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Child Maltreatment and Abuse: From A Child Called ‘It’ By Dave Pelzer

By: Yon-Yon

Approximately 3.3 million claims of child maltreatment occur in the United States each year (Nanda et al., 2015). Child abuse can take several forms including physical, mental, emotional, or sexual abuse. Although talking about child abuse can be hard for people, it must be talked about to prevent or reduce the number of children who go through abuse each day. Children who are abused have a higher chance of developing a mental disorder during their young adult years (Nanda et al., 2015). In the book, A Child Called ‘It,’ Dave Pelzer recounts his experiences of being maltreated by his mother and how his brothers, Ronald and Stan, later treat him like the “family slave.” His father, Stephen, did very little to protect Dave from the abuse. In this paper, I will show how being abused (sexually, emotionally, mentally, and physically) can lead to children developing mental disorders later in life because of the past trauma they experienced.

Types of abuse

Although abuse is generally associated with mental health problems, different types of abuse are associated with specific mental health outcomes. According to Humphrey et al. (2020), even though each type of child maltreatment has a positive correlation with a depression diagnosis, the strongest associations were with emotional abuse and emotional neglect. People who experience physical punishment are more likely to have major depression, abuse alcohol, and have more problems during adulthood compared to people who experience other forms of abuse (Afifi et al., 2006). People may also experience multiple forms of abuse simultaneously which may lead to the victim being aggressive. For example, traumatic abuse or victimization can co-occur with physical abuse which may be accounted for or caused by problems with reactive aggression (Ford et al., 2010).  

In Lund et al.’s (2016) study, participants between 22 - 26 years of age reported on whether had anyone ever touched the private parts on their body, made them touch their private parts, threatened or tried to have sex with them, or sexually forced themselves on to the person before the age of 16 years. Sexual abuse (whether it is a mild or severe case) has been rated to be more traumatic if it is inflicted by a parent, but with physical abuse, the relationship type does not affect the outcome (Bornstein et al., 2007). Patients with a history of sexual abuse were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to victims of psychological abuse (Álverez et al., 2011). Although Dave’s mother did not sexually abuse him, one way she physically abused him was not feeding him for days, and when she would feed him it was scraps of leftover food, feces from his younger brother, or forced him to inhale ammonia.

According to Ford et al. (2010), emotional abuse in childhood is also correlated with severe self-reported anxiety, depression, and emotional and cognitive dysregulation in adulthood. Taillieu et al. (2016) also found that childhood experiences that involve emotional abuse are severely damaging to long-term mental health. Emotional abuse was more likely to be the cause of many mental disorders than emotional neglect. Dave experienced more emotional neglect than abuse, as his brothers and father never helped him, although his mother verbally or mentally abused him by forcing him to continually repeat a degrading statement about himself. 

Association between maltreatment and mental disorders

Schizophrenia. Children who have an emotionally unstable early life due to traumatic events are more vulnerable to have panic anxiety symptoms which later predict schizophrenia (Gabínio et al., 2018). Early emotionally traumatic experiences also increase clinical features of schizophrenia, which can increase cognitive impairments and positive symptom severity (Sideli et al., 2012). Childhood trauma is a major risk factor for a range of psychiatric diseases, although studies have shown comparisons between schizophrenia and other mental disorders. Although Dave did not develop schizophrenia, childhood abuse is a specific risk factor for schizophrenia (Sideli et al., 2012). 

Depression. Children who have insecure attachment styles such as anxiety show signs of psychiatric symptoms: anxiousness in a person resembles panic anxiety, while avoidance resembles social anxiety or depression (Gabínio et al., 2018). Physical punishment is associated with increased odds of major depression, abusing alcohol, and externalizing problems in adulthood (Afifi et al., 2006). Dave would be “used to” what his mother put him through when she abused him, making me think that he was just too depressed to care about how he was getting treated. When a child experiences both emotional neglect and emotional abuse, it increases the odds of major depression (Taillieu et al., 2016). Child maltreatment has an increased risk for depression in adulthood with a particularly large association with emotional maltreatment in childhood (Humphreys et al., 2020).

Social Anxiety. Emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and peer victimization are considered crucial risk factors for social anxiety disorder in children (Brühl et al., 2019). According to Nanda et al. (2015), traumatic social experiences (e.g., emotional abuse and emotional neglect) and other negative social learning experiences have an association with the development of social anxiety. High rates of social anxiety in undergraduates negatively impacts one’s success in college, decreases the quality of college experiences, and negatively impacts relationships. Emotional abuse is associated with more social anxiety, lower quality of life, lower functioning, and less flexibility within treatment-seeking individuals who have a social anxiety disorder (Bruce et al., 2013). Dave showed signs of social anxiety due to him being “scared” to tell people the truth; it is possible this social anxiety stemmed from his need to protect himself from his mother (Bruce et al., 2013). 

Conclusion 

Having researched how child maltreatment can develop different mental disorders, it shows that depending on the mental disorder and the situation that someone is in, they can suffer from their past trauma from their childhood. This can then affect their adulthoods, and how they react, and go through their life. Having people grow up traumatized can fully impact their future and their kid’s future, depending on how they treat their kids while they are growing up. Having their trauma put out on their kids from their untreated mental disorder can then cause the person, kids, to develop a mental disorder. This can cause them to not fully recover from their trauma, having the cycle continue in the family, genetically or through trauma in the family. 

