Is Akane a tomboy?

Discuss the Ranma series in this forum.

What do you say?

Poll ended at Sun Aug 04, 2013 1:45 pm

She's a tomboy, alright.
7
70%
Whatever she is, it isn't a tomboy.
3
30%
I don't know/I don't care.
0
No votes
 
Total votes : 10

Re: Is Akane a tomboy?

Postby Noy Telinú » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:14 pm

The difference for martial arts is the why.

Akane does it because she likes it, tries to get better for reasons other than protecting herself, and when she got super strong, she abused the hell out of it. That sounds more tomboy than girly girl. Bra from DBz was girly. She had super powers, but didn't try to use them or get better other than convenience sake. Pan was a tomboy though.

Same as Akane. She's a sporting girl. Remember, Akane was on the volleyball team, snuck in to face Kuno in kendo, is the heiress for the Tendos, and likes getting her hands dirty. What does she do on her free time? Running in the morning, practicing after school, joins teams and lift weights! SHE LIFTS WEIGHTS!

She's trying to be more feminine for Tofu and then later Ranma (she doesn't admit it). Heck, the Kuno thing is probally because she's a tomboy.

There's a problem? Use fists! Hit it until its solved. She rallied the girls against perverts, deals with things by meddling physically.

Just because she has her moments as being all esfj ish doesn't make her a girly girl. It's not like she had to train either. She likes it just as much as Ranma. Ranma just had it to the extreme due to upbringing and isn't normal. Admit it, there is a grain of truth in Ranma having no life outside of Martial arts. Akane DOES. She has friends. Really we are only having this conversation because she's overshadowed by awesome so bad.
"Oh no! What haz happened? As you cats would say." Akane asked, horrified.

"Cats do not speak that way!" Luna yelled.

"Normal sucks."-Noy Telinú
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Re: Is Akane a tomboy?

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Sat Apr 20, 2013 9:59 am

Wow, for someone who's into not having a clear identity (like sex/gender and personality), you're certainly being hypocritical on this issue. Not once but twice, in your last post alone, your measurement is on a black versus white scale, tomboy versus girly girl. And Akane being a girly girl was never an issue to begin with. Where's the grey area?

Anyway, most of your arguments are rather flawed, and still have little or nothing to do with someone being a tomboy:

Noy Telinú wrote:The difference for martial arts is the why.

Akane does it because she likes it, tries to get better for reasons other than protecting herself, and when she got super strong, she abused the hell out of it. That sounds more tomboy than girly girl. Bra from DBz was girly. She had super powers, but didn't try to use them or get better other than convenience sake. Pan was a tomboy though.

How much someone likes martial arts isn't really indicative of someone being a tomboy, as it would still depend on the reason and time spent, and probably in addition to other activities and behaviors even then.

Abusing one's strength doesn't make someone a tomboy, though I would argue whether Akane abused her strength at all. She hardly went out of her way to use it until the circumstances called for it. For instance, Ranma instigated the arm-wrestling, and she was already at odds with Shampoo. Having and liking super strength doesn't make someone a tomboy either, and how many girls (in general) would honestly despair at being super strong without bulging with muscles, if it wasn't impractical/inconvenient to them in some way? Now, had Akane been the type to go around and find a reason/excuse to use her super strength, then I'd say you're nearer to the right track in regard to having evidence of her being tomboyish, but she didn't. She didn't do that when she got that battle dougi, either.

Same as Akane. She's a sporting girl. Remember, Akane was on the volleyball team, snuck in to face Kuno in kendo, is the heiress for the Tendos, and likes getting her hands dirty. What does she do on her free time? Running in the morning, practicing after school, joins teams and lift weights! SHE LIFTS WEIGHTS!

We've been over the sports aspect of this, and she's not very much into sports. Aside from her martial arts, she's hardly ever seen playing sports because it was her own idea. She doesn't seem to be in any clubs, and for all we know that one time she played volleyball had been in response to a request (like with the rhythmic gymnastics match, something we know that she had no prior experience with), not because she plays volleyball or even likes it. I don't see how secretly facing Kuno in kendo has anything to do with the argument, or the assumption about her being the/an heiress (because any three of the girls could have married Ranma and carried on the training center/dojo). Also, she doesn't like to get her hands dirty, she just doesn't have much qualms about getting them dirty if the circumstances call for it.

And are you seriously arguing that jogging and lifting weights is tomboyish? Seriously? What, is the only way a girl is supposed to get some exercise is by doing chores around the house? Are they're supposed to have more fat than muscle? I mean, come on. And practicing martial arts? Really? Haven't you ever heard of using it or losing it? You don't just learn something and expect to maintain the same level of proficiency without some form of practice, and in regard to martial arts that includes being in the kind of shape that facilitates the required skill.

