This is how you write a strong female character

The new version of Sailor Moon in the updated version of the show Sailor Moon crystal continues to impress me. I will always love the old anime but it had a lot of flaws. It was so repetitive. Sailor Moon always had to be told when to transform, when to attack, and after a couple of seasons it got a bit old because you would think she would have matured and gotten a little braver. But at the same time it was her cry-baby-ness that made her so loveable and realistic because if I was in her shoes I might burst into tears if someone attacked me with magic powers too.

A couple of years back when they announced the new anime they said it would follow the manga and be more for adults and they were not kidding. Sailor Moon feels and acts more mature and it's great. Instead of wailing and waiting to be rescued she acts like a real leader and charges into battle and tells Tuxedo Mask who has no powers to stay out of the way so he does not get hurt. She doesn't always make all the right decisions and still needs recusing every now and then but that's okay. It wouldn't be Sailor Moon if Tuxedo Mask did not make an entrance at least once an episode.

Just because Sailor Moon does need to be rescued sometimes doesn't make her a strong female character. It would be unrealistic if she never got into trouble. But for the most part she is a thousand times more capable than she was in the old anime. Tuxedo Mask gives her emotional (and sometimes physical) support. He is happy to stand on the sidelines and let her take charge most of the time. When he does jump in it is a big moment because he has no powers. He is troubled by that. He feels like he should be able to do more but knows that the girls are more powerful than him so it would be better to let them lead. This is what makes Sailor Moon such a good show for little girls and Sailor Moon such a good role model. She charges into battle (but) will also accept help when she needs it. Tuxedo Mask is a good role model too. He doesn't try to take charge because he is a man. He lets the girls lead and only steps in when the situation gets desperate. It's brave of him to do that as a man without any powers.

The thing I liked the most about the last episode was when Sailor Moon kissed Tuxedo Mask. Yes she kissed him. The old Usagi wouldn't have done that. She would have been too shy and too nervous. When Sailor Moon kissed Tuxedo Mask it was an amazing moment to see her be so bold, she went in and took that kiss, and then ran off to fight and told him to stay out of harm. Gender stereotypes were reversed. In that moment she was acting like the traditional male and Tuxedo was the female.

It was an awesome moment that was ruined by her immediately needing help. LOL. Poor Sailor Moon. Points for effort. I'm not sure if your old self would've been that ballsy in season one. Maybe season five.

IT CAME FROM AMAZON

Ahhh Amazon. You can find so many weird and wonderful things on that website. From hilarious joke reviews of products to things that make me want to shriek in horror .

I stumbled across a book recently that made me groan. Behold! Mummy laid an egg!

I was just like...what? really? an egg? Oh my god. I had a peek inside the book and it has cutesy kid drawn images of naked men and women and explains how babies are made by saying women have "eggs" inside them and men have "seeds" in a "seed pod"

Just...kill me now. I know this book is supposed to be tongue in cheek but dear GOD would it confuse kids. You can't just say "Mummy laid an egg" and that women have eggs inside them and then just leave it at that because kids are immediately going to think "What...like a chicken egg?" and don't even get me started on the seed pods...ugh.

Why do we continue to have such a weird attitude when it comes to being honest to children about how our bodies work? Penis. Vagina. Testicles. It's not that hard to use the proper terms, people. Women do not lay eggs. We have babies. And our eggs are smaller than the head of a pin. Lets stop confusing children with dancing round the bush and just tell it to them straight for the love of God.

A Beautifully Flawed Character

Star Trek Voyager has been one of my favourite TV shows since I was in high school. I like the show so much I even named my daughter after one of the characters! One of the things I have always liked about the show is how realistic some of the characters are. In particular B'elanna Torres.

Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space Nine both had a lot of strong female characters. Captain Janeway, Seven of Nine, Kira, Jadzia and Ezri were all wonderfully written. But there has always been something special about B'elanna. B'elanna reminds me a bit of myself. I''m not as smart as her but she is terribly insecure of herself and because of her low confidence can sometimes lash out at others in anger. B'elanna is wonderfully flawed but she also grows as the series progresses and becomes more mature and a more loyal officer.

There's a lot about her that I don't like. She's racist towards Cardassians which I do understand considering that she was fighting against them before she joined the ship. What bugs me is how she thinks every single one of them are cold blooded killers. You can't judge an entire race over the actions of the military and government. That is something that Kira learns in Deep Space Nine.

