for the future

Me:

oh i actually have an answer for this one 

sakura’s story is most interesting when read as her rejecting men from her life as a necessity - ideally in reference to lesbianism but like, ill take “strong independent woman” or w/e lol it’s still a better option. 

she starts out the series as clearly really really struggling w femininity. she does everything she can to be cute and likable and reserved - she’s a fucking ninja but she doesn’t feel like she’s allowed to show aggression

this is imo best illustrated by inner sakura - bc we can rly see all the personality she’s repressing in favor of being likable. 

here’s the important part though, she’s most worried about being likable to boys. this is of course shown w her crush on sasuke, and how she always sizes herself down to try and not annoy him. but with her attempts to impress kakashi - a male authority figure, i’d say the same applies. don’t get me wrong, i don’t think that means theres a romantic element between her and kakashi. what im referencing here is the experience for pretty much all young girls and the different pressure we tend to feel from adult men. i won’t go too much more into it rn but. if ur a girl, im sure u know what i mean lol 

she never shows this problem with ino, able to openly insult her and show her rough side. all references to femininity around ino are either 1. when theyre much younger children, and ino is supporting her in that even tho she might not meet conventional standards she’s still likable and adorable, and 2. when they’re playing up their attributes to appeal to boys. 

and overall this is really really detrimental to sakura. her part 1 character is hurt by this insecurity, and internalized misogyny is really obviously to blame imo. 

i think for this reason i like seeing her arc as breaking past that and not caring at all about the opinions of men - and this is rly relatable to me as a lesbian who’s had to work to not worry about the male gaze, and i think that extra layer gives her a lot of dimension!

obv im not a fan of rly any str8 sakura ship, but since sasusaku is the canon one, i do have an example from is specifically i wanna bring up.

i DONT like seeing sakura like this. its sad! she’s a confident rough and tumble girl and we never see her act like this in part 2 until sasuke comes back. to me this reads like he’s just opening up her insecurities again and its upsetting. :(

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