action figure I got a barbie. My mother had me in dresses and cute pink tops til I was old enough to refuse to wear them, I hated pink for the longest time.
I hated the idea of being a 'girl' because of how I was always pushed into a box as a child and told 'This is for girls, your a girl you HAVE to like this and nothing else' and 'Pink is for girls, barbies are for girls. Blue and action figures are for boys.'
As a teen I was, god I was awful about anything traditionally feminine. I'd scream at my mother if she asked me to wear pink, we got in loud screaming matches about it. I was a tomboy and I hated being a 'girl'
As an adult, I don't care anymore. I'll wear pink, I'll wear dresses, I'll wear makeup. I still like 'boy' things but I like 'girl' things too.
Don't push your children into boxes, let play with and experience things
So the video brings up those McDonald's toys - the Barbies and Hot Wheels. I saw them first in the late 80s, and I always wanted the Hot Wheels toy, but my dad always made me have the Barbie toy. I could be literally standing at the counter asking the cashier myself for the Hot Wheels toy, but he vetoed it and said to give me the Barbie toy. And if I complained that it wasn't what I wanted, he threatened not to let me have the Happy Meal at all and I could just skip dinner that day.
Those Barbie "toys" were awful. They were just static figurines, they weren't articulated, you couldn't actually *do* anything with them, they just belonged on a shelf somewhere to gather dust. Meanwhile, tiny toy cars are interactive, and those were what I wanted. But nope, I wasn't allowed to want the "boy" toy or else I wouldn't be allowed to eat. ._.
@@purplekittigaming I remembered when McDonald's kinda didn't give a shit sometime in the early 2000's and gave out both Powerpuff Girls and Dragon Ball Z toys in a single kids meal. I love DBZ but I remember playing with the Blossom toy more than the Frieza one (I think that is what I got. I definitely remembered Blossom)
That sucks you went through that I was told that Pokemon was for boys. And I dressed up as a boy for wearing jeans even though they were jeans from the girls'section. Yah
I can understand a tough guy carrying a Donald Duck keychain- once you look past the Disney "cuteness" Donald's primary trait is his infamous raging temper!
Donald Duck in Ducktales 2017- *I AM the storm.*
Donald Duck also has a real world military record.
A rager and a scrub 🤣
I mean, the Donald Duck With Gun meme from Kingdom Hearts 3 was a thing
As a person who’s in Boy Scouts right now. My group isn’t much about being boys. It’s more about just learning survival skills and practically useful ones
Basically what it supposed to do.(saying this as a Eagle Scout)
Eagle here. That’s how it’s suppose to be.
The Scouting movement provides more opportunities for experiences of jobs, activities and the like than a public education system ever could.
Want to learn how to operate and maintain a gun for shooting sports? Rifle and Shotgun Shooting.
Want to know how to respond in emergency situations? Lifesaving, First Air, and Emergency Preparedness.
A more tangible, career opportunity? Cooking, Electricity, Engineering, Accounting, Drafting, Metalworking etc.
Anyone who has an idea that the Boy Scouts (at least the BSA) is somehow just a misogynist club obviously hasn’t gone to an actual Scout unit.
GOOD!
@@swordsman1_messer Not gonna lie, as someone who was in the Girlscouts, I envied those that went into the "boy scouts" because they immediately got to learn wilderness survival. Hell, some part of it is studying the wildlife there. Literally can`t go to the wilderness as a GS unless you are a Bird Scout, which is... what, 2, 3 years in rank? Before that you gotta learn handicrafts and sell cookies. At least it was that way in my childhood.
@@gNetkamiko I opposed the inclusion of girls into the BSA, but also advocated our merit badge program be introduced into the GSA. The amount of opportunities is honestly disgusting, let alone you typically don’t encounter female Scouts until the Venture Crews.
I wouldn’t call it “toxic masculinity”; that term has been so corrupted. I would substitute it for the much better term “insecure machismo”.
Thanks so much for talking about this. The gender coding of the 90’s didn’t just effect young boys but young girls as well. I am female and I remember when I was growing up, I would actively avoid anything “girly”. I would avoid pink and floral clothing, dresses and skirts. I would seek out things that my dad and male cousins liked over things my mother and other women in my family were interested in. Young women, their interests and hobbies where never taken seriously. If you wanted boys to like you (not in a romantic way but just as a friend and an equal) you had to denounce your femininity. Which is where I think the idea of the “tomboy” comes from around that time. Now I know that liking a particular color doesn’t determine your worth, but God do I wish we had this mindset back when I was a kid. It would have saved a lot of people the heart ache of not being true to themselves and shunning things they like for societal approval.
In the 90s I tended to get along with boys more than girls. Boys did all the fun stuff, and girls complained that if they did the activities I wanted to do, it would mess up their clothes. They also talked a lot about makeup and designer purses/ clothing and what boys were cute that they wanted to date/ etc, and it was nauseating. I really did grow up with a bit of that "not like other girls" mentality, but I understand it's not because I really was necessarily that different, but that they were trained to behave like that.
Adults were constantly trying to dissuade me from participating in highly activity games, but they didn't prevent the boys doing them. There was a boy who lived nearby who had a tree we both loved to climb. One day I was over there and just lying casually against a tree branch (I think I was in fifth or sixth grade) when the elderly lady next door saw me and chewed me out and told me to get down. I said no, so she said she was going to tell my mom.
I told her myself. XD And guess what? She had no problem with it! XD
I remember it being rebellious for guys to buy 'real men wear pink' shirt. I didn't raise my son with those expectations, and he barely understands the concept.
My mom watched a lot of tv, especially cooking shows. I remember pointing out all the time, cooking is not a 'girls thing' because big chefs in tv are guys.... same with sewing. I liked to point out the male (straight, too) designers who sewed their own clothes.
Male and female jobs are an illusion. Do what you love, and enjoy what you like.