And then there's how she treats Seven of Nine. When Seven first joins the ship B'elanna asks her if she feels guilty for the millions of lives that she helped to destroy. She acts like Seven went up to the Borg recruitment office and decided to become a drone. Seven is a victim of the Borg who was horribly assimilated by them in front of her parents and then was raised by the Borg and forced to do all of those things because she was a mindless drone. And yet B'elanna thinks she should feel guilty over what she did. Seven has nothing to feel guilty about. B'elanna is a horrible person for suggesting otherwise.

B'elanna has many different sides to her. She can be a bitch and a racist but that makes her realistic because none of us are perfect. She is still likeable despite her bad attitude and temper. She is a good example of how to write a beautifully flawed character. No one is perfect. We are all like B'elanna sometimes. A little bit bitchy and a little bit rude.

The differences between Outlander and Game of Thrones

I haven't read Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" books yet but my Mum has been a fan of them for years so I've known about them for a while. Years ago when my Mum first got into them she would tell me how talented Diana was and how detailed all of the description and research was in her books. I would've read them years ago but I hate hauling around giant books but I recently bought the first one on e-book so I have no excuse not to read it now. Outlander was made into a TV show this year and it's now one of my most favourite TV shows alongside Nurse Jackie, Adventure Time, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

One thing that sets Outlander apart from several of those other shows is that you get the impression that this show was made for women. I love Game of Thrones (both the books and the show) but one of the things that bugs me about the show is how most of the women are just sexy props who walk around and show off their tits, the sex scenes are over the top, most of the women on screen are whores, and the few who are not just on screen to have sex with a man are usually scheming, horrible people (but so are most of the men...)

Game of Thrones is terrific but the number of bouncing tits in each episode gets on my nerves. Women are prizes to be won, objects to be traded, and sex is both something that can be bought, gifted, and used as a weapon. Game of Thrones has a lot of both male and female fans but sometimes the show feels like it is made for men and that is why there are so many butts and boobs in it.

Outlander has a lot of sex in it as well but it is softer, gentler, and more intimate. Claire is a strong willed intelligent woman who enjoys having sex with her husband Frank and later on with her second husband Jamie. Claire is unafraid to ask for sex and it is sexy without being silly, no one bounces up and down comically, and there isn't close ups of her butt and boobs.

Outlander feels like it was made for women and it is really refreshing to have a show that treats women as human beings and not just as pretty toys to be passed around and squeezed and pinched.

I really like Tuxedo Mask in the new Sailor Moon anime

Tuxedo Mask was a bit of a joke in the old Sailor Moon anime. He would throw a rose, say some stupid line that would make you cringe, and then either stand back and do nothing or sweep in and rescue Sailor Moon who spent four out of five seasons being hopeless. In the new anime he's a lot more mature and closer to his manga counterpart. He's in highschool so he's closer in age to Usagi for a start. He knows he is Tuxedo Mask and he figures out who Usagi is ages before she discovers who he is. I just watched the latest episode and the writers are really continuing to write him very good. He tells Sailor Moon in the episode that he is not powerful like them and does not have special abilities. She tells him that she is not powerful either and cannot summon fire, mist, or lightning. She feels inferior next to her comrades. He tells her she has the ability to make them smile and to encourage them to strive to achieve their best which makes her a good leader. He encourages Sailor Moon to transform and rescue her friends while he stands back and watches. I like how he did not attempt to take control or save them from Beryl. He let Sailor Moon do it herself. I also really like how Sailor Moon seems a lot more confident, intelligent, and braver in this version of the anime. Her antics got annoying in the old anime sometimes. After a while you just wanted to slap her and tell her to grow up. Another thing I am loving about this anime is how much more realistic the relationship between her and Tuxedo Mask feels. In the old anime their relationship sometimes felt a little...strained. Usagi was super into him but sometimes he acted like he wasn't so much into her which left you wondering if he was only with her because he felt considering their history that he had no choice? I mean think about it. You meet your unborn daughter from the future. Would YOU break up with your girlfriend and erase the future that your unborn child lives in? They have no choice but to stay together. In the latest episode of Crystal Usagi wakes up in Tuxedo Mask's bed and she sees him in his tuxedo and realizes who he is. It is just...so...sexy. Waking up in his bed. This Sailor Moon really is more mature than the original anime was and I am loving it. I will always have a soft spot for the old anime but it is just so awesome to see Usagi and Tuxedo Mask falling for each other before they find out about their past. It makes it more believable. I can't wait until the next episode!

