Career or Childrearing
Or: The Plight of the Otome
(Image borrowed from this blog, thanks google!)
For the record, I fucking love Mai-Otome. The show has a plot that plays for keeps, a cadre of kickass heroines, and Harkua Armitage (she’s the confused-looking blonde on the left). At the same time, it’s got a wealth of problems when you hold it up as an example for gender politics. Instead of talking about all of them, I wanted to talk about just one: Why Otome aren’t allowed to have sex (with a short word on its consequences).
First, the background: Otome are nano-technologically-altered girls and women who serve as out-sized weapons/generals/retainers for any kingdom of consequence in the world of Mai-Otome. Early on in the series, the one of the faculty at Gardenrobe academy indicates that male DNA will destroy the nanobots that give an Otome her power and therefore an Otome must forgo “a women’s greatest happiness” in service of her duty. There are multiple levels of mild misogyny going on here, but they’re layered over a message that seems in line with elements of feminism (and actually, the larger narrative of the series does an even better job).
The core question should not really be whether the “no sex” condition is an excuse to turn the girls into moe sex objects for the viewer. The show makes it clear in its early episodes that this prohibition is in place from a narrative point of view in order to instill choice on these girls. While the series and the show DO present some interesting ideas about objectification, I will leave those for a later post.
The life of Otome is one of duty and service. Childbearing is something that you give up (temporarily, more on that in a bit) in order to do great things. In many ways, the life of an Otome matches up perfectly with the sybillae in Simoun, who defer adulthood in order to advance the cause of country. Which seems to represent a simplistic if not close-to-home narrative about women and careers.
Mai-Otome does, however want you to have it both ways. *spoilers ahead*
In the end, Mai-Otome is the story of Arika’s ascent to her mother’s seat as the Otome of the Windbloom Kingdom. Donning her mother’s armor, knowing at last that her mother loved her above all else, she smites her fast friend (and delightful cocktail of self-deprecating daddy issues) Nina Wang, preserving the Otome system and the tenuous peace it represents. In this case, the message isn’t about the power of self-actualization that Arika finds, but instead a heartening completion of Rena’s (her mother’s) life’s work. The fact that Arika began the series in possession of the Star Sapphire indicates her mom always intended that she reach for the stars.
Thus, the end of Mai-Otome in many ways represents a pretty good balance sheet for the legendary Rena Sayers. Become the best in your field, win the respect of the world elite, have daughter, have her achieve the same heights of accomplishment. Look, if it were me, I would go to my rest feeling that I’d done more than enough.
