A Rant On: "Fullmetal Alchemist"





Hello, everyone, this is NaokoElric2250 and this is my first ever rant.

I shall begin with a general statement:

Female authors who write Shonen, (or any story featuring main male protagonists); need to get their act together. It is disgusting just how much they will discriminate against their own gender, and need to start learning to respect it.

In some cases, their level of sexism against women is on par with that of male authors, and fans seem to not notice or dismiss the fact that they use the exact same sexist traits and tropes as the males, purely because they are female, which is classic Double Standard sexism in itself. I am speaking of course, of the likes of Masashi Kishimoto, Noriaki "Tite" Kubo and others like them.

Their stories are often devoid of a good, smart, strong, knowledgeable (as in knowing what is happening in the story, sharing the knowledge of the male characters) female presence who dress sensibly. Instead, they have a comparatively small female cast with the massive male one, and this female cast are usually are very sexist, stereotypical, and physically and emotionally weak characters, with just one true, strong melee-combative female. With respect to personality, these female characters are usually feminine (there is a difference between 'a few feminine traits sprinkled here and there' and 'outright weak little stereotype'), passive, love-stuck cry-babies, who usually dress in overly-feminine or far too revealing clothing. Even the Action Girls are often a pitiful attempt at a strong female character, who, while being able to fight, are still easily defeated by males (and therefore are made into damsels-in-distress, as they are usually saved or 'protected' by males, and rarely a female) which makes them a Faux Action Girl. And let's not forget they are often a fighter only because a male taught them how. And they also have feminine female, a walking stereotype, to 'balance them out'.

As for their role in the story, it usually consists of waiting behind for their male love interest/friend/friends and choosing not to take part in fights. And those females who do generally do not defeat as much as the males, or, even worse, are a non-combative, feminine-by-default healer. Most of them contribute nothing to plot except to be saved and protected by male characters (or even females characters, as even when you do have a good female protagonist, they originally still have a damsel to save, such as in "Mirror's Edge", "Tomb Raider 2013", for example, though I love both of these games); act as the 'moral support' off the battlefield; to show how oblivious they are to what is occurring; to support/serve the male characters; or to be comforted by male characters as they cry.

This sexist portrayal becomes even worse when compared to what is usually the male cast: all-fighting, masculine man and boys (which is sexist and a stereotype in itself).

In addition, there are little to no important 'all female' scenes or 'female vs. male' or 'female vs. female' fight scenes in which the female beats the male or female character in a serious manner. However, they are plenty of 'all male' or 'mostly male and one female' scenes (and groups of characters in general), along with 'male vs. male' scenes.

Finally, the female characters are never as fully developed as the males.

For some examples, the following characters are the very definition of a sexist female character - are Princess Peach/Toadstool and Princess Daisy, ("Super Mario Series"), Princess Zelda ("The Legend of Zelda" series), Winry Rockbell, Sakura Haruno ("Naruto"), Orihime Inoue and Momo Hinamori ("Bleach"), Elizabeth Middleford ("Kuroshitsuji"), Mint Adenade ("Tales of Phantasia") and Pyrrha Alexander ("Soul Series"). At the very least, Katara, another of this typical archetype, won a few battles in her story and stood up to sexism, though, of course was hypocritical in her super-feminine, crybaby personality. Not to mention pathetic enough to burst into tears at learning such an badass power as blood-bending, the only thing that makes water-bending worthwhile, as far I am concerned, and then weakly and selfishly having it banned after accidently used it on one innocent person.

Now, it is on to the main topic of this rant: the manga "Fullmetal Alchemist".

Before the flamers and I start, let me say one thing: I like "Fullmetal Alchemist". The world in which it is set is interesting and creative, and I like that Arakawa did her research for the 1900 period, but also add modern twists, such as the relatively modern, ideas, and, admittedly, some female roles clothing. Her take on alchemy is interesting, particularly the aspect of Equivalent Exchange. She raises some big good questions such as "Is it possible to create life only with the materials for a human body?", "If possible, is this right or should we leave it to nature, and if believed in, God?". That is what I feel, anyway.

This series is just under my list of favourite manga/anime, in fact. If you are curious as to what they are, consult my profile.