100% agree with you there
Much like you i grew up in the 90's, I watched, Pokemon, Digimon, DBZ and yes Sailor Moon, arguing that sailor moon is still one of my most favorite anime of all time, I mean it's what helped inspire me to want to start drawing in the first place. My dad thought it weird that I liked the show and even had toys for the show, he thought i should be playing sports or at least with GI Joe, which i did play with those too, but mine broke.
Growing up in the 90's through the Late 2000's as an autistic man was rough, to the point where I felt like i was going to kill myself because I felt like I wasn't masculine enough. It was thanks to being friends with another guy like me in high school, my unabashed love for anime and manga aimed at various demographics (I loved ranma despite the main character being a girl when splashed with cold water, and I even preffered girl ranma, at that) and my mom being a genuinely understanding person that kept me going. I think what truly made me feel comfortable with myeself was ebing earnest in my love for Bayonetta, who was badass despite her status as a woman. And then Asura's Wrath came out, and I truly fell in love with myself, because Asura, for all his anger, was someone who showed me that righteous fury was universal, not just masculine, and that tempered by a loving heart for his daughter made me feel better about myself in my early 20's. I never looked back, and I also grew to love Kirby and other cute things, especially after watching Symphogear, Nanoha, and Precure, because they embody the same righteous fury towards evil.
🫂
15:52 - 16:50 It's like that one scene from "Babylon 5" where Garibaldi has to explain Duffy Duck to some aliens and does so as "an old Earth god of anger and frustration". Donald Duck to this guy, trying to be hard, may be his "Yokai"(?) of "don't mess with me or I'll mess you up".
17:00
I agree, Japan loves their Mascots! I learned about that in a class I took in college on Japanese Anime & Manga. Japan loves their mascots. Heck, nearly every prefecture of Japan has a specific mascot that represents their prefecture, and we had to look some up for a project for said class. I'll admit: many of them were pretty cute.
Tbh, I feel the same way in regards to how my parents treat me. They don’t like what I watch, they don’t like what I do, but I still do them anyways because that’s what I want to do.
Edit: I also swore off alcohol/smoking because I feel like it’s my father’s thing, and I never wanted nor want to be like my father.
I agree with the Donald Duck guy. Donald is a perfect pick. He is always ready to throw hands and he was a mascot for some of U.S. navy in ww2.
I've always unapologetically liked what i like both "manly" and "girly". When i was a kid is used to watch both Dragon Ball, Naruto but i also watched Totally Spies and Kim Possible. Even know i like my shounen One Piece, Black Clover, My hero academia but i also like my Shoujo stuff like Horimiya, Kimi ni todoke. My parents have never shamed me for being who i am though i still find it hard to have friends who share my vast net of interests so mainly narrow it down.
I had the same problem growing up in the early 2000s. I was afraid to tell my friends I liked Hannah Montana on TV. I was afraid to tell people I still played pokemon past grade school. I grew up with pretty much no male figure in my life, but even though in my home I was never shamed for watching "girl" shows or playing with "girl" toys, as that's just how I spent time with my sisters, I did shame myself for it. I never truly felt okay with my masculinity until I finally got the courage to select the female pokemon trainer choice in highschool, just because I thought she had the better character design.
oh, and now I'm actually agender/nonbinary too, so like, man am I glad I grew out of those dumb gender norms.
I was loving that rant about the Snake Eyes movie. Especially Everytime You cringed when they mentioned honor
When I found out about Larry Hama’s Marvel Comics run and read it, I immediately ditched the cartoons because 1. People actually got injured/died, 2. The characters were much more complex.
The rant to me was perfectly acceptable, and I agree with all your points.
Yea, that was good
The cringe at honor made a lot of sense to me. "Honor" really is one of those words that gets overused a lot in regards to certain things. "Epic" is another.
@@gamemasteranthony2756 ATLA and the OG Mulan give birth to my disdain for the word and Game of Thrones just made my disdain grow
As opposed to the whole honor thing in old tokusatsu?
Gaijin, I get what you mean. I was a kid of the 50s and 90s. I was lucky my parents weren't so rigid with gender norms. I did like My Little Pony and occasionally played with Barbie, I also played with dinosaurs, fantasy toys, and action figures, I hated baby dolls so much. I grew up preferring geeky pursuits. My dad was a geek. He played Dungeons and Dragons with his buddies. I never bought into the feminine and masculine norms. As a teenager I could have cared less about things like Prom. I was very shy, but my passions were art and video games. I did like cute things like Tails. I never cared much about afterschool activities until I got into karate. Martial arts helped my confidence. I love it so much that I still practice today. Karate is also one of my introductions to Japan-that and my dad introducing me to the Shogun miniseries. My first sensei, Bill Malone, served over in Japan met his wife, Yuki there. Anime is another of my gateways, but karate is the most important factor. I was lucky I had an instructor who taught me about Okinawa's history from when it was its own Ryukyu kingdoms, to the old karate masters like Matsumura Sokon and Motobu Choki.
I'm the same way about alcohol. The first time I found an alcoholic drink that I liked was sake when I was in my early-40s. So I went over 20 years just "not liking alcohol".
Thank you for this. My wife and are both 90's kids and grew up with these stereotypes. While I see today the kind of dangers toxic masculinity can bring, I still find myself dealing with it. That crap hasn't died yet and I'm trying not to put that kind of pressure on my son or daughter.
As someone who recently graduated High School, I still got judged for my intrest and not fitting in with out people. While most people are playing games like PUBG or CoD I always enjoyed Animal Crossing or Pokemon over stock cliche shooter games. I was was trying to show a Teacher Aid about the world of Animal Crossing, where some student who I've knew was obsessed with PFPs games commented "Why are you showing Mrs.A, a baby game?". While Pokemon was a little more socially acceptable, and yet I still got pestered being into it. I mean yeah i like alot of guy "stereotypes" such as cars or super heros, and I still get judged from time to time being into them. It wasn't until taking a Game Design class off campus and college it's made me feel more comfortable explaining my hobbies and interests.
My dude, ignore those dumb asses. I'm in my late 30's and proudly own not just ACNH but I own the ACNH Switch and have played every game since the original. Play what you like and what interests you.
