BEYOND THE PROTAGONISM

ANIMES, FEMALE EMPOWERMENT AND BEING THE AUTHOR OF YOUR OWN PATH IN THE LIGHT OF PHENOMENOLOGY

Abstract

In several audiovisual productions, the protagonists are portrayed with the feminine ideal: fragile, innocent and dependent on male figures. Concomitant to this fact, productions appear in the opposite direction: Japanese animations with female and child protagonists, in which male characters serve as support, as opposed to salvation. In these works, they demonstrate their own authorship through female capacity; on adventures, solving problems, discovering worlds and themselves. Thus, the objective of this study, a report on scientific initiation research, is to understand the pluridimensionality of being a woman in the midst of art productions that express representativeness, under the bias of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology. The research bias is qualitative, with a descriptive and exploratory characteristic, based on the phenomenological-psychological method. Obtaining data through a recorded audio phenomenological interview that started from a guiding question and data analysis based on Maurice Merleau-Ponty's framework. 7 female viewers of Japanese animation (anime) are collaborating in the research. The following categories were created: Anime-learning: another look at life and relationships; The facets of machismo: reality influences anime; Being an author, I design my own path: the contribution of female characters! It is concluded that the field of the theme offers a wide range of possibilities for analysis and research, as it involves an interdisciplinary approach, sociocultural influence and impacts on education, media and society.