However, just because I like something, does not mean I (or anyone else, of course) cannot have criticisms of it.

Allow me to elaborate. First of all, the big issue I have with "Fullmetal Alchemist" is not entirely about the series itself, but also the author. When I first starting reading it, I was certain the author was male, due to the main cast consisting entirely of male characters, and the portrayal of the female cast.

I was surprised when I learnt that the author was in fact female. Never will I comprehend how a female writer could have written a story like the series in question, never.

If a male author had written "Fullmetal Alchemist", I would not have the following issues as strongly, as I would expect as much from a male author, from what I have seen from the books and manga I have read. However, that does not mean there are not good male authors, as I know a few good woman-friendly and interesting stories written by such people (as I will show below).

Do not judge me wrongly, as I liked one of Arakawa's other works, "Souten no Koumori", though I wish it was an actual series and not just a one-shot it is her only manga to feature a woman in the leading role, even if she had been defeated.

I must say that, even though I like it, "Fullmetal Alchemist" and Arakawa in general is overrated, and receives excessive special attention, like days devoted to it and its pairings, and a second, manga-based anime and film, something no other manga has received. It is not 'the best manga ever!' nor is it is a 'masterpiece'. This again seems to boil down to the author being female, and thus she is 'special' and 'unique', which again, is sexist in itself, but in that it is positive discrimination. It is just a manga, and Arakawa is just a manga author.

Anyway, I feel that Arakawa was being sexist toward herself and did not portray women in a good light as she should, being one herself. Instead, she just created yet another typical Shonen manga with a tough male main protagonist, male dominant cast, ditzy and submissive females, and 'tough' females whose strength is ruined by too many feminine qualities, servitude/obedience to men, or needing to be rescued. It added to the list of female authors who just do not know how to treat their own gender in a respectful, non-sexist manner. It was also yet another series with the "male-male-female" or "mostly male and one female" groups, where the most attention is paid to the two males, while the female is thrown to the side.

Another two good examples in the mangaka world are "Korushitsuji" and "Inuyasha". Just look at Elizabeth Middleford in the former. Like many females that are close to main character, she knows nothing of what occurs with said character's situation and is portrayed in an overly-feminine, ditzy, stupid, airhead, and cry-baby manner. Even her one moment of being a real woman was ruined by her crying and been knocked out, taken out of the action once more. In the latter, we have Kagome. I do not care that she became an archer later on, as ranged weapons for females is a stereotype and sexist trope in itself, and as proactive and cowardly for a female as is being a healer, and she was still a stupid damsel-in-distress most of the time). And on another note, there is her blatant abusive behaviour, against justified by yet another female-supporting double standard, but that is besides the people. There is also "Ramma 1/2" (and Rumiko Takahashi's works in general) and "Katekyō Hitman Reborn".

Out with her stories, Arakawa is quite sexist in general. Her opinion on how men/boys and woman/girls should look clearly indicate this. She believes that men should be muscular and tall (Edward Elric grows, and therefore still counts) and woman should be 'Curvy and Bosomy'. These are huge stereotypes. She is expressing the opinion that all men should be fit and strong and all women should have large breasts and a body equivalent to that of a model. It is rather superficial and shallow. General Armstrong is particular proof of this, and almost every male character in this series qualifies.

In addition, from what I have seen, apart from "Souten no Koumori", Arakawa blatantly refuses to have woman in anything more than a supporting role. Almost all her female characters are in love with someone, are more emotional than the males, and are frequently made into damsels-in-distress, even if they are tough. All of this I have seen in "Fullmetal Alchemist" and a little in other series, but I think "Fullmetal Alchemist" is the worst offender.