@@matikz Well said man
That just High School. kids are immature. I didn’t judge anyone till I got a job after HS. Much more mature individuals at that point. Most of my adult friends are cool. Don’t care what others think. Here’s 1 of my definition of alpha. Someone who don’t care what others think.
This is sad
Cute and pink has been my identity ever since I was a kid. Sure I had my falling out and rebellious phase where I was like "ew pink is too childish, I like blue and black now" but as I grew older, I learned to accept the fact that liking pink and things that are cute shouldn't be a problem-especially for adults and people who aren't girls. Cute things and colors are universal things to be loved by anyone and everyone-and not to be assigned to specific gender roles or age groups. I think its great that society is starting to shift its focus away from gender roles and what's to be expected from adults because it opens up to new ideas and gives people the freedom to feel comfortable with who they are and express that with other people.
I never liked that gender specific marketing - blue has always been my favourite colour, I still like and have liked a lot of anime that were meant for boys and have never been big on real girly hobbies. I'm happy, we're starting to look beyond that - I'm sure we're - as a whole - better of if we allow everyone to be their truest self 🥰
One thing that every time I think about it blows my mind, is that in the 80s or 90s or whenever video game companies were deciding how to market their products to kids, they ended up putting them in the "boy" isles of stores, and thus to this day video games are considered a "boy" thing. Decades of sexism in video games just because of a marketing decision
This reminds me of a story:
So I was at Starbucks a while back and I ordered a drink I like. It's bright pink. My order comes up and I walk up to the counter where this older dude just picked up his black coffee. He's probably 50 but tattooed, ripped sleeves, muscles, the whole thing. I walk up and grab my cup and he gives me a look and makes some snide remark.
I just turn to the dude, make direct eye contact, and reply "yes, because cowering in fear of the color pink truly makes me more masculine". Then I take a sip and walk away.
That was an awesome one liner!
Something that happened with me around 20 to 25 years ago was that my grandmother had gotten me into cross-stitching but my step-father (at the time) was getting angry that it wasn't a hobby for boys and it was making me less of a man, so he tried to get me to play hockey (because he also played hockey). And while I did eventually stop doing cross-stitching (primarily because I was getting attached to other interests like video games), I absolutely HATED playing hockey and after playing it for 2 and a half years I just walked away and never went back.
He weebs out so hard through this entire video
I dare say...
It was kind of cute
I'm very much thinking about assigning this as an optional "reading" when I teach psychology of gender.
Psychology of gender? You're telling me men and women think differently?
@@donovanlocust1106 There are numerous examples of this in the video.
@@The_One_In_Black I was being sarcastic!
@@donovanlocust1106 Ah cool. Hard to tell on TH-cam and this topic gets a lot of trolls.
This hits me hard. Even though I was born in the late 90's, I had a similar experience growing up in the early 2000's and going to a private school. My parents enrolled me in baseball year after year, even though I had a difficult time even in the outfield. They also started me in boy scouts, where I was bullied for being very introverted and not liking participating in some of the more "boyish" things. Starting college 4 years ago opened my eyes that it was okay to like cute things and that it was okay to be myself. It also helped open my eyes about my gender and who I really am.
Well this comment section is going be fun
It interesting how some thing would be masculine in one country but not and neutral in another culture.
Also while Japan has made you find peace with your masculinity, many native Japanese are struggling with their masculinity.
That's true, as far as I've ever heard, Japan still has its "gender norms", they just aren't all the same as what ours/ the west's are.
I'm new here but this is legitimately so wholesome to just yell about how much people should be able to enjoy things without societal pressure /pos
Sanrio's characters helped me understand that liking cute is okay, I used to be so embarrassed but I'm proud of my My Melody merch ✨
During my high-school years in 2014-2017, we just didn't care what others think. When I went to Japan for a club trip, I instantly went for biggest cutest stuffed animals i could get.
Thanks for discussing this, it's super interesting to hear. Growing up in the '90s warped my perception of what I could like as well. Honestly, it's something that I'm still trying to undo. I was lucky that my family was more out lax with gender roles. I rocked the barbie jeep but loved trouncing through the woods. Eventually, I started really avoiding toys marketed as "for girls" or the colour pink since I didn't want to be looked down on. I definitely overcorrected and am now working to undo that mindset. It's super refreshing to hear this topic discussed. Thanks again for talking about it.
This reminds me that the Sakuras here where I live "São Paulo, Brazil" flourished 1 or 2 weeks ago, but because of this situation now there was no festival, food and music. Very sad.
Aww, I'm so sad that you missed your opportunity to go and enjoy all of that. :(
Ya know, my knee jerk reaction to that word is particularly negative. But, since it was Gajin's video I held my oppinion till the end.
And damn if Gaijin doesn't have a lot of the same points of view on the dicotomy from the 90s and early 2000s.
Also, The Snake Eyes rant was hilarious.
As a trans woman, there was a lot of what you spoke about in this video growing up. I was really down on myself for not being like the other boys and told how I'm not normal and all of that. While not specifically anime I always felt at ease playing Nintendo, but the little anime I saw and little knowledge of Japanese culture I saw captivated me and seeing men in pink and dressing or acting femininely, even if for a joke, made me feel better about myself. There's a lot of controversy in the trans community about the word trap, but I still love anime traps and feminine male characters.
Western feminine reality show culture cannot find a higher high than "catching their man(the bf/them) cheating on their woman(protagonist/me) with that bitch(another human/park bench)." I lost the plot typing that so Imma just comment this for posterity/entertainment/ roasting my stupid...