References

Gabínio, T., Ricci, T., Kahn, J.P., Malaspina, D., Moreira, H., & Veras, A.B. (2018). Early trauma, attachment experiences and comorbidities in schizophrenia. Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 40, 179-184. doi:10.1590/2237-6089-2017-0005

Nanda, M.M., Reichert, E., Jones, U.J., &  Flannery-Schroeder, E. (2016). Childhood maltreatment and symptoms of social anxiety: Exploring the role of emotional abuse, neglect, and cumulative trauma. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 9, 201-207. doi:10.1007/s40653-015-0070-z

Bruce, C.L, Heimberg, G.R, Goldin, R.P, & Gross, J.J. (2013). Childhood maltreatment and response to cognitive behavioural therapy among individuals with social anxiety disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 662-669. doi: 10.1002/da.22112

Álvarez, M.J., Roura, P.,  Osés, A., Foguet, Q., Solà, J., & Arrufat, F.X. (2011). Prevalence and clinical impact of childhood trauma in patients with severe mental disorders. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 199, 165-161. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e31820c751c

Sideli, L., Mule, A., La Barbera, D., & Murray, R.M. (2012) Do child abuse and maltreatment increase risk of schizophrenia. Psychiatry Investigation, 9, 87-99. doi: 10.4306/pi.2012.9.2.87

Brühl, A., Kley, H., Grocholewski, A., Neuner, F., & Heinrichs, N. (2019). Child maltreatment, peer victimization, and social anxiety in adulthood: a cross sectional study in a treatment-seeking sample. BMC Psychiatry, 19, 418-429. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2400-4

Bornstein, B.H., Kaplan, D.L., & Perry. A.R. (2007). Child abuse in the eyes of the beholder: lay perceptions of child sexual and physical abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 375-391. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.09.007

Afifia, T.O., Brownridge D.A., Coxc, B.J., & Sareen, J. (2006). Physical punishment, childhood abuse and psychiatric disorders. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 1093–1103. Doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.04.006

Humphreysa, K.L., LeMoultb, J., Wearc, J.G., Piersiaka, H.A., Leed, A., & Gotlibe, I.H. (2020). Child maltreatment and depression: a meta-analysis of studies using the childhood trauma questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 102, 104,361-104,381. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104361

Taillieu, T.L., Brownridge, D.A., Sareen, J., & Afifi, T.O. (2016). Childhood emotional maltreatment and mental disorders: results from a nationally representative adult sample from the United States. Child Abuse & Neglect, 59, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.07.005 0145-2134

Lund, J.I., Day, K.L., Schmidt, L.A., Saigal, S., & Van Lieshout, R.J. (2016). Adult mental health outcomes of child sexual abuse survivors born at extremely low birth weight. Child Abuse & Neglect, 59, 36-44. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.07.002 0145-2134

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How Children in Power Can Turn a Nation to War

By: Yon-Yon

Game of Thrones is a fantasy story that involves eight kingdoms; The North controlled by House Stark, The Riverlands controlled by House Tully, The Vale controlled by House Arryn, The Iron Islands controlled by House Greyjoy, The Westerlands controlled by House Lannister, The Reach controlled by House Tyrell, The Stormlands controlled by House Baratheon, and Dorne controlled by House Martell. The story is told through the eyes of many different characters, throughout the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice. This allowed us to see the full story viewed in different ways. Making the story more interesting allowed us to understand all sides of the characters' stories. At the start of the story, all the rulers were decently aged men and women, until in Eddard XIII we learn that King Robert is dying from an open wound. “The king lies wounded and near to death.” (p. 511, 11). After being wounded severely by a boar, King Robert of The Stormlands died in King’s Landing. The Baratheon family tree is simple enough as King Robert Baratheon (the First King of his name) was married to Queen Cersei [Lannister]. They had three children together; Prince Joffrey (heir to the Iron Throne), Princess Myrcella, and Prince Tommen. When King Robert died, Prince Joffrey was pronounced King. A child was crowned King at the age of pubescent twelve. Children who are in power are too young to be able to run a country, usually causing the country's downfall. King Joffrey does just that as he is king, treating his people cruelly. 

When King Joffrey was a young child, his first act of cruelty inflicted on another life form was on a pregnant cat. When of finding out that the cat was pregnant, he decided it would be a grand idea to cut open the cat’s stomach to look in at the kittens. “One told the boy that she had kittens in her belly, thinking he might want one. Joffrey opened up the poor thing with a dagger to see if it were true. When he found the kittens, he brought them to show to his father.” (A Storm of Swords).  After Joffrey had committed this crime he felt no remorse for the animal that he had just slaughtered. Joffrey was a boy who is the son of Queen Cersei [Lannister] and her brother Jamie Lannister. Joffrey is an incest child since Queen Cersei [Lannister] had a child with King Robert Baratheon, but the child died after birth. Since this, Queen Cersei [Lannister] would only have children with her brother Jamie Lannister, as King Robert didn’t show the same affection and love towards her as she did for him, and found he was cheating on her. All this boiled down to her wanting to keep the bloodline for her children “pure”. Incest was a very common thing during this period to keep the royal bloodline pure). Not only was Joffrey Baratheon an incest child but both of his siblings, Myrcella and Tommen are also children of Queen Cersei [Lannister] and Jamie Lannister. 

