(no subject)

[elle_white]

 I know this is far from the worst thing TV Tropes has done, but the emergence of the “Improbably Female Cast” irritates the hell out of me. What was once I trope that merely denoted there was a large cast of female characters, (Pink Bishoujo Ghetto) was changed to point out the existence of such a cast is improbable. These include bishoujo and magical  girl manga/anime. These genres are supposed to focus on the female characters!

If all the chosen magical warriors are women in a magical girl show, that’s to be expected. I know they’re looking at it from a social/historical perspective; in society, you would rarely have large groups of women fighting. But the point of the genre is to give women the spotlight. They are shows for girls that focus on girls being powerful in their own right. 

 Even My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was accused of having an improbably female cast. But it’s target audience is young girls. Lauren Faust wanted to show relationships between different kinds of girls. She wanted to convey positive messages to girls about themselves. And so she used a popular, girl aimed franchise that was always about the female characters. 

These are works of fiction that are intended to empower girls in a society that traditionally overlooks or dis-empowers them. Do you really need to dedicate a whole page to the implausibility of their existence? 

 I think it’s very telling that this trope can be defined by “men being present in the setting, but not given screen time or importance  to the story. ” They’ve all but said just having women dominate a show is something dubious. Interestingly, there’s no equivalent for when men dominate the cast, and women are present, but don’t get to have screen time or impact the plot.