Shonen series' can have tough a tough, capable, female main/second protagonist/several female main protagonists. For example, there is "Claymore" (for me, it is the quintessential female/feminism-friendly series, apart for just few things. This is what I would expect of a modern female writer, not "Fullmetal Alchemist". I was surprised when I found out it was written by a man. Why could Arakawa not write something like this, eh?), "Black Lagoon" (though a seinsen series, it is another quintessential female/feminism-friendly series, excluding the revealing and feminine outfits of the female characters. The FMA females have absolutely nothing on Revy, Roberta, Fabiola, Balalaika, Sister Yolanda, Shenhua, Sawyer the Cleaner, hell even Yuko and Eda, and never will. Why could Arakawa not write something like this either?), "Soul Eater" (though I wanted a scene of Maka protecting Soul for a change, and Tsubaki annoyed me with her submissive, feminine, forgiving nature, just like Sakura and Orihime, but she improved), "Zettai Karen Children" and "Cutey Honey" (the very first Shonen mange to feature a female main protagonist, and one rather feminine at that…and also fanservice), all created by men.

For a non-manga/anime example, there is the "His Dark Materials" book series by Philip Pullman, which features a great female protagonist Lyra (and her Demon), who, in the first book, is trying to find and save her male friend. In addition, the next two books have a good male protagonist, Will Parry, who does not outshine the main female character (well, excluding Lyra's Chickification in the second book).

An example that works the other way would be the "Harry Potter" book series, which, despite being written by a woman, and having a male as the main protagonist, is very fair on gender. The main girl (Hermione) is the smartest and assists her male friends most of the time. Were it not for her, they would be clueless most of the time and enter into much more trouble. The only exceptions are the troll incident in the first book; Ginny and her possession by Voldemort in the second book; and the fourth book, in regards to Fleur and her performance (not being able to complete the Second or Third Tasks, and being taken out first in the Third Task) her position in Champion ranking (last) and the fact that she was the only female Champion.

Finally, for an example out with each of these categories, there is "Bishoujo Sensei Sailor Moon" (the manga, not the anime, though I like the anime).

Before I start the individual subjects I wish to address, I will give one final general point:

Excluding Olivier Armstrong and Izumi Curtis (both of whom I think are the only female characters they were made with respect to the female gender, barring Armstrong's breasts), the females of "Fullmetal Alchemist" were always 'second' and in the shadow of, attached to, or in the servitude of, males. Winry serves as Edward's mechanic and supports him and Alphonse on their quest from the side-lines, Riza is the subordinate of Roy, Ran Fan is the bodyguard/servant of Ling, and Mei Chan is in the weakest clan of Xing. Riza and Ran Fan also had the stupid "Bodyguard Crush" trope as part of their character, because, as females, they have to be love with a male and doing it out of that love (and submissiveness).

Purely the men in their lives defined the girls and woman! If the men did not exist, there would be no need of these females! They exist only a subset (and at one or two points for all, damsels-in-distress) of their male counterparts!

Now that I have that out of the way, it is on to the actual story. I first thing I just cannot understand about Arakawa is, being a woman, why she made the main protagonists (Edward and Alphonse Elric) male and the main supporting character (Winry Rockbell) female. It is not like she could have not made either Edward or Alphonse female.

Due to this, we had the typical: "Male(s) go/goes on adventures to reach a goal, while the female best friend/love interest, oblivious as to what is happening, waits at home" story. I know Winry travelled with the Elrics every now and then and learned some things, but it is still annoying that Arakawa used such an over-used and sexist plot!

She could have made the made the main protagonists a pair of sisters and Winry a boy and have the rarely seen story where: "Female(s) go(es) on adventures to reach a goal, while the male best friend/love interest, oblivious as to what is happening, waits at home." Or she could have just made it a brother and sister duo.

How many series have a pair of sisters as the main protagonists, rather than a pair of brothers? Fem!Edward (Edwina) would have been a short tomboy with a flat-chest, whom was also loving towards her younger sister. Fem!Alphonse (Alphonsa/Alice), your sweet, cute, feminine girl, with a rarely seen tough, badass side (which would make her femininity acceptable).

Finally, I would explain the typical, cliché, and sexism featured in the Elric's backstory and childhood, with the 'son(s) with alive and hated father; tragically-dead-from-sickness-or-murder mother' but that but minor compared to other examples (and it is used with daughters as well).

This brings me neatly on the next point of my rant: Winry Rockbell herself. I am not a Winry-hater. I just have some issues.

The author was being just down right sexist towards herself because of the way she made Winry Rockbell.