Also, she does a lot of other things in her spare time, and I'd argue she does a lot more of those than what you mentioned. She spends time with friends (sometimes staying over someone's house, or even going on a trip), runs errands, goes shopping (possibly with friends or family), does her homework, watches TV, tries to improve any one of various stereotypically feminine skills, lounges around, et cetera.

She's trying to be more feminine for Tofu and then later Ranma (she doesn't admit it). Heck, the Kuno thing is probally because she's a tomboy.

She would be trying to be more feminine even if Tofu and Ranma weren't in the equation, but -- again -- I don't see how trying to be feminine means that someone is a tomboy; the logic is simply nonsensical. Again, there is -- and should be -- a grey area to consider, and failing to be on the feminine side (to begin with or not) doesn't mean that they have to fall into the tomboyish side.

The "Kuno thing" likely has nothing to do with her being a tomboy. I mean, when does he ever imagine either of his love interests doing something tomboyish in his fantasies? And just because he issued that challenge to date her, we shouldn't assume that it was because she is a tomboy; being the kind of person he is, there's no telling why he would have done it, as it could possibly be due to another one of his interests/obsessions: kendo.

There's a problem? Use fists! Hit it until its solved. She rallied the girls against perverts, deals with things by meddling physically.

Gag antics aside, what else do you expect? It's not like she never tries to approach anything with words, but how often does that work out? And there are simply too many occasions where there's no choice but to be physical about it.

And why in the world would rallying other girls against perverts be tomboyish? I'd think that's rather feminine, because it's a rather serious issue for girls. I'd be very disgusted with Akane's character if she didn't care about girls being peeped at and molested, but she empathizes with them because she's also a girl. And in a situation where a girl's modesty is at stake, who would be more appropriate to rally them without giving up their freedom to use the locker room, and would be more reassuring because they would be among them? A guy? Yeah, right.

And remember, Akane's hardly ever the only girl who's gotten physical in response to a pervert. Are they tomboys, too?

Just because she has her moments as being all esfj ish doesn't make her a girly girl. It's not like she had to train either. She likes it just as much as Ranma. Ranma just had it to the extreme due to upbringing and isn't normal. Admit it, there is a grain of truth in Ranma having no life outside of Martial arts. Akane DOES. She has friends. Really we are only having this conversation because she's overshadowed by awesome so bad.

Trying to understand the logic of that is going to give me a headache, so I'm not going to bother with it all. What I will address is the claim that Ranma doesn't have a life outside of martial arts. Not only has he gone to school, but he goes to school when it's no longer mandatory to. We've seen him hanging out with his peers, participating in festivals, playing video games, reading books, and doing plenty of other mundane things. It can't be helped that the plot involves martial arts and such so often, but just because it's highlighted doesn't mean that the things that aren't don't happen, or happen more frequently outside of what's relevant in the plot.

Also, I have no idea how being "overshadowed by awesome" has anything to do with anything. What, only tomboys can be competitive or desire to be the best at what they do? Come on.
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Re: Is Akane a tomboy?

Postby Noy Telinú » Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:06 pm

Yeaaaahhhh that came out wrong. :?

Stupid emotions getting in the way... I can't describe this intuition I have on it, so I had a knee jerk response.

Bottom line I see her as a tomboy. Period. Not posting anymore in this thread because I just can't get the words right and I make myself and everyone look bad.
"Oh no! What haz happened? As you cats would say." Akane asked, horrified.

"Cats do not speak that way!" Luna yelled.

"Normal sucks."-Noy Telinú
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Re: Is Akane a tomboy?

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Mon May 20, 2013 6:30 pm

If you think she's a tomboy, that's fine. I see no problem with that, because everyone is entitled to their opinion. Trying to present and/or argue it as a matter of fact, on the other hand... yeah.

On a related note, on the subject of what makes someone a tomboy, I asked my sister if she considered herself to be one or not and she said that she did. The reason she gave: she's very casual about what she wears, and isn't interested in dressing up or looking feminine outside of necessity. That's a rather narrow way of looking at it, but I can't say that I'm surprised by her answer. It's just one of several common perspectives on the matter, if we're not strictly basing it off of a dictionary's definition of the term.
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Re: Is Akane a tomboy?

Postby Spica75 » Mon May 20, 2013 9:27 pm

Crescent Pulsar S wrote:If you think she's a tomboy, that's fine. I see no problem with that, because everyone is entitled to their opinion. Trying to present and/or argue it as a matter of fact, on the other hand... yeah.

On a related note, on the subject of what makes someone a tomboy, I asked my sister if she considered herself to be one or not and she said that she did. The reason she gave: she's very casual about what she wears, and isn't interested in dressing up or looking feminine outside of necessity. That's a rather narrow way of looking at it, but I can't say that I'm surprised by her answer. It's just one of several common perspectives on the matter, if we're not strictly basing it off of a dictionary's definition of the term.

Narrow but common yeah. And at least reasonably valid. And Akane certainly doesn´t qualify with that definition.
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