I was born in 2001, so toxic masculinity was still a thing for me, but It was starting to die out. Where I live is very much a "the old days were better" place, so wearing what I want is somewhat frowned upon. If I could, I'd wear dresses. They are awesome and so much better than guys clothes, especially in the summer. And for a long ass time, pink was my favorite colour, now it teal/aquamarine/cyan/whatever it's called. Skin care products have been great for me as I break out more, and when I was younger it was almost drilled into me that those things were for women, then I discovered anime and it taught me to just be myself and do what makes me happy. I can relate so much to this video and I love it
Now, Imagine all this concepts of masculinity in the 80's and 90's and add the extra hurdle of being a gay man. It fucking doesn't matter if you are effeminate, traditionally masculine or anything in between, you had the very real pressure of performing a unrealistic standard to save your own life - sometimes literally. I had friends that were the epitome of macho, because if they didn't perform this role, the results could be pretty dread. As a gay man, I don't like to remember that period of my life, because I was forced be something I hated. I didn't when the route of my friend, but I acted life a callous uncaring bastard. This attitude gave me those nice "masculine points" and people let me be.
I've always loved camping. Most of my friends growing up were also girls. I ended up playing with Barbies and Polly Pockets just as much as I went camping and played with Legos. I was born in the late 90's.
Which is more "manly"? Enjoying the things you like even if they are "cutesy" or "for girls/children", or dismissing what you enjoy due to how it's perceived by others?
Men who are confident in their masculinity dont bend under peer pressure and in my eyes that is manly.
The thing that I remember in the 90's and early 2000's with anime, specifically with regards to Sailor Moon and such, was how I could tell that a lot of it was censored, but even so I still noticed a lot more mature subject matter, jokes, etc. coming through. I was 13 years old when the Sailor Moon "S" season aired, and me and my friends watched it because it came on before DBZ and Gundam or whatever else was showing. We all picked up on the *ahem* "cousins", and yeah the discussion wasn't whether or not they were lesbians, it was whether or not they were really cousins.
I will say, though, I've had a much better experience than you've had growing up, even though we're near the same age. Something that I took notice of while I was in high school was I moved from Texas to New Mexico, and there was a habit that men shared with women there that really surprised me, until I started doing it too: using skin lotion. The area of New Mexico I moved to was dry, and your skin would dry out and get irritated and itchy. So everyone used lotion.
I remember during middle school I heard that from some of my classmates saying that showing emotions means that your weak. Also during 1st I remembered that I was called a girl even though I wore a jacket for a girl and I was called a girl for playing with my hair on the back of my head.
That "showing emotions/ crying makes you weak" mentality is not only false, but it’s toxic as well. There is also proof that not letting out your emotions can leave a negative long-term impact. That sort of mentality should just die!
I actually remember when getting into anime and manga in middle school one of my first reads was Magic Knight Rayearth which quickly made me interested in other Clamp series. I’d later bring this up to one of the few anime aware friends I had at the time and they said something like “You do know those are shows/books for girls, right?”. I admitted I didn’t…and continued checking out Clamp’s stuff (and other shoujo manga and anime) anyway.
Sailor Moon the OG Anime Waifus for many of the 90s and early 2000 kids !!! Awww yeeesss !!
Fighting evil by moonlight
Winning love by daylight
Never running from a real fight!
She is the one named Sailor Moon!
She will never turn her back on a friend
She is always there to defend
She is the one on whom we depend
She is the one named Sailor...
Sailor Venus!
Sailor Mercury!
Sailor Mars!
Sailor Jupiter!
With secret powers
All so new to her
She is the one named Sailor Moon
Fighting evil by moonlight
Winning love by daylight
With her Sailor Scouts to help fight
She is the one named Sailor Moon
She is the one named Sailor Moon
She is the one . . . Sailor Moon!
Sorry I started singing the song out loud while watching this
Thank you for sharing this! I definately remember the 90s and early 2000s and how heavy they were on "gender norms". I dont know if this is because of school or their dad, but I know my nephews (13 and 11) are definately dealing with toxic masculinity right now. More so the 13 year old one.
I appreciate how candid you've been about these hard experiences, Gaijin. I, myself, have grown up with instances of doubting myself for facets of my personality that I struggled to accept, and while I appreciate how that inner strife forced me to become what I am today, rather than fall in one box or another, I've always resented the lack of validation of those facets in society. In fact, I've only started seeing such validation in the quantities I desired as of the past three years or so. Naturally, I'm elated that it came to this, but I fear that in the near future, the ball will lose momentum and I'll be pushed back into the shadows once more.
"sakura bloom for a week" unless you are in an anime then they bloom all year around :P
When you comment about the smooth hand thing, I picture “The Way of the Househusband”, and Tatsu saying that exact same line. That’s MANLY! Lmao. Good argument, Gaijin.
6:30-6:58 Cue the GIF of Ken Jong in Community shouting "GAYYYYYYYYYYYYY" for an example.
Oh lord, hearing the bit about how everything negative was "being gay" made me flash back to my teens back in the 2000s. I could easily sum up the "being gay" situation into three simple little words: "Teenagers are fucking assholes." As an adult, I can safely say that is a time I have no desire to return to, simply because of how hateful everybody was, how much they delighted in being hateful, and also how anti-social and closed off I was as a teenager and wanted nothing to do with anybody. I was basically Neku Sakuraba for anybody who's played The World Ends With You.
I think the only reason I was not picked on for my lack of manliness was because of the time in Sophomore year when I got into a fist fight with one of the school bullies. A teacher quickly broke it up and I was able to sucker punch the bully while he was distracted. I was not honorable in high school, I very much did not care as long as it was effective. The witnesses started spreading rumors about how I gave the bully a black eye (actually, I socked him in the cheek) and everybody got scared of me and stayed away from me, which was fine for 15-year-old me because he wanted to be left alone.
As an adult, whenever I get alcohol or even energy drinks, I would sway hard to the ones with very openly fruity flavors because I just don’t like how those kinds of drinks taste normally.
Same
Same here. I can't stand most "traditional Western" alcohols like beer or even wine, but I love margaritas.
This channel was such a good idea, you icon\ avatar now makes more sense.