The main thing I found annoying (but not really sexist) is that despite the fact that she the closest to the main characters, she is also the furthest away, as she is hardly involved in the main plot, and even when she was, Arakawa always found some excuse to throw her to the side. Some examples are 'Staying in Rush Valley to be apprentice', and 'returning and staying in Rizenbul' (which I will talk about later). She also had her have the idiotic to say, "All I can do is wait", when it is complete rubbish (not to mention she made that choice herself) when she could have trained in fighting with the Elrics and went with them, instead of just waiting.

Winry could have been a good character, but instead she was made a ditzy, feminine, love-struck hysterical, immature cry-baby (a description, which perfectly fits Sakura Haruno, Orihime, and Pyrrha Alexander, and just how much they are insults to the female gender and real women in real life and fiction) who 'cries for those who will not cry for themselves, such as Edward and Alphonse', which is just pathetic. She cries far too much, it is over-to-top and exaggerated, and blatantly sexist and stereotypical. Nearly every scene she is in she was crying for some stupid, senseless reason! Arakawa even had her cry at the Elrics burning down their home, which had no reason to be done! Another example is the scene where she hit Alphonse with her spanner after he thought he was not a real person. There was no need for that you sexist cow (no pun intended)! Like Sakura from "Naruto", she has more 'pointless crying' scenes than anything else. Finally, of all the major characters the author could have made to be unable/chooses not to fight, it just had to a female, did it not, even though every single major male character knew how to and did fight.

Arakawa also had Winry wear far too revealing clothes (tube tops/midriff-bearing tops and mini-skirts) as well. It was purely for fan-service (which I hate, especially if used on a female, which it mostly is) and no sensible female mechanic real life would wear a boob tube her under her jumpsuit. If she did, she would most likely be instructed to change. If males wear tank tops or t-shirts, then so should females! We know Winry owned one.

Arakawa also reduced Winry to a hostage to keep Edward obeying the military. I acknowledge that she came up with a plan to get herself out of that hostage situation, but it did little to counteract what a sexist character she is.

She also had her soul stolen due to the activation of the National Transmutation Circle and had to be saved. I understand she was not the only one, but still, the girl in the 'male-male-female' group had to be saved, did she not?! She just had to stay in Rizenbul and become a victim, did she not?! She had be one of those who needed saving, even all the other important characters did not?!

Winry also does very feminine, stereotypical things such as the laundry and baking. Her job of mechanic does not contradict this. She is serving her male friend. The most significant example occurs in chapter 84. Edward tells her to bake him as apple pie and keep it warm for him and she agrees! In reality, Edward was saying, as my Deviantart friend AveriaAlexandros puts it, "Get back in the kitchen and make an apple pie for me". If he wanted one, he should have learned how to make one himself.

She is also the only 'important' character who neither takes part in the final battle, nor directly witness Edward returning Alphonse from the gate, his body restored, in chapter 108, while every other important character does (Roy, Riza, Ling, Ran Fan and Mei) and some unimportant characters (the Chimeras). That just is not fair, considering the fact that she is their childhood friend!

Let us not forget about that scene where Winry first met Scar, learning he killed her parents. I hate this scene so much. For me, it is worst part of the entire manga.

Instead of being strong and confronting him in a brave manner, she started crying, sunk to her knees, looking woefully weak, despite the fact that she had picked up a gun and contemplated shooting him! In addition, she does this in front of complete strangers as well as the Elrics. If one wants to be a weak, stereotypical insult to the female gender, than one should do it in privacy!

To make this even worse, the girl has to be the coward that cannot shoot, the boy (Edward) had to jump in front of the girl to protect her. The boy had to get the girl to put the gun down. The boy is allowed to interfere with the girl's decision and stop her using violence, but it is fine for him to use violence; it is fine for her not to interfere. The boy had to comfort the girl while she cried her little heart out (and wailed like a toddler taking a tantrum)! The girl had to be left in the protection of the Military, as if she could not protect herself!

How could Arakawa have wrote and drawn this?! How could she have made her own still-discriminated gender be so pathetic?! Besides, no real and strong woman lets someone male protect her. No male proctors a female unless he thinks that she is weak, being female, and therefore needs protection. There is other reason, and love means nothing in regards to that.

