cw for discussion of sexual assault and examples of transphobia/transmedicalism
This has been on my mind for a while, but I just found out that a lot of people on the wiki have been congratulating this scene THIS YEAR, and I find that shocking. Were they watching the same scene that I was? Because this is genuinely my least favourite scene in the show. Maybe this was mildly progressive in the 90s, with the idea that Yusuke would sometimes respect trans people, and I appreciate that Togashi made an effort, (from what I know of him I do think he wanted to support trans people with this scene) but people need to stop pretending this is still progressive or at all positive. Come on guys, we can do better than this.
In this scene, specifically in the sub, Yusuke, the âââgood guyâââ, treats Miyuki like sheâs not a real woman just because sheâs trans. This isnât good representation, the only thing she does is be introduced as an antagonist, not even be competent at it, get groped on purpose twice by Yusuke, get outed as trans by Yusuke, and then get beat up and thrown around by Yusuke while he yells at her about how âyou arenât actually trans unless you gets surgeryâ (âyou canât go half wayâ) This is so ignorant on so many levels, and thereâs no opposing argument presented. Also! He calls her an âitâ through the whole scene. Nice! As for the dub, Iâm pretty sure she isnât explicitly trans, sheâs just a cross dresser. This isnât to say you canât like Miyuki, because she deserves to be supported, but I wholeheartedly disagree that she is at all well presented within the source material.
At first it seemed like, when Kuwabara said you arenât supposed to hit girls, the argument was that girls should be treated equally to guys. I was behind this, Iâm against violence of course, but if youâre punching guys in a show all about violence, you should be alright with punching girls too. Miyuki was directly standing in the way of saving Yukina, so itâs plain stupid that Kuwabara would care about her gender in that situation. However, then the argument started to focus on the fact that Miyuki is trans, and it quickly felt less like âeveryone deserves equal treatment in the name of justiceâ and felt more like âwell she has male genitals, so it doesnât count, now letâs bully her about it- also itâs ok to grope people if itâs for the sake of finding out whether theyâre trans or not, or in general actually if youâve watched the rest of Yusukeâs gross actions towards women.â People are portraying this like Yusuke is just âbeing supportive and encouraging her to get surgery done uwuâ but groping her, outing her, and beating her up while invalidating her is NOT the way to do it. I get that Yusuke isnât supposed to be a perfect role model, but seriously? This isnât cute and fun, itâs just gross, and heâs supposed to be the correct one here, heâs specifically telling her how to be a respectable person.
(oh, and I forgot about this because itâs so upsetting to me, but after Miyuki falls unconscious, Kuwabara comments that itâs âeasy to take advantage like thisâ and Iâm so, so angry. He's my favourite character, and I absolutely hated him in that scene, and it feels so ridiculously out of character that I canât even accept it. Come on, Kuwabara is better than that! Just two seconds ago he was against hitting women, oh but taking advantage of women while theyâre unconscious? A-okay nothing wrong with that! He seems to only be curious because he canât believe sheâs got male parts, but that doesnât make it at all acceptable. My blood is boiling)
Sorry this post is more serious than what I usually make, but this part of the show is a lot more harmful than people say it is, and I want more people to talk about it.