I love cute things. I remember being worried that I was watching Magic Knight Rayearth in front of my parents, but they are awesome and never thought a thing about it (cus yeah, if the main character was a girl, it was certainly not considered "for boys" back then). When I started getting more into anime, as the years went by, thanks to things like Card Captor Sakura which I would watch religiously and seeing how little of a line there was separating "for girls" and "for boys" in more and more shows I watched, it totally helped me break out and realise how little I had to care about that arbitrary separation. Imagine my surprise when I started finding friends that were all big fans of Sailor Moon in secret.
I definitely feel ya on that! I loved magical girl anime more than watching just the shonen ones
When I was a JET (2002-2005) and Japanese junior high boys would tell me pink was their favorite color - that was an awakening for me too. Since then, pink is actually a big part of my fashion choices because I realized I loved it too, I had just been avoiding it due to the ridiculous stigma.
I'm in exactly the same position you are. I was born in 1985; I was a 90's kid. And I noticed everything you did back then. I also watched Sailor Moon in secret when I was a boy. I played Kirby religiously. The whole reason I wanted to play Sonic The Hedgehog video games, was because the first game I saw was Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and I saw Tails, and thought to myself, "he's so cute!" Everybody in my schools called everything they didn't like, "gay." And in retrospect, as a pansexual fluid man, I also hate that.
I hated gender stereotypes.
And today?
I just don't care what anybody else thinks about me with regards to that stuff anymore.
I'm a huge fan of both Transformers and My Little Pony. I love both Mobile Suit Gundam and Sailor Moon. My favorite colors are Gold and Pink.
My mom told me that when I was really little, around one or two years old I think, I wanted one of those vacuum cleaner toys intended for girls, and I wanted the pink one. My dad refused initially, because it was a girl's toy, but he caved when he found a blue version to give me.
One of the reasons I didn't like all the typical, "boy," or, "masculine," things that I was expected to do was because... a lot of it seemed really stupid to me, to be honest. Like... we were expected to enjoy extreme sports, professional wrestling, and all sorts of stuff like that. We were expected to want to try to do crazy things like do bicycle and skateboard tricks off ramps in the park and risk physical injury. And if you were injured? "Just walk it off you [ insert picture of cute little kitten here ]!"
It took me 36 years to come to terms with who I am and what I am. And it's all because the toxic masculinity of the 90's suppressed it.
I'm not gonna lie, the 90's gave me some of the best times of my childhood, some of my favorite entertainment franchises to enjoy, good music... but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, because that's also where I was as a kid.
Today, I'm happier than I've ever been. In the past few years, I've been doing my own soul-searching, learning more about myself and finding my happiness. I have my girlfriend's unwavering support to thank for that.
I only regret it took as long as it did.
I get what you're saying and I dig it, but man the moment I see words "toxic masculinity" I almost check out because they are thrown around like so much bullshit.
I get that vibe. Wasn't sure what else to call it.
@@gaijinperspective133 Traditional masculinity would probably be appropriate.
@@gaijinperspective133 I don't know, CS Lewis called it "the fear of childishness" in his famous quote about this exact subject, I just call it insecurity.
Speaking of Sailor Moon, I watched it because of it's art and flashes. I grew up mostly on American style cartoons. My uncles are the ones that opened me up on the Japanese styles and i felt in love with it. the anime that i remembered watching are Dragon Ball, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Digimon.
I'm 36. I used to wake up early in the morning before school to watch Sailor Moon as well and enjoyed it. For me it was the transformation scenes, but young and horny. Sailor Moon was my gateway to Japanese anime. I understand your meaning though. I don't like the color pink, but i don't like bright colors. They hurt my eyes. Not in a macho kind of way, but physically i have to squint. Could have to do with my recent discovery that I'm autistic. A different battle growing up in the 90s, but maybe tangential. My best friend growing up loved purple and people was giving him a hard time for even that color. It's wild how much things have changed in the last 20 years. I also didn't like sports, try as I may, but I was head over heels for video games and table top role playing games. Then I would have to ask if people knew what they were before I could even talk about it. Now I can name drop any of them and people get it. Thankfully I never had any physical bullying, given I had a good 50 to 100lbs on many off my peers. Though I heard the whispers. I'm rambling. Thank you for the video and this channel. I enjoy your enlightening perspective.
I fucking LOVE Sakura blooms. Lots of fond memories attached to them.
This was an amazing video. I grew up in the 90s myself so I can relate to a lot of this, and when the anime boom happened I did gravitate more to sailor moon, Tokyo mew mew, than I did dragon ball. I just found cute things like that better than than guys beating up each other
Yo Gaijin, you got a minute? I want to thank you for making this video.
I'm a 90s kid, and I'm younger than you (born in 1990), so I would have been your kohai growing up back then; your story speaks to me to my bones! I remember growing up in the 90s, and one aspect of this toxic hate on pink was Starburst! I LOVED Starburst as a kid, and guess what my favorite flavor was? It wasn't yellow lemon, it wasn't nasty grape; it was Pink Strawberry! And I remember a group of older boys coming up to me and actively making fun of me, calling me all the horrible names you've talked about, because I liked STARBURST!
I hope that kids these days don't have to deal with shit like that, the 90s SUCKED. I didn't like sports, I didn't like wrestling, I didn't like any of that shit. But I LOVED Anime growing up! ..... but Sailor-Moon was one that I avoided BECAUSE of this toxic masculinity... I was terrified of being discovered watching it, so I would only watch it in secret... but I watched it a lot! I LAUGH MY ASS OFF at Sailor-Moon memes because I GET IT! I was there, I watched it... but there was always a secret guilt when I did watch it.
And all of this suffering, and toxicity, and dare I say *EVIL* behavior that my culture visited on innocent boys was Unnecessary and Cruel!
Now? I LOVE My Little Pony, and She-Ra, and Anime of all kinds! And I can happily say that I'm proud of who I am now, and I reject all forms of Toxic Masculinity on principle! I am strong, I am kind, I am Disciplined, and I love cute things! I'm a man in a class of my own!
I'm going to see about getting some of those Japanese drinks to talked about too. Western Alcohol is trash!