I just hate this type of scene in fiction! They are so sexist it is almost unbelievable! The female character would be crying and sobbing, usually falling feebly to her knees or into her friend/lover's arms, crying into his chest, weak and submissive! Meanwhile, the male character is not shedding even a single tear (even if he does look sad, like Edward), and is being strong and dominating, hugging his frail friend/lover! The only way I can accept a scene like this if the male and female roles were reversed; or if it was two females, or two males.

As if things could not become any worse, after this, does Winry try to regain the large amount of dignity she just lost? Does Arakawa have her stand up and bravely inform Edward that she was going with him, to help Alphonse perhaps? Or simply tell him to something brave to encourage him? No. She has her just sit there, crying and being weak! What is wrong with you, Arakawa?!

For this scene to be not so sexist, Arakawa should have had Winry not start crying (therefore not showing weakness before her enemy, which is about the best thing you do) not fall feebly to her knees. Instead, she should have had her hold her head high (further showing strength) but deciding on her own whether to shoot and not and definitely not having a boy jump in front of her to protect her! Finally, since I believe Winy still would not have shot Scar or accompanied Edward, the author should have had her tell him something good, instead of sitting there crying and wailing.

Just to add insult to injury, what does Arakawa do with Winry on her second meeting with Scar? She has her tends to his wounds! What a hypocrite! To me, helping the one you supposedly hate, just because 'that is what your parents would do', is just as bad and weak-minded as forgiving them!

In addition, Yet again, it had to be the female who is the weak-minded one who shows mercy, while the male (Edward) wanted to just leave him for dead. Arakawa, you are as bad as Kishimoto and Kubo, in the forms of Sakura and Orihime receptively, when it comes to this!

At least in the 2003 Anime, the 'Winry meets her parent's killer' scene played out much better. Instead of breaking down into needless tears, Winry was strong and refused to cry, as she did not want to be a burden. That is very non-sexist and mature.

Arakawa was also hypocritical, as she made Winry previously say something along the lines of, "I don't want to wait anymore" when in Briggs. However, she contradicted that statement when she had Winry return to Rizenbul and decide to remain there. Thus, we are back to the "A male/a group of males go on adventures to reach a goal, while the female friend/love interest, oblivious as to what is happening, waits at home" situation, and I hate that!

Once again, the 2003 anime is superior in non-sexist portrayal. Winry actually does things other than repairing or building automail, waiting, worrying and crying. Unlike her pitiful manga and 2009 anime counterpart, who's entire life revolved around the Elric Brothers/Edward, and doing everything for them/Edward and never anything for herself, and only being put into the story just she could do something for Edward, the Winry of the 2003 anime actually had true independence and a story of her own. She interacted with more people (e.g. Roy, Izumi and Sciezka), obtained more knowledge and does much more on her own. For example, she tapped Sloth/Julia Douglas's phone lines and she and Sciezka did some (not so good) investigating by themselves. As I previously wrote, she had her own little story apart from the Elric Brothers.

The only negative things I can say about Winry's characterisation in the first anime is that she was foolish enough to get herself kidnapped and almost killed by Barry the Chopper (then again, Edward was almost as foolish) and just cried and whimpered all the way through it, and then pathetic cried for Edward (again because he would not) when he killed Sloth (the homunculus of his frigging mother!).

I would have liked Winry more if the above things were changed, but what would be better would have been Winry being male, yet still have been in the same situation, and go through the same things in the manga I had issues with, as, with Winry being male, it would no longer be sexist to women. Not to mention it would be very original. Male!Winry (Winter or Winston) would have seemed to be a typical masculine mechanic, until it is revealed that he has a soft, emotional side to him.

It would have the rarely seen situation of "female-female-male group". In addition to that, but a female-female-male group where most of the attention is given to the females.

Now I will talk about the next two characters: Roy Mustang and Riza Mustang.

Firstly, why did Arakawa make the woman the subordinate, and the man the powerful State Alchemist (expect his being useless in the rain) and Superior Officer/Boss?

In addition, why did she make the woman, instead of thinking for herself, and how she could improve the country on her own, instead think a man could do a better job than she could?

