I’ve been watching a lot of anime lately. I mean, a lot. That is not to say that I’ve even made a dent in the available anime (I haven’t), and I don’t intend to either. But there’s been a lot that peaked my interest. Some are great, some are mid, some are awful.

One of the anime I’ve watched lately was “IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls”. I find the idol anime genre to be fascinating. It’s not because I like idol music (with some exceptions, I don’t), it’s not because I like the dancing, it’s kinda trite and even a bit annoying at times. But what I like is the look behind the scenes of idols and the idol industry, and I also tend to like the CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) genre.

But, you know, this anime got me to thinking: What is it about the CGDCT genre that’s so appealing? And as these questions tend to do, it sent me down a rabbit hole that I found fascinating.

Okay, so here’s the thing about this anime that really interested me: It’s a harem anime. But it has zero ecchi, zero sexual situations, and absolutely nothing at all to do with sex, marriage, reproduction, or anything like that. It’s a group of (I can’t remember how many, I want to say fifteen) girls who are a part of an idol group for newbies, and the head of the group is a stoic, male character who has a difficult time interacting socially with them. Nonetheless, he’s a protector figure – he keeps the group together, and it would be absolutely nothing without him..

But there are many scenes where the girls are all together, doing their own thing, and it occurred to me that the very reason that these girls can be together and do their own thing is entirely related to his presence and influence.

I loved the scenes where the girls are all just interacting with each other, talking about the things that girls talk about, forming their bonds, and just generally having a good time.

I started writing the Lily project a little over three years ago, and ended it a month ago. It was a fascinating exercise, partly because I didn’t really understand why I was writing it to begin with. Lily was a teenage girl, who formed a lot of different social bonds with her friends/sisters, and a lot of the time she spent writing in her diary had to do with her sisters. Occasionally her boyfriend and her family, but she spent a lot of time with her sisters, and she really loved them. But even that was only possible because of the (fairly silent) influence of the male figure in her life – Dave. He was quiet and didn’t really say much, but he was always there. He kept the lights on, sometimes got into a prank war with her, but she relied on him (and Sabby) for stability.

I’ll be honest. I’ve always been very jealous of those sister bonds.

Women have this way of forming very close bonds with each other that men are, for whatever reason, incapable of forming. This is why men need women, I think. Women can form those bonds with their men, and men can learn a lot about living in a tight-knit social cluster from the women in their life. And women, in return, rely on their men for protection and security, so they can form those social bonds.

But, the thing is, men aren’t allowed to be protectors anyore.

So what can we be, otherwise?

Well, I guess… if we’re not allowed to be men, can we be women?

When a man sees these bonds and finds them a very good thing, he has only a few options. The major two options are: support and enjoy these bonds in the women in their life, or, well, try to become one. And if you’re not allowed to do the former, well… the latter starts to seem very appealing, doesn’t it?

This is something I’ve struggled with for a while. I’m not trans, and even if I thought I was, I wouldn’t do anything about it. I think it would be impossible for me to pass as a woman, and unreasonable for me to expect others to pretend I could. I have seen a few males who pass very well, but I’m not one of them, and I never would be. But, even past that, I just have no desire to enter that life. But, at the same time, I love the way women interact with each other, and sometimes I get a little jealous of how close they can be, in a nonromantic way. It’s truly something to be valued and treasured.

And I think this is why CGDCT anime are so popular and appealing. They, deliberately, model those social interactions in such a way that you can watch them and, well, kind of feel like a man for a little while. So many people look at Hitori Bocchi from “Hitoribocchi no marumaru seikatsu” and say “Must protecc”, and that is normal for a man. But we’re made fun of that, being told that women should be strong and independent, that they don’t need a man… but we want to be needed. We need to be needed. It’s not that we want to subjugate women, it’s that we want to fulfill the roles we were built to fulfill – that of being the protector and provider. And when we can’t, well… what do we have left? If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I guess. Might as well become a “soy-boy”, I guess, that’s how we’ll get laid, right?

(FYI, I refuse, but that’s a different story)

I personally think all of this gender identity nonsense these days is a direct result of men and women not being allowed to be who they are, being told who they are is wrong, and being fed a pack of lies about who they should be.

I’m not saying women should be barefoot and in the kitchen. Women can do most of the things men can do, and vice versa as well. I am not the world’s greatest cook, but I do like making a good meal on occasion. But what I am saying is that the two different genders are wired in a specific way, and when that is subverted, well, it will come out anyway, in ways that are less than desirable for the flourishing of society. Even when women are performing roles that men traditionally have, they tend to form those close bonds that men just don’t.

It’s no surprise that birth rates in developing countries have tanked, given that, is it?

This is something that Christians kind of get right. Of course, that gets corrupted and they end up enforcing unproductive gender roles, but the idea is correct, and Paul even says as much in the Bible. Let women be women, and let men be men, and that’s the only way a society will function properly. In fact, not doing that is the fundamental thing that will destroy a society.

If you’ve read this far, and this made you angry, well, I guess I can’t help that. There is a reason why 1) I am very carefully anonymous on this blog, and 2) why I purchase hosting that will not censor me. But I have to say what I believe to be true. If I can’t use my voice, than am I truly human after all?