Sex objects are okay...just tone them down a bit

Some people think that when people complain about sex objects in fiction that they don't want women or men to be shown as sex objects at all. No, not at all. Sex sells. It would just be nice if when people put sex into fiction that the characters are not made so...unrealistic. It's not just women in comics and video games that have to put up with being made into hyper-sex goddesses. Male characters also go through the same treatment. Look at this picture of a Batman figurine....

How silly does he look? Does he have to look that muscled? Yeah, I know, he wears a rubber suit that bulks him up at bit, but still. He looks unrealistic and dumb. When I say men and women should be shown with realistic bodies I don't mean they should all be a bit chubby round the middle. No. You could start with giving big breasted women clothing that fits and actually looks like it might be wearable in real life and actually covers their body and gives their breasts support. A woman shouldn't have to have her tits out on display to be "sexy" I'm not saying women should all wear pants suits or something. No. Just something that doesn't look so tight if she bent over it would split open.

As for men...lets tone back the muscles a bit to something a bit more realistic that a regular bloke can achieve in a gym. There's a reason why female characters are mostly big breasted and beautiful and that's because at the heart of every story you will most likely find a beautiful woman who is being sought after by a couple of men because we still treat women like property or prizes. With men we put a lot of importance on them being manly, strong, and brave so you have characters like Batman who looks like he could probably knock a tree over with a single punch. Both cliches are annoying and sexist and it's time companies and writers began to think outside of the box and stopped lowering themselves to these tired old stereotypes.

Why is it when women are made into sex objects they look so...stupid?

I've been playing Hyrule Warriors on Wii U for about a week now and I've been enjoying it. I was a bit hesitant to buy it at first because I was unsure if I would enjoy it but it's been a pleasant surprise. It's enjoyable (but slightly repetitive) and difficult enough without being too hard I want to give up on it. One thing that annoys about it is this person....

This is the baddie of the game. Her name is Cia. Just...look at her. Look at those breasts. You can tell she was probably designed by a man. Her poor back. And just think of the trouble she has shopping for bras. Just look at the poor woman. She can't even find a sexy evil witch outfit that fits properly. I like to have my ladies supported not hanging out like that. One of the things I've always liked about Nintendo games is that the women in them (and they're aren't many) have never looked like her. The female characters in Nintendo games have always been very children friendly. Peach is a terrible character. She's more of a plot device than a well fleshed out character. She exists to be kidnapped. She's a terrible cliche, unoriginal, and boring. Rosalina, the princess from the Galaxy games, is cooler. She doesn't get kidnapped and controls the little Star creatures. She helps Mario and is not just a victim. Rosalina and Peach may be boring and background decoration but at least they don't prance around in their underwear and have breasts bigger than their heads.

Now look at the character of Samus...

This is one of her outfits in the upcoming Smash Brothers Wii U game. Why is she fighting in her underwear? SIGH. What's stupid about her fighting in her underwear is Samus usually wears a suit of high tech armor. If you had a robot suit that fired weapons why would you ditch that and fight in your knickers? I don't have a problem with women being sex objects from time to time. But why oh why do they have to be so unrealistic looking? I mean look at Cia. What's with the breasts? The female characters in the Legend of Zelda universe are some of the better female Nintendo characters. Unlike Peach Zelda has magic powers, can fire a bow and fight with a sword, and ride a horse. She still gets kidnapped a lot but most games usually end with her joining Link and helping him to defend the villain. Without Zelda Link would not be able to win.

And then there are characters like Impa. Look at her.

This is her in Hyrule warriors. How cool does she look? The thing I like about her appearance is she isn't unrealistic looking (although the size of her sword is). She hasn't got super thin high legs, an impossible waist, giant breasts and a huge butt. Oh and her outfit doesn't highlight her boobs and butt and actually covers her body. Why is it so hard to portray realistic women as sex objects? Why does Cia's breasts have to be so stupidly big? And why does so much attention have to be on her breasts? I think it's laziness. It's just the opposite end of the spectrum from Peach and Rosalina. One of the things I like about the Legend of Zelda is how the women in it are powerful, strong, but not defined by their looks. With Zelda it's her strength and power and with Impa it's with her skills as a warrior and loyalty to the princess.