>>Fujoushi don't care about objectification; they objectify men just as much as otaku objectify women. The question they're more likely to ask is if you are ready to worship their bodies and their sexuality as easily as you are able to worship the bodies and sex of these ink and paper beauties.
Isn't that a two-way street, though? I kind of shudder at the thought of anyone worshipping my sexuality.
And ultimately, I don't even think it's possible, really, to worship the sexuality of a flesh-and-blood person the same way that one can worship the sexuality of an ink-and-paint one. Real girls, unsurprisingly, are real people, with all the faults and foibles that such status suggests. They're concerned with securing the Gruenemayer account before the end of the quarter, taking the car in for warranty-covered recall work, crunching figures to maximise the employer contribution to the 401(k) -- the same sort of trifling banalities that people go through every day.
And then you've got health issues, stress, whose turn is it to wash the dishes tonight, what do you think about having kids, and when are you going to let me meet your parents, anyway. Frankly, I can't even imagine how sex fits into that sort of relationship framework.
But with ink-and-paint girls, everything is beautifully simple. Those trifling banalities of everyday life are mercifully absent, and we find the girl able to explore the full depth of her charm -- especially when a talented scenario writer mans the helm. But even within a single illustration, we can discern a rich visual narrative that tells a far more compelling, and endearing, story than can any real-life episode.
Take a magazine spread, again of Louise from Zero no Tsukaima. She's sitting on a bed, wearing a one-piece black summer dress with frilly straps and trim, a white bow over her breastbone, and creamy-white knee socks. Flanking Louise on the bed are her older sisters, Eleanor and Cattleya. The sisters are fixing up Louise's hair, each taking half and fashioning it into one of a pair of pigtailed braids. Louise appears to be embarrased by the attention -- an uncertain, slightly vulnerable expression shows on her face. She tucks her arms between her legs in a timid, evasive gesture. In the extreme foreground rest a pair of fancy, high-heeled sandals and a matching yellow dress, much more formal than the slip that Louise currently wears.
The narrative in this image is clear: Louise's sisters are dressing her up, perhaps for an event, perhaps for something less formal. Either way, she doesn't seem as enthusiastic about the activity as they are. This precious, almost voyeuristic look into Louise's private life touches the soul in a number of ways.
(cont'd next post)