I think the reason why this is hitting me so hard is that, from all the accounts I have heard, based on the research that has been done, this is the lived experiences of trans women. This is what transmisogynistic violence looks like. And the fact that it resulted in Chihiro's death is not exaggeration either. This was the actual text of the game barely disguised as ""complexes"" that Chihiro and Mondo have about weakness and strength.
And to think about all the people who were (and probably still are) chomping at the bit to use he/him pronouns for Chihiro. They can't help themselves. For over a decade.
"The story is actually about toxic masculinity." For Mondo yeah, but for Chihiro, it is about the driving force behind toxic masculinity, misogyny (and, yes, transmisogyny more specifically but I am zooming out before I zoom in).
Reading Chihiro as if she were "actually just a boy" removes the kicker from all of this, the fact that every character spends their whole time knowing her as a girl. That if this story where solely about toxic masculinity, why not have Chihiro be an "obviously cis" man who went by he/him the entire time rather than an assumed-cis woman?
Because the story needed you to first project society's misogyny onto Chihiro. You needed to see her as a weak little girl and the boys in the story needed to reinforce to her that girls were weak inherently.
You need to see her be subconsciously told that this feminine identity that she has found comfort in is Wrong. That she will always be weak if she gives in to womanhood. That she has to break free of this feminine weakness weighing her down and work with a man who will show her how to be a Correct and Strong Man.
You need to see her turn down canonically the strongest character in the series, a cis woman, for training help because what she really needs to help her is a strong man. Because a woman cannot help her break free of this particular weakness, only a man can.
And because the crucial part of Mondo's reaction to Chihiro coming out to him and expressing a desire to become stronger, from Mondo's point of view, it wasn't just a "weak man", it was a "failed man". This is transmisogyny, plain and simple. This is a story about toxic masculinity and transmisogyny.
Like when you are arguing that "Chihiro was actually a boy ☝️🤓 and you are doing to HIM what society did to HIM by forcing labels on HIM" think about why you are so vehemently championing the reading of the story that ends up upholding the age-old lie that "girl=weak/boy=strong". Transmisogynists really do just continue to loop right back around to like Misogyny 101.
Im running out of steam to write this rant it is 5 am so I'll just wrap it up by saying I'm sorry to all of the trans women who enjoyed this media that have been saying this for years just for people to talk over you and tell you that something that is clearly transmisogynistic violence is just "toxic masculinity". Im sorry to all of the transfems who have been victims at the hands of transmisogynistic violence whose lived experiences are taken less seriously than a video game character's.