Since Joffrey became king he had to marry a woman to be his queen. Since Sansa was his love interest at the age of eleven, they were engaged to be married, once Joffrey had become king. Once Sansa and Joffrey got engaged, her father Ned was forced to admit to his crimes to save his family, or he would be banished to the Wall so he was to not be executed. Ned confessed his crimes, “I am Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Hand of the King and I come before you to confess my treason in the sight of gods and men. I betrayed the faith of my King and the trust of my friend, Robert. I swore to defend and protect his children, yet before his blood was cold, I plotted to depose and murder his son and seize the throne for myself. Let the High Septon and Baelor the Beloved and the Seven bear witness to the truth of what I say: Joffrey Baratheon is the one true heir to the Iron Throne, and by the grace of all the gods, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm” (p. 725, 22). Afterward, Joffrey goes against the agreement and demanded Ned’s head anyways, having him decapitated in front of Sansa and Arya. Since Joffrey breached an oath for Ned’s life, peace becomes impossible as House Stark fights to avenge Ned’s life. 

At the start of the story, after Jamie pushed Bran out the tower window, Joffrey heard about what had happened to Bran and hired an assassin to kill him while he was unconscious. He did this to try and impress his father, but instead, Joffrey was the reason for the start of a war. He continued that war throughout when he was king. Continuing his cruel acts, he was unfit to be in a high royal position, especially a king. He was only twelve years old and had no understanding of what the position of King meant. He did everything for his pleasure and joy. Never considering his people or the people that were affected by his cruelty. All his guards were scared of him, so they obeyed him. Even when they knew that what they were doing was wrong. That being said Joffrey was a sadist, and to show that he is one, all these examples show that beautifully. Another example of his cruelty is when Joffrey ordered Sansa, the woman he is engaged to, to be beaten regularly by his king's guards. Joffrey’s mother tells Joffrey to stop beating her, but he does not listen and continues to have her get beaten. Sansa, because of this chooses clothing that can cover up the bruises that she is given. “‘Leave her face, I like her pretty.’ Boros slammed a fist into Sansa’s belly, driving the air out of her. When she doubled over, the knight grabbed her hair and drew his sword, and for one hideous instant, she was certain he meant to open her throat. As he laid the flat of the blade across her thighs, she thought her legs might break from the force of the blow. Sansa screamed. Tears welled in her eyes. It will be over soon. She soon lost count of the blows. ‘Boros, make her naked.’ Boros shoved a meaty hand down the front of Sansa’s bodice and gave a hard yank. The silk came tearing away, baring her to the waist. Sansa covered her breasts with her hands. She could hear sniggers, far off and cruel. ‘Beat her bloody.’” (A Clash of Kings). 

Since Game of Thrones is a fantasy story that involves death, war, royalty, and control, the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice, started the beginning of the story of the war for a singular throne. Where all the rulers were decently aged men and women until King Robert died. That was when the chaos happened in the series. Joffrey then took the throne, becoming King Joffrey, engaged to Sansa Stark. Joffrey was crowned King at the age of twelve and Sansa was engaged to him at the age of eleven. Joffrey is the most dangerous child who was put in power to run The Stormlands, which is the reason for the downfall of The Stormlands. As king, Joffrey let down his people and manipulated them into following his orders out of fear of what he would do to them as he was treating his people cruelly. Being idiotic, since he killed Ned Stark when his uncle (father) was kidnapped by Robb Stark, Joffrey had no one to trade Jamie Lannister with except for Sansa Stark which is when he started to have her get beaten to make her brother believe that she could be dead. As Joffrey wanted to kill her just to send a signal to her brother Robb. Since Joffrey did all these things that were very cruel and terrible for his reputation as a King of the Seven Nations. Since he had caused wars between House Stark and House Baratheon, as well as wars between House Lannister and House Stark. Turning this war into an incest love triangle war between the Lannisters and Baratheons for no reason. Joffrey’s behavior is that of an immature king, someone who has no right to be king, to be in control of a throne. Joffrey is the prime example of how a child in power can turn a nation to war.

References

R., Martin George R. A Game of Thrones, George R R Martin. BCA, 1999. 

R., Martin George R. A Storm of Swords. The Folio Society Ltd, 2020. 

R., Martin George R. A Clash of Kings. The Folio Society Ltd., 2020. 

[yon-yon-writes]

Humans: The New Endangered Species

By: Yon-Yon

[yon-yon-writes]

The relationship between stigma and belonging in a fictional account of mental illness: An exploratory qualitative study

By: Yon- Yon

[yon-yon-writes]

Suicide Culture in Japan, and Why it Revolves Around the Aokigahara Forest (Suicide Forest)

By: Yon-Yon

Abstract

In Japan, The Aokigahara Forest, also known as the Suicide Forest, is a popular location at the bottom of Mountain Fuji. It is a popular hotspot not only to the people but to the world who know about it as the second most prominent public suicide location, which has been founded to have over a hundred suicide corpses every year found in the forest alone. Japanese culture has a history of suicide pacts with strangers and a lot of those are committed in the Aokigahara forest, while others are troubled and enter to clear their thoughts. Where they sometimes make it back out alive or are found dead inside. Suicide is still such a giant part of Japanese culture, that killing yourself is a heroic way to die especially if you are a samurai, it’s seen as an honor, based on the “samurai ethic”.

Keywords: Suicide, Japan, Aokigahara Forest, Culture

Introduction

Suicide Culture in Japan, and Why it Revolves Around the Aokigahara Forest (Suicide Forest)

Japan is a country of diverse culture when it comes to art, music, theater, food, etc, Japan has a wide variety of these things to be loved and cherished throughout the country. The one thing that is troublesome within Japanese culture, is the widespread increase in suicide culture in Japan. The Aokigahara forest at the base of Fuji mountain has found over a hundred bodies every year (McKenna, 2015). 

Japan’s Aokigahara forest is full of suicides that have a connection to the Japanese suicide culture, which is a great concern to the point where the Japanese government has tried to put a stop to the number of suicides in the forest by increasing government surveillance of the forest (Chang, 2022). This paper aims to show and make a connection to Japanese suicide culture, and why it revolved around the Aokigahara forest as the suicide hotspot for the country. 