Furthermore, even though she is a tough gunslinger, Riza was made a bit of a Damsel in Distress as The Führer made her, like Winry to Edward, a hostage to keep Roy in check. She was also twice made into a complete Damsel in Distress when she was attacked by Gluttony, and later, when she had her throat slit. Despite her skills, she was saved on both occasions, the first time (the Gluttony one) by men! Not to mention that because she had her though slit, she could not take direct part in the final battle. You really like putting girls/woman out of the battle and into damsel-in-distress situations so the boys/men can take charge, do you not, Arakawa? You are as bad as Kishimoto when it comes to this. You never have a male character be injured and have a female character take charge.

Then there is the scene is Riza crying when she thought Roy was dead. Do we ever get a scene where the man is crying and screaming because he thinks the woman he loves is dead? Even if there is a scene like that, the man does not cry most of the time. Not only this, but she begged for death just because her man was dead! What kind of woman does that?! A weak-minded, pathetic, man-pleasing, submissive one, which is who I hope women like that do not exist in real life (though I have a feeling do)! How can Riza be 'so strong' if she has this, a female character trait showing the weakest of will and self-believe/respect? It does not show she cares, it just shows she is as weak as a non-fighting female (like Winry and Orihime).

Yet again, what kind of female author creates and writes a scene like this?! One who does not respect her own gender, knows not how to create strong female characters, and is very sexist, that is who. This scene, along with the one with Winry and the gun, is the apitamy of the traits above. Really, I could not believe a female author could create something like these scenes, willingly. I will never sink so low.

You would never have a scene like either of these with the male and female roles reversed, would you Arakawa? In fact, has/would any writer/manga author did/done this? No, as that would be original, non-sexist and interesting. Also, sexist men and women would think the male character is weak.

Again, in this scene, we have the male-protects-female situation. However, this one goes further and makes it more insulting by having a grown woman being protected by a teenage boy. Really, Arakawa, you seem to take pleasure in having a character of the female gender, even when grown, being so weak and pathetic as to let a person protected by not just any male, but one ten years younger than them. You never did the opposite, in any of your works. You do not seem to like the opposite, non-sexist, non-insulting version.

This is another place where the 2003 anime is superior. Yes, Riza does break down upon thinking Roy dead, the different here is, she did receive needless 'protection' and killed/destroyed Frank Archer in that emotionally-charged moment, making those tears not so weak, but some of a strength.

Roy should have being female and Riza male. It is as simple as that.

Fem!Roy (Roya) would be an attractive man-chaser who wants to be the first female Further, whose flame alchemist suits her appearance, but despite a body that could be objectified, a great subversion of this would her not being played for fanservice and sex appeal). Male!Riza (Rizo, code name 'Richard') would be a chivalrous, protective sharpshooter (who does learn that his superior can look after herself), who hates to hurt his superior, but know that sometimes he would have no choice (the Scar battle in Chapter 7).

This brings me onto Ling Yao and Ran Fan. As I said earlier, Ran Fan is a mere servant (but I love her as much as Izumi, Olivier, Hughes and Alex) and not the royalty figure, which Ling is. I know a man (Fu) was a servant too, but that makes no difference.

Ran Fan (a ninja) was made a true Damsel in Distress when Wrath attacked her (taking out with just ONE STRIKE!) and she was rescued and protected by Ling, a boy, and the person she was supposed to be protecting! It really displeased me. Why build her up to be this competent bodyguard only to Chickafy her before she does any protecting?!

There is even a picture of Ran Fan appearing weak and helpless, while Ling has one arm wrapped around her and the other clutching his sword in front of her. The roles should have been reversed, as it is her job to protect!

In addition, because she received this injury and had to cut off her arm, she was out of the majority of the story while Ling received all the adventure and attention!

Ling should have been female and Ran Fan male, or Ran Fan should have been with Ling the whole time, actually protecting him, then I would not feel Arakawa was being sexist towards her own gender - again. Fem!Ling (same name, as it is unisex) would be an ambitious princess who seems to need a bodyguard, implying she could not defend herself, but would reveal her protective and tough side when it is needed. Ran Fan (same name again) would be pretty much the same with little differences, due to being male. This would also be good, as Fem!Ling could have been the first Empress of Xing.

