Sexism in Naruto: It’s Not about Feminism

As you can see, there pretty much are some sexist undertones in this story. It’s not malicious on Kishimoto’s part, but the undertones are still there. While there is somewhat of an understanding that there are no specific policies ruling the Narutoverse based on gender — and females are generally treated with respect by their peers and subordinates — they are not always treated as equal to a man by virtue of the dialogue and  by their perceptions of women. This is ultimately a reflection on the mangaka.

This is not to say that anyone and everyone complaining wanted the girls/women to overpower ALL the males, let alone surpass Naruto and Sasuke. That is a strawman. It was always understood that Naruto, at the very least, would be among the strongest characters in the end. As Naruto’s rival, the same was true for Sasuke. That was not the issue.

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Firefox Rant

I just want to take a short break from my series of posts to complain about Firefox.

I first used this browser in 2010 I believe, so it was still in its relative infancy. By that, I mean, the main version was in single digits. The third version, with its periodic updates, was fairly good. I was previously using IE8 (I know, I know), and had been bothered by one particular banner ad that took up my broadband on NF. When I finally installed Firefox and used AdBlock, I was amazed by how fast the browser worked, even on my old notebook at the time. It also helped that it was free!

When I finally upgraded to a larger laptop, one of my first actions was to get Firefox. By that time (2011), version 4.0 was out. It was all right, but I liked the 3.xx.xx versions if you know what I mean. The browser was still good, though, and it was customizable. I played with the colors, and tried new apps, but I was careful to look at reviews and when I saw reports about which ones were necessary and safe, I adjusted accordingly.

Now, red flags went up when Firefox came out with the 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0, etc., versions in quick succession. What’s with all the updates?