Ragatha: Victim Blamed & Victim Of The Social Hierarchy (TADC Critical)
Jax is written in a way those edgy teenagers and adults think that being a dick is cool and mysterious. The type of person that somehow manages to have a good chunk of âfriendsâ and gets away with their bullying because most people just accept thatâs just âwho he isâ. That Jax is actually struggling beneath his hard exterior therefore, he isnât deserving of the criticism he gets. It always manages to lead to the victim being blamed instead of the abuser and plays into the âforgiving your abuserâ trope just because they have a sad backstory.
In this case, Ragatha is being victim blamed because, not only due to misogyny, but genuine nice people often end up lower on the social hierarchy and taken advantage of emotionally. Ragatha is trying to be civil and has a fawn response but it comes off as âcringeyâ and thatâs far more egregious in society than being an actual abuser. It doesnât help that being nice in spite of not liking someone, is seen as manipulative when it isnât manipulative at all.
But hey, at least the abuser is âbrutally honestâ and is âself-awareâ they treat others like shit and thatâs more âvirtuousâ than some âfake, manipulative, annoying, cringey, bitchâ. Itâs why the fandom/jax dick suckers wholeheartedly agreed with him when he called Ragatha manipulative. The same people who shit on Ragatha, will also claim that sheâs focusing too much on herself, when in fact, thatâs not true at all. She focuses on how her actions and words affect others yet the abuser aka Jax is the truly selfish one but other people wonât call him out on it because that will make them a victim of his abuse and put lower on the societal hierarchy .
Jax gets a âpassâ because society has accepted that his abusive behavior is just âwho he isâ and being male, heâs forgiven even more because itâs chalked up to just how males are. His abusive behavior is framed as not caring about what others think. Sure, he may act like he doesnât care but heâs leaning so hard into the asshole role that it subconsciously, gives him an excuse to be one and everyone else around him just accepts it because he accepts it. How is that not more selfish than Ragatha? Ragatha wants to avoid conflict but Jax is purposely creating conflict. Jax uses the excuse that his victims are annoying and just like in real life, society will defend the abuser because, again, being mildly annoying is a âgreater crimeâ than actual harm being done in societyâs eyes.
Yes, misogyny is the larger role in why Ragatha is treated the way she is in the fandom but I wanted to focus more on the other, underlying themes that are hardly discussed. Look at Gangle too. Sheâs an anime nerd trope and if youâre familiar with lolcow and/or cringe culture, itâs clear to see why no one in the fandom cares about Gangle being abused by Jax because sheâs âcringierâ than Jax.
Side note, this isnât meant to generalize the fandom as a whole nor is it a specific fandom issue. Iâm just noticing like aâŚpattern (?) of why certain people like certain characters and how that sheds light on societyâs biases and the hierarchal thinking. Itâs hard to put it into proper wording that conveys my point. My own biases are at play here, because I relate to Ragatha and Gangle. Of course, a good chunk of people wonât like them because people like me and other people who are similar, often have similar experiences of how the audience treats and sees Ragatha and Gangle. People without the fawn response, often do not like people who struggle with fawn response and/or who are more kindhearted and genuine because itâs seen as a weakness. Theyâre often painted as unnecessarily and secretly evil, attention seeking, or manipulative. Unlike aggressiveness and bullying, is seen as a strength and almost praised because itâs better to be on the abuserâs good side than be a victim and call out their bad behavior.