Based on Chang (2022), 5,100 people took their lives before 2003, to where then the Japanese government discontinued publishing the annual number of suicides found each year in the Akoigahara forest. Suicides started to exceed 30,000 a year in Japan by the 1990s when the government's efforts to try to decrease the rates failed (Picone, 2012). This affected the government in stopping suicides or at least decreasing them in the forest and making it difficult to keep people out of the forest where the suicides happen.

Neglected research in Japan is heavily on the number of suicidal rates in Japan. Media in Japan is a prominent reason for how the Akoigahara forest became so well known as a suicidal hotspot. In 1960 a novel, Kuroi Jukai was published about the Akoighara forest where two lovers committed suicide together there. Another book that was published about the Akoigahra forest was called The Complete Manual of Suicide, a Wataru Tsurumi DIY guidebook, which described the forest as the ‘perfect place to die’ (O’Kane, 2016). This topic needs more research in this field as, it is dangerous to the newer generations of Japanese culture, and it can continually be damaging to society having more people take their lives in this location at the base of Mount Fuji.

From my review of the literature on this subject, Japanese suicides in the Akoigahara forest, continually grow each year based on media, culture, and suicide pacts. To be able to decrease or eliminate suicides in the Akoigahara forest, we need to remove/ban media about suicides there, to allow for society to not be able to have that outlet of knowledge about suicides in the forest. To advance our research we need to understand why Japanese suicide culture is so dense in the number of people that it consumes each year in the Akoigahara forest.

Review of Literature

From the articles and sources that I have found, suicides in the Akoighara forest are based on Japan’s culture and media in Japan. This media in their culture is the biggest reason for the number of suicides in specific hotspots, but not the reason for suicide itself is so popularized in Japan. In 1946, Japan had a legend of the sword that revolved around death by suicide. Where Japanese men would die heroically in the warrior class, where death to the infliction of pain from a sword was heroic (Picone, 2012). 

  When trying to figure out why Japanese culture highly looked up to suicide in their culture, it was shown that suicide stigma was associated with younger age, less normalization of suicide, and the absence of suicidal ideation. It was shown that the reason there was poor suicide literacy was due to less exposure to suicide (Nakaruma et al., 2021). The theory base that is being looked at here, is why Japanese culture is so heavily influenced by and involved in suicide. 

According to Isumi et al., (2020) children during the COVID-19 pandemic became more stressed due to their parents being at home, and not being able to have social interaction. This led to them having social isolation which negatively affected kids during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, they closed all schools starting in March until May 2020. This rose concerns about kids being mentally okay at home if they had a violent family life. Kids focused on themselves and their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic to make sure that they stayed mentally stable (Isumi et al., 2020). 

Based on Tanaka et al., (2021) there’s a rising concern about the suicide rates in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it has affected people’s mental states being socially isolated from friends, and work/school activities. Based on being socially isolated the big concern is whether could it cause suicide to increase in Japan. According to Tanaka et el., (2021) the suicide rates during the first outbreak from February to March 2020, had not increased but had declined. During the second wave was when the suicide rates increased rapidly. From July to October 2020, the suicide rates increased to 16% more than usual in the second wave of outbreaks. The most affected age range was 20 years old or younger and females more than males were targets (Tanaka et al., 2021;  Isumi et al., 2020). 

          Based on all this information I have found, it is clear that Japanese culture is heavily diverse in suicide and that suicide takes place in the Akoigahara forest. That being said, Japanese culture has always had suicide displayed in the media, to where the government did no child protection on what children saw in the media. This led to children being exposed to suicide at young ages and seeing suicide at a young age can be concerning for the individual, especially of how old they are. Questions that still need to be answered from this research are; what are more productive ways to limit children's reach on suicide in media? How can the government put more productive stops to suicide prevention in the Akoigahara forest, or just in suicide in general in Japan? And how can the Japanese government move Japanese culture out of suicide culture and out of “samurai ethics” to where dying by your hand with a sword is seen as heroic?          

Methods

In this paper, I was identifying the Japanese culture and the target population I used was the Japanese people. The sampling method that was used was simple random sampling. This was used to make sure that the data collected were randomly collected to make the sample more realistic to what was trying to be found. In this case that was suicide culture in Japan and why it revolved around the Akoigahara forest. I used articles on COVID-19 affecting suicide rates to find if the suicide rates had indeed increased in Japan at all in the past 4 years since the COVID-19 pandemic had taken place. To calculate the suicide rate increases or declines, there were graphs used to keep track of ages, sexes, and how frequently those were involved in the increase or decline of suicide in Japan. Also used were kids in elementary schools, junior high school, and senior high schools, for a younger age group as well. 

For the data collection, there was a DID model used. This was to find and keep track of the long-term suicide trend and its seasonality during COVID-19. Since COVID-19 suicide rates rapidly increased once again, this caused a quasi-experimental research design that produced data that went along with the observed trends that the research design harmonized with. The DID model is used to easily comprehend the comprehensive dataset that compared the suicide rates from November 2019 to January 2020, and February to October 2020. This was then compared to the previous three years, from November 2016 to October 2019. This is done to cancel out the long-term suicide trend in Japan. 

This is how we got increased and declined suicide rates in Japanese society before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Showing how the pandemic raised suicide rates from a declining suicide society, to being rapid once again. Japanese suicide culture is a heavy topic, especially when people go to the Akoigahara forest to die alone, or they think they are alone.     

