The Struggle for Gender Equality

The show Attack on Titan popularized by its amazing story and interesting premise takes a bold stance on gender equality especially in the episode “I Can Hear His Heartbeat.” In this episode Hajime Isayama, the creator of the show, makes a clear attempt to push that women are as strong and capable as men.

Throughout the episode there are two females that stand out the most as very strong individuals. They go by the names Mikasa and Gabi. Despite being on opposing sides of the same battle they have very similar personalities. They both are extremely brave and valiant, willing to die if they have to.

In the middle of the episode Gabi shows her courage by deciding to infiltrate the enemy blimp by herself in an attempt to kill the people on board. This scene alone proves how strong she is to pick a fight with 20 or more people by herself at the young age of 12. Her friend tries to talk her out of going by saying “Gabi… Don’t tell me you’re thinking of boarding it!” and “You’ll just end up dead, idiot!” but she responded with “Tell my mom and dad… That I fought to the end.” showing that once she made up her mind to go she was all in and ended up boarding the blimp anyway. Most people in this situation would run away and in the show everyone else actually did; Gabi however, isn’t like everyone else and is much more confident and brave.

Mikasa is another outstanding character who rushes into the face of danger to save her friend from dying. In saving him she helps change the tides of the battle for her people and ends up giving them the overall win at the end of the day. Mikasa is a big inspiration for the main character of the show and she helps him to be a stronger person. Since they were little she was a person who would stick up for him and stop people from bullying him.

Both of these female characters break traditional tropes and stereotypes that are pushed by the media. Oftentimes men will think women should stay at home, or cook and clean which are some very common, yet hazardous stereotypes. With development in technology, freedom, and the way people think, that kind of thing is in the past, and while some families may push these ideologies to their children or perhaps grandchildren. The era of gender inequality is over which is made present clearly in this show, and many other kinds of media.

This episode of Attack on Titan is quality media. Women like these are very empowering for the viewers and the episode sends the message that many things could not have been accomplished without equality and diversity. I can see this episode inspiring many young women and not just them, people in general. This episode could be a deciding factor that someone is looking for to make a change in their life or to become a better person or even seek out new opportunities.