Girls on Display, Boys Being Brave in the World of Bakugan
I’ll continue my discussion of Bakugan Battle Brawlers by looking at how these highly stereotyped characters are presented in the show.
The female characters participate in battles and show a competitive spirit, but in the episodes I watched the majority of the battles were fought by the boys. In one show, where “backup” was called for, the vast majority of “brawlers” who answered the call were male. The one who fought the most in this battle was also male.
When not battling, which seems to be most of the time, the girls contribute little. With their high-pitched voices and revealing outfits, it is hard to take them seriously, especially compared to the smart, strategic thinkers Shun and Marucho. The girls seem to be more eye candy than “sisters-in-arms” against the evildoers; included more for their looks than their brains. To wit, when Marucho makes a statement about their progress against the bad guys in one episode, Julie has to ask him what he means.
What is more troubling is the way girls are put on display. In one of the shows I watched, I saw a close-up of Runo’s upper thighs, where they met her very short skirt. Other episodes showed Marucho standing beside Julie, or at least parts of her – the viewer does not see her face, just her breasts, bare midriff and short shorts. During a crowd scene in another episode, a girl walks by in a micro-mini kilt and knee socks, and pauses for the “camera” just long enough to show her legs and skirt, and nothing else about her. When throwing her Bakugan in a battle against Dan, Julie does a high leg kick, throws her head back and arches her back, while Dan uses a basic overhand throw like a baseball pitcher.
The males of Bakugan are mixed. The character of Joe, whom I saw in a few episodes, is not mentioned on the Website. He seems less the aggressive alpha-male type and appears to add some balance. But Dan is the star. He comes off as angry and aggressive, and he gets headaches from thinking too much. He does have a soft side though, apparent when he returns home to his mother. Shun, who declares that he doesn’t need anyone, is shown crying at the memory of his dying mother, betraying a sensitivity that is inspired, like Dan’s, by his relationship with his mom.
It is easy to read too much into these mother/son scenes. The subtext would not be understood by most young viewers, but the message here seems, at the very least, to reinforce the mother as nurturer role. The boys are tough and aggressive in battle, but when they need an escape from the pressures of saving the world, they seek emotional support in the arms of Mom. Nothing wrong with that, but it does perpetuate the stereotypes of mothers being a safe home base for their wandering, stoic and emotionally disconnected sons.
While the characters in Bakugan are textbook examples of the hypersexualized female and stereotypical strong and competitive male, there is at least one other show that matches it in its poor portrayal of gender.
© Crystal Smith, 2009