References

VICE Japan. (2012, December 14th). 自殺の森青木ヶ原 - Suicide Forest. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI5kX6d5Kv8. 

Teo A.R., & Gaw A.C. (2010). Hikikomori, a Japanese culture-bound syndrome of social withdrawal? A proposal for DSM-5. J Nerv Ment Dis, 198 (6), 444-9. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181e086b1

Tanaka, T., & Okamoto, S. (2021). Increase in suicide following an initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Nat Hum Behav 5, 229–238. Doi: 10.1038/s41562-020-01042-z

Isumi A., Doi S., Yanaoka Y., Takahashi K., & Fujiwara T. (2020). Do suicide rates in children and adolescents change during school closure in Japan? The acute effect of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health. Child Abuse and Neglect, 110. Doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104680 

Nakamura K., Batterham P.J., Chen J., & Calear A.L. (2021). Levels and predictors of suicide stigma and suicide literacy in Japan. Psychiatry Research Communications, 1. Doi: 10.1016/j.psycom.2021.100009

O’Kane M.R. (2016). Geographies of Suicide and the Representation of Self-Sacrifice in Japanese Popular Culture and Media. Doi: N/A

Mckenna T. (2015). The Suicide Forest: A Marxist Analysis of the High Suicide Rate in Japan. Rethinking Marxism, 27:2, 293-302, doi: 10.1080/08935696.2015.1007789

Chang K.Y. (2022). “A Perfect Place to Die”: Thinking the EcoGothic, Darkness, and the Dark Sweet in Gus Van Sant’s The Sea of Trees. SARE, Ecogothic Asia: Nature Asia and the Gothic Imagination. 59 (1). Doi: 10.22452/sare.vol59no1.7 

Picone M. (2012). Suicide and the Afterlife: Popular Religion and the Standardisation of ‘Culture’ in Japan. Cult Med Psychiatry, 36:391-408. Doi: 10.1007/s11013-012-9261-3

[yon-yon-writes]

The Tragedy of Macbeth: His Death, Historically Inaccurate

By: Yon-Yon

Macbeth is a beautiful, brutal, and bloody play written by none other than William Shakespeare himself in 1606. The play was written as a tribute to King James I a few months after he had become king of England. He was a patron of Shakespeare’s company which allowed him to write and have his plays performed live for an audience. Shakespeare wrote this particular play about the tragedy based on the real-life events of King Macbeth and how he gained the throne of Scotland. Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is still so relevant to today’s history and culture due to the play being about how the role of jealousy, greed, and the overarching ambition in the downfall of men, women, and some children. Not everything in Macbeth is historically accurate though, as the main source for Macbeth was based on the Holinshed’s Chronicles. A very famous scene that is not at all historically accurate is Macbeth’s death. This scene is important as it ended Macbeth’s rule of the Scottish throne, but comparing it to the actual event, the original plays scene, and the movie scene from The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) will be interesting as they are all portrayed differently in how Macbeth is killed. 

Macbeth’s death took place in the battle of Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire by Malcolm’s hand and with the help of the English army in 1057, which was 17 years after Macbeth had killed his cousin King Duncan I, who was Malcolm’s father. Malcolm wanted to avenge his father’s death, by overthrowing Macbeth, and to do so he fled to England to get help from the English king to help him raise an army to defeat Macbeth. Malcolm brings the British army with him to Scotland 17 years later to make his move to kill King Macbeth for the throne. Once he was slain, Malcolm was crowned as Malcolm III in 1058. In Shakespeare’s play adaptation of Macbeth’s history, Macbeth was slain by Macduff, Thane of Fife who declared Malcolm the new King of Scotland. This is how the play Macbeth’s death is different from the actual history of Scotland’s King Macbeth. 

In Macbeth the play, the scene starts out with Macbeth talking about how he would not commit suicide, where Macduff then enters the stage telling him to turn around. They have a short dialogue that goes back and forth with each other. Then they start to fight, and while they are fighting they begin to again exchange words with each other, where Macduff tells Macbeth to “yield thee, coward” (5.7.35, 967). Macbeth refuses to yield, not wanting to have to “kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet” (5.7.58, 967) as they then continue fighting with each other. Macbeth is then slain by Macduff, with his head cut off, as Macduff drags Macbeth’s body off stage. Macduff then takes Macbeth’s decapitated head to Malcolm, who is then pronounced King of Scotland. As the army starts to chant “Hail, King Of Scotland!” (5.7.88, 968). 

The movie The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), the screenplay written, directed, and produced by Joel Coen, was a black-and-white film adaption of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. This film was captured quite beautifully in the camera angle shots, the visuals, the way scenes changed, and the way they added blackbirds as a motif into the film for more emphasis on death as a concept throughout the film. The film portrayed some aspects of the play as either different than what they really were or added features to the play to make it more exciting and thrilling to watch than it would be to just watch the play on a stage. Specifically, Macbeth’s death scene in the film took place on a lookout spot on one of his castle walls. The same lines from the play were said but they didn't start fighting until after all the dialogue, unlike the play. The way they filmed the fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff was really amazing as it only focused on the two of them fighting, no one else, and never showed the armies fighting. This was a good idea to keep the focus on Macbeth getting killed by Macduff. The way they fought in such an enclosed, tight space really added to the suspense of who would win the fight. We already know who would win based on the play, but if someone who didn't know was watching it would keep them on their toes. Something that was a really great touch to his death scene, was when Macduff knocked Macbeth's crown off of his head and onto the ground. Macbeth cared only about being king and needed to pick it up, so he knocked Macduff backward as he went to pick up the crown, as he stood up straight to put the crown back upon his head he was decapitated as Macbeth had no way to defend himself in such a quick time. When Macduff struck Macbeth, killing him, the crown from Macbeth’s hand went flying into the air.