Now, on to Mei Chan. She started off as an independent (and averting the Never A Self-Made Women tropes of the other females), used Rentanjutsu and marital arts, but she still cried many times and, like most of the other females, needed saving. For example, when she lost Xiao Mei (though I guess that is understandable, as she knew her for so long and they were good friends), when Alphonse gave himself over to the gate to restore Edward's arm in Manga Chapter 107 and when she thought Alphonse was gone.

In addition, just like Riza and Ran Fan, she had to be rescued/saved! This happens every time she attacked Father. In both incidents, like Ran Fan before here, it takes ONE STRIKE to defeat her and leave her needing rescue and protection by a boy (Alphonse)!

However, the male characters seem to be quite well for a while, despite the fact two of them (the Elrics Brothers) cannot use alchemy.

Why, Arakawa, did you write and draw this, even though it is clearly implying woman/girls are more easily defeated and weaker than man/boys are, when we are not?

Male!Mei (Mao) would be an ambitious little prince with a bit of a vivid imagination, questing after a certain girl, until he meets her of course, and is stunned, as she 'broke the heart of a handsome young prince'. Then, after Alphonsa saves him, falls in love with her instead. That would have been so interesting and cute.

Even Olivier (the great and powerful General) had to get help from her brother to defeat Sloth the second time around, because Arakawa could not have a female defeat an enemy on her own, even though several male characters did so (I know Izumi and Sig help too), such as when Roy killed Lust singled-handily, and while injured. Thank you for yet another classic Double Standard in regards to females fighting, Arakawa.

Moreover, there was have next to no scenes featuring female characters rescuing/saving the lives of male characters. Mei saving Halling does not count, as Halling was a minor character. Neither does Riza saving Roy from Scar in chapter 7, as he was not in mortal danger, unlike Riza later on (throat cut). However, there were plenty of scenes featuring male characters rescuing/saving the lives of female characters (as I have mentioned above). Finally, the few 'females saving/protecting males' scene were not given as much attention as the 'males saving/protecting females' scenes.

AveriaAlexandros, also pointed out another sexist point is this: none of the females in FMA were fully developed. Winry's was only she had something to cry about, Riza is well…plot? As for the pasts of Ran Fan and Mei Chan, we know visually nothing! Furthermore, what little development we have of Izumi is placed in a side-story!

Now, I want to highlight that it is not only woman Arakawa was being sexist too. Again, this is came to my knowledge though AveriaAlexandros.

Look at Edward. Apart from the initial height problem, he seems to be your typical, muscular, masculine Shonen hero who regularly fights. I understand that he, along with Roy, Armstrong and Hohenheim did express grief. There was Roy at Hughes's grave (that was a sad scene I will admit) Hohenheim after learning Trisha's last words, Edward when Hohenheim offered himself in exchange for Alphonse, and Armstrong….at random times.

However, in the 2003 anime, Edward shows his emotions much more. For example, he cried over and grieved Nina more in the 2003 amine than the manga; and he cried at almost being killed by Barry the Chopper, when he kills Greed, and when he was in the Gate after Envy killed him. He does not "refuse to cry" as much. He actually expresses emotion.

This is not really related, but here is another thing. Lust was the only female Homunculus in the manga and she was the first be killed and Pride, the most powerful Homunculus, and the only one to survive in the end, just has to male, did it not? Because the immortal looks like a child, and has lived for hundreds of years had to be male did it not? (Another example is Czeslaw Meyer from "Baccano!" though I do like that series. Ennis is my favourite character). Additionally, the only child of the ruler (even if it is false) has to be male as well, correct? That is so annoying!

Finally - why were there no female State Alchemists? Were you trying to say that women were not strong enough to be State Alchemists, Arakawa? Alternatively, is it that women did not try to take the test? It is quite a big implication to me.

In conclusion, I simply cannot understand how a woman to write such a story so sexist toward her own gender. I find it amazing how the writers of the First Anime (who were probably mostly male, though I know how that sounds, but again, I am judging from experience) managed to be less sexist then the female writer of the original manga.