11:21 Over here in Montana our climate is perfect for cherry blossoms, it's a native plant in these areas.
14:31 I drink both beers and wines to be honest, I really don't care how it tastes as long it's not an overwhelming flavor. Most of the time I drink beers only for the alcoholic feeling and not for the taste, though my tongue has a high tolerance for bitter tastes as well.
17:02 Even the Japanese children are cuter, I don't understand why but western children are not very cute, at least most of the time.
I am a shotacon and lolicon so my perspectives differ a lot because of western views about these such things. Of course you don't need to be a shotacon or lolicon in order to love children, that's a normal instinct humans have, it only when the romantic and other feelings are involved when it becomes something else.
Just because a person loves children it doesn't automatically make them a lolicon, shotacon or whatever, it's only when that heads towards romantic and adult subjects when it actually becomes such things. I'm not implying illegal activities, only fantasies, emotions and feelings.
This is who I was born as so I should know, I've had these feelings since early childhood; for me it's an entirely different category. I still have parental instincts like everyone else I just also have romantic emotions on top of that instinct, as if something is cross wired in the brain.
Of course I enjoy fictional, anime and cartoon characters as well.
I will fully admit I watch magical girls
And squee like a girl when it comes to cute
And I'm not ashamed of it
Same. I love the sillyness of some episodes but its fun
@@jamessicard1705 especially a favorite series of mine pretty cure
Especially considering how the most recent season was basically Kamen rider Ex-aid with kawaii and animal's
@@KudaGeatsune3821 God I love Kamen Rider, great stories with the same silliness
@@jamessicard1705 especially in build
Where there was the idiot straight man routine from certain characters
Magical girls anie are pretty wholesome fun. I knew some as well. one a pre cure knock off.
Whats funny is in soe advertisement visuion of escaflown was advertised as action, haha, i mean it has but its shojo drama, good one. i dont like the shojo style that much but the stories can be so good drama..
And irs funny how inuyasha is a shojo with action elements and that makes it, well as iconic as it is.
To me there are levels of acceptable cuteness and levels of acceptable edge till the "weird" meter starts ringing.
Really depends on the kinds of things you like, say difference between having cute Pokemon plushies/figurines in your display as a man vs having straight up a baby dress doll thing or straight up barbie with doll houses with those tea party things and so on, or having characters looking like they came from an action video game or rock album vs straight up skeletons and skulls in your closet xD
Then again im the kind of edgelords who loves playing violent action video games and watching grim/mature kinds of anime/shows while drinking strawberry milk with cookies and cries like a little kitten when anything slightly emotional shows up so idk really lol
"I came for the blood and violence not feels man, we didn't agree to this!"
**Sips iced tea with little finger up**
but like what is wrong if someone has the barbie house with the tea thingy?
Yes, I've had the same change, and we're about the same age, and had similar childhood experiences. If I ever had a friend over after school if tell them I'd never seen Sailor Moon, and was just checking it out this one time to see if it was cool. I was embarrassed.
Not enough to not watch it, until... I had two friends over, used that line again, but forgot I already said it to one of them.
"He said that last week," I hear one whisper to the other.
Then I was too embarrassed to ever watch the show again after that. Toxic masculine stereotypes ruined my ability to watch that show ever again.
I don't openly scoff at pink now. It's actually a pretty color, but I'm picky with how it's paired with other colors
Im 31 now but I remember watching Sailormoon religiously as well. You were not alone!
This is basically my story told by someone else. Thank you for sharing, Gaijin Goomba. :3
My hsuband saying his video was boring... (pokes) HOW DARE.
Please remember that I stayed alert and watched the entire video, unlike the movie... which I fell alseep during, TWICE.
To be completely fair to tuxedo mask, he did save their butts quite a few times. If you say you weren't expecting that signature rose to come flying in during those "oh jo, what are we gonna do" scenes, then you're lying or you didnt learn the pattern lol
This is a great video. Very thought provoking too. I have been a victim of this toxic masculinity bullshit as well being called a pedophile just because of the fondness I have for characters like Princess Jasmine, or for being a fan of stuff like Totally Spies, and have been accused of all this other nonsense, so thank you for this.
Same story here. I wish I was able to more open about my love for anime in high school and I am glad for the friends I made in college who allowed me to be myself.
kirby is the most powerful nintendo character ever created. something like giygas is a normal boss for kirby to fight on a daily basis. he can split a planet down the middle with a karate chop. 0squared is a big example. dont mess with kirby
I felt embarrassed for watching Sabrina: The Animated Series, but my friend watched Sailor Moon, so I realized I shouldn't care. I didn't watch Sailor Moon though, because the naked transformation sequences also embarrassed me for a different reason.
I've learned way to many good things from Japan that shaped me me into who I am today and taught me allot about life and myself
I very much remember what it was like in the 90's and this aversion to "girly things" but I'm lucky in that I had Older & Younger sisters and my parents never pushed the separation of gender with toys. My Power Rangers went to the Barbie dream house, my SD Gundams went to the Bratz Spa, we all watched The Powerpuff Girls, my Aunt got me started on Godzilla & Star Wars, both of my parents are huge Trekkies, Pokemon & Digimon knew how to balance the Cute & Cool, Cardcaptors & Hamtaro were just as important as DBZ & Yugioh in our house, and don't even get me started on Pretty Pretty Princess... needless to say all the toxic gender hate online pisses me off and it was so confusing for me when my dad started pushing the "Manly" mentality in my teens.
I'm a 90s baby (94), and I would play with either my toys or my brother's. I don't remember if I got flack for playing with my brother's Hot Wheels (Mom bought a few for me), but we definitely played on the N64 together. After we moved from our hometown, it was pretty much same business as usual. I still had my toys, but I would often play with Beyblades and Yu-Gi-Oh cards with my brother.