Comparing these scenes is difficult but also not, as the scene from the play is only words, there’s no visual representation of exactly how things are being done, and how things look. The movie, however, shows the visual side of the play, but not the exact same as the play. The things are quite different but are mostly the same. Most of what is done are to make the story flow better for how the movie is captured, but in film, you can make anything happen with CGI. In a play set, this is much harder to do. As the play is the original work of Macbeth, the play is what went off the making of the screenplay for The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Joel Coen, the screenplay writer, director, and producer, did a beautiful job capturing Shakespeare’s imagery from the play, to put into the movie. This allowed for the motifs to be able to be shown which is something that can’t be done on a staged set. Joel Coen talks about how he built similarities between Shakespeare’s play and the film by using parallel editing. Parallel editing is when you cut back and forth between scenes that are happening at the same time, “How brilliant Shakespeare was as a dramatist,” he said, “to anticipate that kind of [visual] storytelling.” (Tichenor, 2022). Coen used this type of editing in Macbeth’s death scene. It cut between Malcolm talking to his army back to Macbeth with a beautiful transition. Then, the fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff begins. After Macbeth is killed, the scene switches to Malcolm being shown that Macbeth is indeed dead, and is given the crown.

The film and play are of course acted out by different people in each role, this can not really be controlled due to filming time, actors aging, and actors just not fitting the role how the director wants them to. In the film, The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Macbeth is played by an African American man named, Denzel Washington, who does a beautiful job portraying Macbeth in the film. When the film first came out people wondered why Macbeth, someone from Scotland, was being played by an African American. The actors and actresses that play characters, play characters and don't always fit the perfect description of the characters that they get cast to play. This was something many people didn’t like as it wasn't “accurate”. If an actor fits the role, the actor fits the role. This is something that should not matter in film or in any occupation. That being said, this was a major difference though, from how the play was most likely written during the time of 1606.

        That being said the film, The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) and the play Macbeth are both very similar in their portrayal of the story, especially in Macbeth’s death scene. The film and play though, are both historically inaccurate but are very close to being historically accurate with Macbeth’s death. A reason that Shakespeare didn’t write for Malcolm to kill Macbeth, might be because he wanted to add something a little more dramatic and unknown to the historical event. Malcolm still becomes the King of Scotland, Malcolm brings an army (but not the English army), and the death of Macbeth is the only historic event that is correct. Leaving the rest of the tragedy of Macbeth a mystery, for the interpreter’s imagination.          

Works Cited

“Dates and Sources: Macbeth: Royal Shakespeare Company.” Royal Shakespeare Company, https://www.rsc.org.uk/macbeth/about-the-play/dates-and-sources#:~:text=Macbeth%20is%20based%20on%20the,plot%20to%20overthrow%20King%20Duncan.

“Macbeth: The Prisoner of Gender.” Proquest, https://www.proquest.com/openview/2a23a2cbb5120e46257b5130075d124b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819311.

Editors, History.com. “King Macbeth Is Killed by Malcolm Canmore.” HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 21 July 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/malcolm-slays-macbeth. 

“King Macbeth's Family Tree.” LeRoy, http://leroy-quebec.weebly.com/king-macbeths-family-tree.html. 

Editors, Biography.com. “Macbeth Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 2 Apr. 2014, https://www.biography.com/royalty/macbeth. 

Tichenor, Austin, and is the creator of The Shakespereance; co-artistic director of the Reduced Shakespeare Company; and the co-author of Pop-Up Shakespeare (illustrated by Jennie Maizels); the irreverent reference book Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention. “The Tragedy of Macbeth: The Power of Restriction in Joel Coen's Film.” Folger Shakespeare Library The Power of Restriction Joel Coens The Tragedy of Macbeth Comments, Folger Shakespeare Library, 14 Jan. 2022, https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/tragedy-of-macbeth-film-joel-coen/. 

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Wordsworth Editions, 1992.

Coen, Joel, director. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Apple Original Films A24 IAC, 2021. 

[yon-yon-writes]

Het Goud van de Bloedkoning (The Gold of the Blood King)

By: Yon-Yon

[yon-yon-writes]

Why are anime women and girls so hypersexualized?

By: Yon-Yon

Abstract

In American society, it is very clear that many men sexualize and objectify women, whether it’s out in public, in private, or over social media. Many women deal with and try to avoid these situations in person. In anime, women and girls can’t “avoid” being objectified because the stories are written to portray women in this way.

For certain reasons, many men watch certain, specific animes that will be desirable to them. In any given episode of an anime, there’s usually at least one female character whose body is hypersexualized. Many anime writers do this on purpose to bring in viewers for the anime, especially for 少年 shōnen, which is an anime targeted at young boys (13-17)  more than young women or girls. However, in 少女 shōjo, which is targeted towards young girls (13-17), they are not objectified as much. Of course, these two types of anime/manga are very different in appealing to their intended audiences. For 少年 shōnen, the main focus is on action, adventure, and sexualizing young girls, whereas 少女 shōjo is more romantic, which doesn't normally have any action or adventure, focusing instead on a slice of life and romance anime.

Introduction 

Anime is portrayed to people differently depending on the anime, but also depending on how that person views the contents of that specific anime. In several animes, and even in mangas, characters are hypersexualized. This is called fanservice when an anime or manga has sexual components in it to just appease the audience without a real reason for the plot. It’s important to recognize that hypersexualizing characters in anime is something that needs to stop. There’s a certain genre specifically for anime that is meant to be sexualized, called hentai. 

