Blogpost 8: The Powerpuff Girls: Patriarchal Contradiction

When I was a kid, I stumbled across this unfamiliar TV show called "The Powerpuff Girls". Out of innocence and led by my curiosity, I started watching this show, and even to an extent of making it as my after-school habit on a precise daily basis. Later on, I find it weird since I was a boy and I was watching a supposedly "girly" cartoon show. Compared to my old time favorites, this show gave me a lot of apprehension towards the vague, yet distinct way of portraying a unfamiliar scenario, wherein Prof. Utonium's attempt to create perfect little girls accidentally includes "Chemical X", resulting in take-charge red-head Blossom, blonde sweety-pie Bubbles and ready-to-fight brunette Buttercup. Three flying, super-strong, karate-chopping girls with the occasional heat vision race into action to save the city of Townsville from all sorts of crimes and creatures. What can be weird or special about this TV show? If you look closer, you'll find out what it's all about and to other people's comprehension about this show, it expresses a certain idea underneath it's girl portrayals.

As I've closely contemplate upon the show, I noticed that it manifests a certain gender message- that women are better than men. The fact that a bunch of little girls possessing great amount of superpowers is uncommon. Usually, it's men who take up this kind of role, being a superhero and saving the day. But in this particular TV show, it pushes the idea of "girl power" and goes beyond rational expectations. The fact that they are just young (not even adolescent) girls already possessing that much power, being able to take over a bunch of crazy dudes and mad villains and giant creatures, is already exaggerating. It is as if the show puts so much stress on this "girl power".

Women are better than men. At least, that's what I've observed in the whole entire show. All of the other male characters, like Townsville's mayor who is a man, presented short in stature and totally inept, almost as tall as the three Powerpuff girls. This representation is totally sexist and feminist by nature. I mean, the creator can just present a mayor as a normal looking guy, but instead, the creator presented it as if they're just equal, or even inferior among the Powerpuff girls. 

Not to mention the mayor presented as somehow stubborn in handling Townsville as if he can't handle his own shit. Whenever a villain or a giant creature attacks townsville, there is no police action whatsoever presented in the show, which clearly represents that the mayor is weak with his authority, that he has to always call out the Powerpuff girls to do the necessary actions for him and for Townsville- Propagating that these girls are better than the mayor, thus, women being better than men Politically.

Every villain in Townsville is a variety of male cast that are somewhat deranged by nature. The only relevant yet contradicting nature in the show, that also depicts so much feminism, is the supposedly "biological" brother of the Powerpuff girls, created also by Prof. Utonium, who is Mojo-Jojo- an ape with a big head of brain. By his big brain, Mojo-Jojo is a manifestation of a successful man. Yet somehow, the girls always defeat him in so many levels and him always taking the beating. A common conceived idea of Feminism.

An article about Feminism entitled How Feminism Hurt Men, by Micah Murray, states that feminism elevates women at the expense of men, that its agenda to validate women emasculates us guys. For men, the rise of feminism has relegated us to second-class status. Inequality and discrimination have become part of our everyday lives. That being said, it's true how Feminism directly attacks the Patriarchal stands of men in general.

Patriarchy. A form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority in the family, clan, or tribe and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to the father's clan. It seems that this show does so much to prove that woman are indeed better than men.This social organization is present, as is observed. The retaliation of women, or at least the TV show's creator has been out of hand

and is way too out of context to actually present it to younger audiences. As they gain the notion of women being better than men. Presented by the existing physical combats between the Powerpuff girls against an all male set of villains, eventually these girls becoming the victors, is highly manipulative in the young minds of the children, and degrading in young male children's gender perspectives as well.

Men and Women are equal. Created equally, as the bible suggests. But there are just certain points in life wherein male are considered better, particular fields in this world where men can do better than most female. Of course, women can also outshine men over several fields in life. But in reality, men are biologically programmed to be stronger than female. That's is why the essence of Patriarchy is present. But by giving so much stress to the issue of women out-competing men, presenting it in blunt details are just rude and degrading. The Powerpuff Girls will always be for entertaining purposes, whatever it's audience may be. But in a deeper comprehension, it's viewed as unethically improper as it expressing so much post-modern paradox, that women are becoming more powerful than men, which is just totally argumentative.