I grew up firstly as a half Japanese kid in the 2000's. I'm like the earliest group of zoomers, so my experiences are basically 50% millennial, 50% zoomer for context. And when I was a kid, it was right on the cusp of the breakthrough that was anime culture. In elementary school, I got BULLIED for reading Dr. Slump. I tried asking "why is it wrong to like this?" and legit the answers were "this is just a reason to bully you, don't fight back". There are some "ecchi" stuff in it (my mom was ok with me consuming sexual content) that got me labeled a pervert. When I brought dragonball manga, I was a nerd. And hamutaro? I don't know why but I got ridiculed. In my generation, not everyone pushed athleticism on masculinity, but I was sure bullied for being unathletic. In my case, I felt the reasons I was being bullied weren't as important as me being the target for all of it. I had a class mate who was also half Japanese, and we later were somewhat close, but since we didn't share common manga/anime interests, we weren't able to connect. The two of us were on occasion paired together, being the only 2 japanese kids in class (and of the whole school, her sister included the only 3 japanese kids).
For me, I experienced almost no prejudice liking both shonen and shoujo stuff. I don't know about the reverse though. Like in elementary school, I do remember one kid being annoying and saying "girls can't like pokemon", even if he was the only one. I feel as though within Japanese and Asian American culture, girls are welcomed into Weeb culture, but broadly in Western, or at least online american culture, there's still a lot of discrimination towards women. Like assumptions that most girls are into a masculine series because they're a fujoshi, and just want to pair guys together, or that they are posing as fans for attention. I remember a conversation I had with a weeb girl about liking a show that was really only popular in the fujoshi circle, and if I was insecure about it. Actually, looking back maybe I was. I had to explain to my weeb friends that "I'm actually not interested because of the yaoi pairings, I genuinely like the characters", but if I was more secure with my masculinity, I probably wouldn't tell them "it's not like THAT", and just say "give it a try you might like it".
It's been 5 years since I was in Public school myself, but I can say for certain that most gender stereotypes have faded (at least in the schools in my vicinity). Guys wore nail polish, makeup, and did hair routines and were popular for that. I can't speak to the experience of girls in public school, but I know support for them is growing. Its almost impossible to believe this all happened in the same place where I faced so much discrimination towards my culture and how I enjoyed things in my youth. I look forward to the future we seem to be headed towards as it comes to otaku and weeb culture, as well as general asian american culture. just recently we got an h-mart near us and it was impressive and surreal to see a 'western/asian fusion market' with so much good stuff!
Gaijin, you views on all that stuff, and what influenced you, is surprisingly close to Egoraptor's. It's interesting to see, in a way.
Man, I can relate so much with what you said from the mindset forced upon boys in the 90s.
I still feel uncomfortable remembering how isolated I felt from not being able to be anything but what was enforced as "manly".
Even into high school I felt that if I didn't be "like the boys" I'd be ostracized before I even knew the meaning of the word.
It wasn't until a year after high school I started to show more of my appreciation for cute things.
It ironically started with Dora The Explorer, of all things.
Then I found myself interested in the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake cartoon.
However, while I started accepting that I was liking things people with that old mindset, I was still made to feel like I was wrong for it, both from a now ex friend at work, but two of my own sisters too.
The moment those 2 sisters found I I was enjoying Strawberry Shortcake, I was belittled and treated like a foolish man for letting myself like something so "gay".
The irony of it? They were both hard tomboys.
It wasn't until that ex friend at work spent months trying to convince me to hate My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and everything to do with it like he did, my having not even known about FiM before he tried to make me hate it, I looked into FiM and realized I liked it.
That was when the floodgates finally opened and I realized it wasn't wrong for me to like cute stuff.
I wasn't hurting anybody by liking it, I wasn't the one making people unhappy because I like it, I had nothing to feel bad about.
Of course, that ex friend became ex after finding out I'd accepted liking mlp and cute stuff in general calling me "a hollow shell of my former self", but what do I care if that's how he feels?
If being more open minded, willing to listen to others and just a happier person in general makes me "a hollow shell of my former self" then good.
The old me must've been a toxic, poor example of a person.
there are two reactions to finding out the world you grew up in is very different now. 1. change with it, 2. pure anger
Something I was told once and I'm curious if it is a real saying is: Exercise lightens the body, enjoying sweetness (cute) lightens the heart.
100% agree. Especially everything negative = gay. It was so common a statement that I honestly didn't know it was ment as homosexual for longer than I care to admit. I think enjoying cuteness is like enjoying wholesome sweet shows. It just makes you feel good and that there is good things in life. Grace of the Gods is an anime that is wholesomeness squared
Watching this, I couldn't help but remember how it was, finding out and being comfortable with liking shows and things that are considered more for women. And in the process, I found out even more, how uncomfortable I was being male. These feelings were ones that existed before and they are feelings that I find, don't go away by being OK with liking feminine. It just doesn't work that way for me. I now identify as Gender Queer as that seems to match up the best with how I feel and I have the better for it. And this is why I encourage people to try out things, outside of the norm for them and see what sticks and what doesn't. You never know what you will find out about yourself.
Boy scouts is for every one I hate bugs and the sun but plants animals and making stuff and learning are all things I love so there something for everyone
Boy Scout is what actually made me sociable and made into get into environment science. It also made love my state(it a west coast state)
@@starmaker75 good for you
Yea back in the day a lot of boys secretly watched Sailor Moon including me. It was around late elementary and middle school times for me and i didn't talk about Sailor Moon with my male friends but I surely did with my female friends.
For me someone talking about what is manly from the West is so alien because in Eastern Europe we have a completely different outlook on it.
This is also something that frustrates me when people in the west would call something "toxic" that for us is completely alien.
why does it frustrate you if you haven't experienced it?
@@--julian_ Generalisation that every "white male" is the same. Especially when in terms of what is masculine you can go down to the national level here in Europe.
What is masculine in Italy is not masculine in Germany etc. etc.
Especially when this broad brush comes from the US where a lot of people don't know that the rest of the world exists. But I digress.
Edited something so it sounds better.