When talking about the hypersexualizing of anime, the question that usually comes to mind is, why? That question is easily answered. The audience is more likely to be drawn in when you have something sexualized in an anime than if it’s anything else. A giant example of this is Food Wars. This anime is about cooking contests–that are sexual. The people who eat the food are “sexually turned on.” There are memes about this anime about people stripping their clothes when they eat good food. One thing that is not known about hypersexualizing anime girls is, “Why is it so out there?” Why does the anime have to have it be such a front screen and be so known that it’s sexual? Little teasing here and there in an anime would draw more people in than showing everything off at once, in my opinion. To discuss this in more depth, I’ll show examples of different animes and their fanservice to show how it’s hypersexualized and how they could have been changed to not include the hypersexuality of the character.

Methodology 

This topic is hard to look for within databases, but I will be looking to see if Clarkson has anything on this topic (though I doubt they will). This is a tricky topic to be writing about, solely for the fact that finding good sources within and out of databases has nothing about this topic. Most articles I found on this topic were from the news, people's debates, and discussions about the topic online. Google Scholar, I will find some sources there, but probably only on specific animes and not this issue as a whole. Some good keywords are anime girls, magical girls, and hypersexualizing [of] anime girls.  From what I’ve seen, there are no “main authors” in this field. This is a topic people don’t talk about much or don’t get seen talking about. One article I found was full of old animes that were made in the 80’s and 90’s. The article is by Annalee Newitz, published in 1995. Probably one of the first articles ever written on this subject. However, it is about Magical girl animes specifically and not the hypersexuality of anime girls as a whole. 

Literature Review

The best article I found on this was by Annalee Newtiz, who is an American journalist but also an author and writer. They wrote this article about magical girls' animes specifically. Having never seen a magical girls anime myself, do not know about the topic besides what I have read about them online. Another author is Alexis Brazier; they are a Cell Culture Process Development Scientist at United Therapeutics Corporation. They wrote about how the hypersexualizing of women in anime is not okay and how it needs to be changed. Both of their concerns were how it's becoming more and more popular in the media, not just within American media, and how it needs to be changed to non-sexualized in the media. 

A big concern for Annalee Newtiz is how Americans used to take Japanese anime videos, translate, and edit them to then resell them to American audiences. She says “...that it essentially allows them to "steal" Japanese culture away from Japan.” (Annalee Newtiz, Magical Girls and Atomic Bomb Sperm: Japanese Animation in America). She was using this to compare how people are taking the sexualizing of animes and then hypersexualizing it for more people to enjoy. For Alexia Brazier, their biggest concern is girls and women in anime are hypersexualized; where it has affected women who watch anime to either stop watching the anime because it makes them uncomfortable because of how they are represented or to completely drop the anime. “I am significantly limited to the number of anime I can enjoy.” (Alexia Brazier, Hypersexualization of women in anime is not okay). This causes the industry to lose a big portion of its views on anime. 

These articles will be a big part of the debate over why, how, and what should change in this argument. However, it is a struggle knowing if they have seen some animes and experienced them firsthand or just did research for the articles. The other articles I have will be used to provide points or to add discussion to this paper, as they are forum posts on Reddit and Crunchyroll. Using the information I gathered, I will provide my opinion, my reasonings, and a conclusion on my thoughts for why, how, and what should change in anime.

Argument/Exploration 

For anime being so hypersexualized, it’s not only an easy question to answer, but it also has different components that make it such an interesting topic to talk about, read, and write about. Within anime, several things go into making it hypersexualized and having it become a concern. 

Anime has become a very globalized genre of shows to watch that are originally from Japan. They have several different genres within it; each one is made for a certain audience. Focusing mostly on 少年 shōnen and セネンseinen (meaning young man, this type of anime has characters that are teens or young adults). Many people in these fandoms take the sexualization of the characters to a new, disturbing level. Anime, after all, is art; human bodies are also art. I stand by the human body being a piece of art, but sometimes you don’t need to have the human body objectified in that way, or it’s just not necessary–especially if the person’s body is that of a minor. Anime is drawn to show the human body as beautiful art that viewers benefit from when we watch thousands of hours of hard work, being animated and produced for us.  

This topic is drawn to sexuality and globalization because of the number of people that hypersexualize two-dimensional fictional characters around the world, anime, in particular, making them seem to be only sexual objects. They are not only treated like sexual objects to the author, the other characters, and the audience but are also seen as nothing more than girls with emotional issues. These emotional issues are sexualizing women’s and girls’ personalities, giving them only one, two, or maybe three emotions and goals to achieve. They often show women in anime as nothing more than sexual, weak objects with no emotional or character arc.

These characters are usually seen as incompetent to do anything besides what's within their emotional range, for example, the basic ones: Tsundere, dandere, kuudere, yandere (Tsundere are anime girls (and boys) who are usually hotheaded and sometimes evne hostile but later on becomes friendly and loving. Dandere are anime girls (and boys) who are usually quiet, and emotionless until with someone special. Kuudere are anime girls (and boys) who are cold and dont care if people close to them die. Yandere are anime girls (and boys) who are very loving, caring and gently but become brutal or even violent). A quote by Alexis Brazier, ”These characters are unrealistic, and frustrating to watch as a woman who knows these characters only exist to be fetishized.”

In a favorite anime of mine, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji Ikari, the main character, uses a copilot, Asuka Shouya, in a vulnerable state (when she was unconscious in the hospital) to his sexual advantage. He knowingly uses her body as nothing more than a sexual object for his enjoyment. The writers portray that plot element as a maturing stage of his life, but in the end, and only in the end, Shinji knows he is in the wrong. Shinji also has another mishap with another one of his co-pilots, Rei Ayanami, where he accidentally falls on top of her when she’s completely naked.

