The Angel in the House

viridian5  posts a passage here that gave me chills to read.

I've been watching a lot of anime recently, and sometimes I am horrified by the submissiveness of the female characters. It has shown me that martyrdom is a major squick of mine. Ick! Socially-mandated self-sacrifice!

But if that idea wasn't a part of me on some level, I wouldn't react so fiercely to it. And I do! I shout at the screen for the girl star of Fruits Basket to imitate other vertebrates for five minutes and stop bowing, already. I care, I feel invested in whether or not some cartoon demonstrates self-reliance or submits her need and feelings to the whim of the (admittedly cute) men in her non-existent life. It isn't as if real world people take care of you reliably when you abdicate yourself, like the animes seem to claim.

And still, I love watching those socially reprehensible colorful things. Oh well, Utena loves me.