The things above should have changed to give the female characters better roles and personalities, or Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Roy Mustang, Ling Yao and Salem Bradley/Pride should have been female and Riza Hawkeye, Ran Fan and Mei should have been male. If the above were the canon genders, yet the same things happened to them in the manga (which a few necessary changes) that I did not like, the events would not be so sexist. It would be more interesting, too, as it would have inverted many over-used tropes and clichés.

It would also have made "Fullmetal Alchemist" a more unique series, and I would have liked it so much more.

I am writing fanfiction with the above gender changes, with the personalities I described, as I think this is how they would be as the opposite gender.

So that was my first ever rant, so thank you for reading.



P.S (INPORTANT): I am not the only person who believes "Fullmetal Alchemist" is sexist. The following quotes were out before I created this rant I found this on LiveJournal as part of a meme called "Feminism Meme":

"FMA is one of my favorite series, and I (as well as many other fans) regard it to be quite progressive in regards to gender issues. But I still see a lot of female characters attached to male characters, or in the shadow of male characters. Riza exists to push Roy to the top; Winry supports Ed in his quest to regain his body; and Ran Fan serves Ling. In fact, without these male characters, many of the female characters would not exist, because they exist as a subset of their male counterparts. (The only exceptions to this seem to be Olivier and then of course Izumi and Sig: Sig exists as part of Izumi's story, not the other way around.) Also, Winry-supporters sometimes argue that Winry in particular is a progressive character merely for the fact that she does not fit a "healer" archetype unlike many of her fellow shonen heroines from other popular series (such as, say, Sakura or Orihime from Naruto and Bleach, respectively). I disagree with this venomously. Winry's up there with the rest of them - it's just that, for this particular canon, automail takes the place of flesh and thus healing automail is equivalent to healing flesh. Some people see her mechanical skills and say, wow, that deconstructs gender somehow! - and it would, if Winry lived in the modern-day era on our side of the gate where she'd have to fix cars and machinery for a living. However, that's not the case, and in her universe, her skills exist to serve her male counterpart. Also, Riza can "kick ass" with a gun, but the ideals she's protecting with that gun are not her own. They're Roy's. So sometimes when I hear people say the female characters in FMA are progressive, I wonder if they're mistakenly looking at skills (gun skills, technical skills) and not looking at what those skills are doing for this particular narrative and for whom.

There 's also the fail of the only female homunculus in the manga being Lust - the one sin stereotypically pinned on women. She's the first homunculus to die, so she's never fully developed, but her comfort with her own sexuality is the source of her "evil". (This is one place where the anime wins, btw - Lust is more than just a character associated with sexuality and is quite philosophical and intelligent. She's also not the only female villain.)There's other fail, too, like the fact that Rose in the anime has no agency outside of Ed, for instance. I actually find her situation interesting because she has no agency, but it's still problematic."

Do you see? This person made some good points too, and has similar issues to me, even pointed out some things I did not notice. I do not care much for Rosé, though, as she is a minor character. I also disagree with the "Lust - the one sin stereotypically pinned on women", as that has justification.



Here are some other people who share my opinions on Winry (again, these were out before I wrote this):

"…Furthermore, the manga makes Winry and Ed act like an old married couple with *extremely* subtle "stay in the kitchen" mentality. There's a part where Ed and Al are talking about the Philosopher's stone, Winry asks what they're talking about, and Ed snaps "Men's talk!" Hitting him with the wrench for that would've been excusable and hilarious, but she sighs and does nothing! In chapter 84 when Ed leaves to go save the country, he tells her to have a pie ready for him when he gets back. Tell me how that is not sexist. As for her being a mechanic, she doesn't read like his mechanic. She reads like his nurse." - ElmeraMidas

"I really think that Winry contributes nothing to the storyline except as a love interest for Ed. She spends all her time crying (or telling everyone she's not going to cry in which case she might as well now) and saying she's sick of not being helpful and that she's going to help them now. But she never does. Every other main character in the anime serves some sort of purpose to the story line but if Winry weren't there what would change? Pinako would fix Ed's automail. As for the comment about her being too violent, personally I don't mind that. It's about the only interesting thing she ever does." - wolf-in-a-dress

For a final example: art/A-Life-of-my-Own-263664810 (I am linking it as it is rather long).

Once again, before you flame me, think and read carefully. Thank you and good day.