Lauvil's manga / #Misogyny(13)

Short review: This was pretty bad. Can't recommend it. Long review (contains spoilers): Ch 1: Girl is a bitch who goes out with multiple guys at a time and views her bf as a pet. Guy thinks being lonely justifies him trying to rape her. Ofc she forgives him anyway. Sigh... Ch. 2: Guy is a sadistic prick who does whatever he wants to the girl without considering her feelings or listening to her protests. Girl apparently doesn't care, when it comes down to it, as long as she gets to be his gf. Ch. 3: Same couple as before. Wasn't too bad. At least their play was consensual this time. Ch. 4: High school girl x teacher. Teacher apparently thinks it's completely okay to get sexually involved with his students (as he's now done it twice) as long as he doesn't get caught. He also seems to have a sadistic streak and no problem playing with the girl's heart and body. Girl is apparently OK with all of this, she even instigates and encourages it. Sigh... Ch. 5: About a couple who has sex for the first time in a while. It was okay, but pretty bland. Ch. 6: Girl gets mad at her bf for watching porn. Then they have makeup sex, but she still doesn't want him to watch porn. Like, chill out, sis. Ch. 7: Bastard playboy does it with a lot of different girls where his crush can see them, instead of just confessing to her. Girl is just...doing nothing about the situation, not even when he pushes her to have sex with him...

God. I don't even know where to start my complaints about this story... I certainly hope that the author intends to adress the gender equality issue they created in this world, otherwise: why the fuck make it that way in the first place? I really don't get why it's become a trope to make stories in a setting with rampant misogyny, when the author has no intention of addressing it. It's just a backdrop to make the reader sympathise with the female lead's pain and anger, but otherwise it serves no greater purpose. She doesn't change anything or inspire anyone else to change it. All she shows the reader is that it's nice to be the exception in that kind of world. But she still needs a man to "allow" her to be respected and happy. And for that to happen, you need to be different from "other girls." You need to be "special" to "deserve" being treated fairly. It's not exactly inspiring and it gets me angry every time I read the trope. Aside from that, all I'm reading here is that a woman got married to a man because her parents decided it. Because of that, she did not trust her husband and thus didn't enjoy sex with him. This caused him to be disinterested in her and so he solely focused on satisfying his own desires with no regard to hers. This only deepened the rift between them until he eventually tired of her. Then finally his interest was re-awakened when she displayed a mind of her own and a desire to take the reins to satisfy herself, before circumstances would again remove that option. But rather than allow her some freedom momentarily he thought it fair play to let her have the illusion of freedom and power, while he was actually manipulating it all behind the scenes. We're only 7 chapters in, so there is still the possibility of the webtoon averting expectations and giving the mc and the women of the story a liberating plot, but I highly doubt it. If it lives up to expectations, all we'll get is a "happy" ending for the mc, while any other female character fend for their own. And by happy ending, I mean an ending where she is still 100% controlled by her husband and societal norms, but at least now he loves her.

Dropped. I just can't with those plots where the premise is "poor female has to sleep with a guy to not have her secret exposed/get or keep he job/have a place to live/etc. It's cliché, mysogonistic and rape. And I don't want to read that shit. What's up with manga and having weak female leads who can't stand up for themselves and pushy rapists as male leads?

I was having a hard time putting into words what it was about this manga that totally rubbed me the wrong way, and I think I finally got it. The premise is that the mc is a strong, independent woman who's had to work hard in order to chase her dreams and fulfil her ambitions. As a female business owner, she's used to dealing with misogyny, sexual harassment, being underestimated and looked down from her male peers. Which is not really unusual in male-dominated fields where power is involved (and even those where it isn't). The struggle is very real and the manga's the portrayal of that aspect is very realistic. It's these things that makes it very infuriating to be a woman, sometimes, and it kinda hits where it hurts. So, it's really disappointing and infuriating that the FL's struggles are only used as a backdrop. At least to me it seems that it's only included to make the reader relate to her and understand her stubborn personality (as if it needed justification). The ML and the romance seems hellbend on diminishing and trivialising her struggles and undermining everything she stands for: The strong woman who despite all odds, has realised her dreams in a man's world. For rather than having a ML that sets an example for men - treating women as equals and with respect, and who doesn't view them as (sex) objects - we get a smug, insensitive, sexually harassing bastard who (imo) treats the FL as nothing more than a challenge to be conquered. I mean, the MC developed her stubborn and prickly personality because she's had to go against the flow to get to where she's at. What's the ML's excuse? I get that the author just wanted a rivalry between the couple, which wouldn't work if the ML was a totally complacent guy, but you CAN actually make rivalry between two characters, WITHOUT one of them looking down on the other as a person. Because that's the vibe I get from the ML... At least to me it seems that the message this manga sends is that a woman can be strong, but there will always be a man out there who can conquer her and make her submit.