@@Auriorium so if something in the US traditionally considered "masculine" is labeled as toxic it frustrates you even if in your country it is not considered "manly"?? (that is what I am getting from your comments)
@@--julian_ Oh dear the language barrier hit me sorry.
What I wanted to say is that at least for my country and culture something that is toxic in the US is by default considered unmanly behaviour.
Sorry again for the confusion.
@@Auriorium ohhh got it!
it's okay English is not my first language either xd
I think that I am mostly over my internalized toxic masculinity, I will still always get hype with the boys and maybe treat women a little different without noticing. However, other then not being able to cry in front of people, I'm pretty good about it.
13:47 In my (not so) humble opinion I think being a kitten is better because everyone can agree kittens are great
As a mostly non alcohol drinker I get what you mean, the amount of times I've had to defend myself let's just say if I got 1 buck for every time I would be living in a pricy villa now. Same with cute stuff, "cute stuff is for small children" no it's not. I'm an adult and I love cute stuff and I had to learn to openly love cute instead of deny it, hide it and feel ashamed. I wanted to be taken seriously but I also wanted to openly like cute which... I suppose I can now because aside from my relatives and in competitive environments there's no one who will tell me that I can't or look ridiculous. I even get compliments sometimes.
As a guy who grew up with sisters, one a tomboy too more than brothers I agree with what you said and the process it takes to phase out the toxic masculinity we grew up in.
i feel like someone needs to playthrough a certain character's arc in persona 4 golden
I remember back in 95 when I was in my sophomore year of high school, we used to have anime showing on TV in the early morning before I had to leave for school. Dragonball, Ronin Warriors, and what became my absolute favorite at the time, Sailor Moon. I was just starting to really get into anime, so I thought to myself that since Sailor Moon was an anime like Dragonball and Ronin Warriors, it's okay for me to like it (I didn't know at the time that there were sub-genres in anime, such as Shoujo and Shounen). Fast-forward a few months, I've mostly kept my love of Sailor Moon to myself, at least until I overheard a couple of girls in my grade discussing Sailor Moon while waiting in line for lunch. The conversation took an interesting turn (I think they were discussing something about the Outer Senshi, which I barely knew anything about having only watched the first season and a little bit of the second season of the English dub) and I couldn't help but join in, asking about what they were discussing. I got some surprised looks for a moment (probably them being surprised a guy was interested in what they were discussing), but they brought me up to speed and introduced me to the manga, which was being published by Tokyopop's old Chix Comix label (THAT was certainly an unfortunate name for a publishing label). We all became good friends during the rest of high school, talking about Sailor Moon and other anime. I kinda blame them for starting my manga collecting habit, which continues to this day. One of my prized sets: the entire 35-issue run of the Chix Comix Sailor Moon manga.
Read you pinned comment before I watched & alright good to know. I hate the term “toxic masculinity” for various reasons I won’t go into. If it’s not about the woke definition but instead is about you feeling comfortable liking cute things and not giving a damn about what others say then that’s nice to hear. Though even if it was I’d still watch just because I am interested in hearing what you have to say. I enjoy listening to the opinions of others seeing how others think helps me out.
I do want to say this.
I hate it when I’m told what I’m allowed to like and not like. I feel today as a man I’m told I’m not allowed to like things that are more masculine in the traditional sense. I’m not allowed to like traditional gender roles. UNLESS I like the more effeminate things too. I feel I’m not allowed to dislike certain shows that appeal to women and girls. I’m shamed for these things.
I don’t like this and as a result I don’t like it when people tell others what to like and not like.
I grew up in the 90s and I definitely remember the “battle of the sexes” in that era. Even as a young boy, I watched everything from Care Bears to Star Wars. But a lot of my favorite movies were Disney and about 90% of the lead characters were female. I was also an only child and characters like Ariel, Belle or Jasmine or even Cinderella were role models for me in the way I guess having a big sister would be like to anyone else. I remember watching Sailor Moon before it hit Toonami, and I used to make fun of it bc I thought it was just for girls. But a small part of me would not let me hate it or even stop watching bc I felt that same warm feeling when Usagi and friends were onscreen, like I was hanging out with an older sister or a close friend. Even tho my friends would mock it, I knew there was nothing wrong with it, and I would even find myself daydreaming about fighting to protect one of those characters, or in the case of the Sailor Scouts, I would fight alongside them; and to be honest, I don’t think there’s anything more manly for a boy to dream about than that.
Glad to see that even across the continent, we 90's kids have more in common than we thought. Super relate, especially w/ regards to kawaii things & being emasculated for liking said things. And yeah, Sailormoon wasn't my 1st Anime, but it sure was my gateway, as well. So.. "Arigato" for making this "rant." In a way, it was a nostalgic trip, too. And a welcome one at that. 👍♥️😊🇵🇭
I thought in Japan pink was a maskulin color like fire 🔥 and blue is feminen like water 💦
I very much appreciate you for making this video. I have many similar experiences to you in regards to thinking there was something wrong with me for enjoying Sailor Moon as a young boy. I grew up in an area of the USA that leaned very heavily on restrictive toxic gender roles. It was very difficult to like anything outside the status quo without severe negativity from my peers. Life was hard, but got better the more I decided to trusty myself, and share my real self with others. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Peace + Love
Speaking about side-6 when you record video about gundam?
I typically wear a lot of black and grey and dark blue, but I love pink and cute things. Did I have a phase where I didn't? Of course, that was inevitable for any kid in the US. But these days, after going to college and expanding my horizons and yeah, studying Japanese culture which started me down this path where I want my master's thesis to be a "genome sequence" of Japanese art going out of Japan by Dutch traders to the US and Mexico to see how far its influence goes, I dress in cute clothes, like suspender skirts, and keep cute plushies in my room. I grew to embrace the cute.
I remember these gendered toys. I remember absolutely hating them. I still remember when video games were a boys thing and the reaction a fellow male classmate had when he found out I liked and played FF or Medievil. He asked his dad about it and his dad labeled me as "a misguided tomboy" and that I would grow out of it. This video reminded me of that and how funny it is to me now.