In addition, countless other characters from other anime are sexualized similarly to this, such as in Darling in the FranXX, for instance, as great as this anime is for its slice-of-life and romance plot, the fanservice is overly gratuitous in the first few episodes, showing Zero Two’s complete upper body naked, except for her nipples. Not to mention, the way the characters sit inside the robots they control for Darling in the FranXX is just overly for fanservice. The men sit behind the young girls, who are on their hands and knees. The author drew the characters like this for fanservice for the readers. Later on in the show, they get acid on their suits, which affects the young girls more than the men, by having their vaginas and asses displayed for the men because of their piloting position.

Another example of this is from One Piece, an anime I haven't seen, but based on what is said in this article on The Artifice, Nami (a character from One Piece) used to be portrayed as a badass thief, but later on in the anime, she’s sexualized to be portrayed as a woman with big boobs instead. “The overall quality of the One Piece anime is suffering, and the only reason Nami has become ridiculously developed is to attract viewers.” quoting the author of the article on Artifice.

Depending on the genre of anime it’s meant for, the fanservice should be minimal to none. You shouldn’t have to attract viewers by sexualizing characters. The best anime to prove that this is true is Attack on Titan. Being a 少年 shōnen anime, it is one of the very few that doesn’t sexualize female characters to an extreme. Mikasa is the only character that is somewhat sexualized; being deeply in love with Eren, she is portrayed as obsessed with him. In the Attack on Titan manga, she’s not portrayed like this at all. 

This goes to show that the animes that are outside the explicit genres of anime tend to hypersexualize female characters to attract audiences. As sick as it is, the fanservice over the years has only gotten worse within anime. However, not all anime treat women as flat, objectified characters. Some have no fanservice and have never really sexualized their men or women characters, such as Attack on Titan, Parasyte, and A Silent Voice.

Conclusion 

For anime, it is a known question as to why female characters are hypersexualized. Though for many animes, it’s obvious it’s for the money and views to make it successful. Though sometimes it’s just how the author wrote it for the plot. Anime is still, even now, portrayed to people differently depending on the anime, but also depending on how that person views the contents of that certain anime. The fanservice in an anime may bother some people, while the fanservice in the same anime doesn’t bother someone else. It’s also good to recognize that not all anime is hypersexualized. There are plenty of kid animes, animes without fanservice, and there’s plenty of hentai. It’s important to recognize that hypersexualizing characters in anime is something that needs to stop, especially if it is for views. My full opinion on this is it does need to be toned down, but I think it can also give the anime character as a whole. I get that some people don’t like some animes because of a character having a certain personality trait that’s sexualized, but that’s where you just don’t watch it and move on. The hypersexualizing needs to stop to where it’s unrealistic and just to make horny teenagers happy; sadly though, this is a very improbable assumption since most animes and mangas are sold internationally to many people to enjoy, who will one way or another sexualize the women and girls in the anime.

Works Cited

Pictures in paper:

Alexis Brazieron October 2, 2015 InOpinions. "Hypersexualization of Women in Anime Is Not Okay." Technique. 02 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2021. https://nique.net/opinions/2015/10/02/hypersexualization-of-women-in-anime-is-not-okay/ 

U/LeifEriksonASDF. "R/NoStupidQuestions - Why Is Anime so Sexual?" Reddit. 2018. Web. 24 Mar. 2021. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/7eb74l/why_is_anime_so_sexual/ 

Iblessall. "Hypersexualization of Anime." Crunchyroll. 27 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2021. https://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-818939/hypersexualization-of-anime

Wilson, Derek. "Gaming as a Path to Sexual Assault: A Content Analysis of Fan Comments in Response to a Virtual Reality Sexual Assault Discussion." GRASP 2017. Jodie Hertzog. Web. https://soar.wichita.edu/bitstream/handle/10057/13344/Wilson_2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 

"Anime in America: The Adverse Affect on Women." The Artifice. Web. https://the-artifice.com/anime-women/ 

OpinionsGabriela Vasquez-Rondon — Published March 17, 2021 9 Minutes, 2019 Sheena Macmillan – October 14, 2014 Gabriel Waino-Théberge – February 10, 2017 Erika Morris – March 6, and 2016 Jennifer Aedy – March 21. "The Anime Industry Needs to Stop Hyper-sexualizing Underaged Girls: Opinions." The Link. Web. https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/the-anime-industry-needs-to-stop-hypersexualization-underaged-girls 

Trinidad, Cameron Winston & Nicole, and Cindy Proaño. "Hypersexualization Plagues Anime Storylines." Daily Titan. 05 Mar. 2021. Web. 11 Apr. 2021. https://dailytitan.com/opinion/hypersexualization-plagues-anime-storylines/article_2f91db1c-7c92-11eb-8b7b-73b24a12e8f6.html 

Newitz, Annalee. "[PDF] Magical Girls and Atomic Bomb Sperm: Japanese Animation in America: Semantic Scholar." Undefined. 01 Jan. 1995. Web. 11 Apr. 2021. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Magical-Girls-and-Atomic-Bomb-Sperm%3A-Japanese-in-Newitz/d49f4064f500345cbe67c96cd0ec6234fb0325da?p2df 

"The Sexual Objectification of Female Characters." M A N G A  and  G E N D E R. Web. 11 Apr. 2021. https://mangaandgender.weebly.com/the-sexual-objectification-of-female-characters.html