This is a very interesting question to ask you guys.
What are your thoughts on “anime traps”? Anime traps are when a character in an anime shares very feminine features and appears, sounds, feminine, making everyone viewing as well as in the anime think they are a girl until you find out later on when you’re closer to that character, they are in fact not female, but a male. Same goes for a masculine looking female which would be called a “reverse trap”.
Do you think they should keep making these characters? Was there a time where you were fooled yourself? Do you like the character (if you did before) still after you found out they weren’t the gender you supposed they were? Why or why not?
@AnimeWeeklyAlso sorry I didn’t come out with a featured anime this week, I got caught uo in more important matters and I think we could all have a time off this week for New Year’s and Christmas matters, so I’ll post this following Monday.
Just wanna point out the term trap has become a transphobic slur.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but it’s genuinely used in tandem with the trans panic defense to justify the murder of trans people, usually trans women. Just wanted to point that out
I don’t really know if the trope has a different name, the anime community in general is a little sh1tty in terms of how it treats LGBTQ+ people, so most people don’t care about how damaging the term actually is
I really have no clue on what I could call this instead of the common term. So I acknowledge the information and I don’t tolerate the reason behind this name but for understanding’s sake, I’ll keep it up.
Transgender people do not exist to “trap” you into loving them. They are worthy of your love no matter the gender they are biologically. It is not the person they were born as that matters, but the person they are, the person they have become now that they have found themselves fully realized. If you really love them, you will love them no matter who they were, are, or will be. If not, they’re too good for you, and you’re niceguy, transphobic, mysogonistic trash.
If they say they’re female, they are. If they say they’re male, they are. And if you actually love them, it shouldn’t even matter.
It’s that simple.
And this is not just my opinion. It’s a basic fact.
I 100% agree with this!
But what’s the difference between a male character dressing in drag and a trans person? (In anime, I know the difference IRL lol)
I watched one anime where the line got very confusing. Like, there was a male character who was at first this female character who loved dressing prettily and stuff and captured everyone’s attention and then it came out that the character was actually male. They* (Using they because I honestly don’t know if the show wanted to show them as trans or as someone dressing in drag) faced some characters making fun of them and particularily with family members having their dresses taken away and being forced to work to get them back to show that they were “manly” enough.
It gets confusing tho because the character expresses that they want to be who they are (dressing in dresses and being feminine). Only some characters express distain for them and generally the cast/main characters are welcoming towards them and the main character even helps them be able to wear their dresses and vouches for them.
So that’s I guess where I’m confused.
This anime was: Maid Sama I believe
Yeah, now reading it back I think so too. The show was weird with that kind of stuff. Some people say it’s sexist to both genders which I can totally see but not sure where I stand on that.
But there were also jokes made about this other character who was male and who was perceived as weaker about him being a girl and even multiple scenes where they dressed him up in girl’s clothing. But then there were also seemingly genuine remarks to this character being like, “I didn’t know you were a girl, you could just tell us- we don’t judge you” that whole kind of vibe.
It was certainly interesting to watch. I do think that this particular show at the heart was trying to be more inclusive and fight typical stereotypes but they didn’t really name drop them if that makes sense. I believe this show was made in 2010 so I think that makes sense… It sucks that shows like these couldn’t actually show these issues accurately because of public opinion and all that. Or because it’s anime…
(Haku from the land of Water)
From first appearances and until he corrects Naruto I believe he was actually a she. When I found out otherwise I was in “shock.” Mostly because it was a subtle bomb and then a next sequence without letting the watchers process what happened. (you can argue if this is a trap or not, I personal don’t think it is but it’s the first I can think of).
Really? I mean anime traps in the trap you’re talking about are completely different. Traps are meant for " cross-dressing man/woman, or someone who is androgynous/feminine." Another example in anime “Cross-dressing to trick people into thinking you’re the opposite gender.” which is used a lot in the manga where a guy wants to see all the creepy men thinking they are a girl. I can link you to a few I’ve personally read (for personal reasons).
Overall, don’t think traps are bad. Especially since it doesn’t mean you’re trans or want to be trans in any way. It can be a hobbit or a fetish/kink I guess. I hate if traps are put in anime for zero reasons. and ofc I like Haku to this day. His personality has never changed and we can always make something work if I ever see him.
Agreed, but this has nothing to do with anime traps.
I personally think that the fact that they’re called traps at all is insulting with everything that the word implies. So it doesn’t matter to me if it’s in anime or real life, it’s still a terribly sad sign of how popular media views transgender people.
I’m not sure where you got these definitions, but this sounds like a description of a transgender person given by someone who doesn’t know the right language to use…
And this is everything wrong with the trope in a sentence. It perpetuates a harmful stigma that many ignorant cis people believe, and by making it a plot device or a punch line or a big twist, it trivializes it and allows these ignorant people to continue to believe their views. Making it a silly little part of a silly little story is basically telling those people that it’s harmless to think what they do, that they’re right, and that the whole situation is unimportant or funny. And it’s not.
This trope is not only ignorant and insulting, but dangerous.
So I acknowledge the information and I don’t tolerate the reason behind this name but for understanding’s sake, I’ll keep it up.