I also feel that another strength of manga is its range and variety, mostly not being used right now to show rape in more than one light. Current portrayals of rape could be better balanced by more thoughtful portrayals of the internal and external conflict of both characters involved, without taking the easy way out and dropping the manga storyline once the relationship has progressed past a certain point. I don't agree with the poster's decision to divide rape into 'typical' and 'conflicted' - surely no rape can be typical, or without conflict?
It's important to remember that manga (and indeed the media in general) is not a feminist vehicle. A manga does not have to win feminist approval to be valid and important, just as a woman who is raped and decides to continue a relationship with that person deserves neither vilification nor disdain. An individual's reaction to rape is so personal, I don't think it's for us to judge whether or not a mangaka's 'morals' should be called into question if she decides to paint her heroine as less than feminist for responding in a certain way. We don't live in a feminist world, not all women think in a feminist way, and women who have been raped may well be convinced of true love behind the act, blaming herself and certain it won't happen again, or determined to work through it on her own without affecting the people around her. That's life.
If rape scenarios were just presented in greater variety, and the responses of the characters were examined more thoroughly, rather than the self-serving manner romance shoujo often use to dismiss long-term emotional consequences, then I would find it hard to view the rape in shoujo as a trend rather than simply as subject matter, along with romance, friendships, betrayals and loss. Rape happens, and it should be acknowledged, but it could definitely be treated with more weight and insight than is presently the case.
no subject
It's important to remember that manga (and indeed the media in general) is not a feminist vehicle. A manga does not have to win feminist approval to be valid and important, just as a woman who is raped and decides to continue a relationship with that person deserves neither vilification nor disdain. An individual's reaction to rape is so personal, I don't think it's for us to judge whether or not a mangaka's 'morals' should be called into question if she decides to paint her heroine as less than feminist for responding in a certain way. We don't live in a feminist world, not all women think in a feminist way, and women who have been raped may well be convinced of true love behind the act, blaming herself and certain it won't happen again, or determined to work through it on her own without affecting the people around her. That's life.
If rape scenarios were just presented in greater variety, and the responses of the characters were examined more thoroughly, rather than the self-serving manner romance shoujo often use to dismiss long-term emotional consequences, then I would find it hard to view the rape in shoujo as a trend rather than simply as subject matter, along with romance, friendships, betrayals and loss. Rape happens, and it should be acknowledged, but it could definitely be treated with more weight and insight than is presently the case.