» further comments on the female scientist
Kitajima fascinates me as a character. In many ways she adheres to long-standing female scientist stereotypes — she's bright but socially stunted, she's brilliant but frequently imperiled. In other ways however, she is a subtle subversion of the animated female scientist — a persona capable of being both woman and scientist without the usual trappings of marriage and family. Far less cohesive than my original examination of Kitajima as an archetypical female scientist, this article is broken up into sub-headings of interest revolving around the duality inherent in Kitajima as a character.
» brilliant Vs. brainless
One of the problems with the representation of female scientists in fiction is the "tell but don't show" method of character intelligence revelation. A female scientist is either labeled or described as being "an expert" or "a leader in her field", with there being some recognition of her brilliance by those around her (be they in the form of a doctorate, frequent allusions to "genius" or some straight up "HOLY SHIT, SHE IS THE BEST NUCLEAR PHYSICIST EVAH" crap). The only problem is, when her brains are put to the test she crumbles. Silly women, you should leave science to men!
This is covered by Eva Flicker in her paper, Between brains and breasts—women scientists in fiction film: on the marginalization and sexualization of scientific competence. A female scientist who is allegedly brilliant but actually needs to Learn Her Damn Lesson About The Real World is dubbed a "Naive Expert". The implication is that you can be female OR you can be brilliant, there's no mixing of the two. Female scientists can be lauded by their peers as "geniuses" but should they be forced to confront the realities of their particular field, they'll quickly crumble.
In many ways, Kitajima is a female scientist bound by these rules. We're told that she is an expert in her field from the get-go, but for all her ambition she rarely participates in any active scientific experiments. Usually she observes without relevant comment and, when push comes to shove, she needs someone to whisk her away from danger because she's utterly useless when it comes to confrontation. By the same token however, there are several ways in which she is shown as capable. For example, when she is left battered on the submarine after Nanami's betrayal she manages to swim ashore + restrain the dragons + contact the ISDA alone. Her scientific competency is rather technically limited (though she spouts a decent amount of series-specific jargon), but this issue also plagues Nozaki (who similarly plays the role of observer rather than active scientific participant). The idea of limited technical literacy for Kitajima is countered somewhat in the manga, where it is shown that she developed the portable CSS field generator on her own.
So beautiful? Sure. Brainless? Not at all. Limited by the series' overall technical inadequacy? Bingo. Kitajima is indeed portrayed as an expert whose talents are rarely expanded upon, but Nozaki is also defined by this limitation — it's a general issue with scientist characters in the series, not specifically the female scientist alone. Also, lol Dragonaut.
» science vs. romance
Science and romance can rarely co-exist for heterosexual female scientists in animated fiction. Male scientists can opt into romance (though usually their first passion is science), but if a woman devotes herself to a scientific career, she will either go unnoticed by the man she cares about (Dr. Amagi [Koutetsu Tenshi Kurumi], Nanamori Sayoko [RahXephon]) or an existing romantic relationship will be destroyed by her passion for research (Cher Degre [Wolf's Rain]). The only way to get your man is to do away with your career and acknowledge that it was ruining your romantic prospects, otherwise you will end up miserable and/or dead. That's right ladies, having a "masculine" profession means you'll never get laid! Quit your career and consider the kitchen, then he'll be sure to marry you!
There are scant few exceptions to the anime miserable/dead rule. Most female scientists who survive until the end of their series without suffering romantic/physical doom are the ones that never aspired to engage in romantic relationships to begin with (Rakshata from Code Geass). Heck, even female scientists who seem to have few compromises lose out when it comes to romance and family (see: Washu's miserable past in Tenchi Muyo!). Very few are able to gain everything they set out to achieve, with Julia from Blood+ being a notable exception (and let's not forget that she needed taking down a peg or two before she could unlock her happy ending).
The line in the sand is easily drawn — if you're a female scientist, you either want love and you can't get it without a serious compromise, or you're disinterested in romance and don't score (or care to). Don't think you can just engage in a sexual affair and still not be bound by the miserable/dead rule either (see: both Akagis from Evangelion). Female scientists who have sex outside of romance tend to get their miserable/dead comeuppance in the end. Sex does not equal romance and, as a woman, your goal should be *~romance~* before sex anyway (what with all your feminine *~emotions~* and crap).
Kitajima stands out as an interesting exception to this rule in several ways.
1) She manages to interact considerably with two male characters yet not end up dead or wholly miserable by the end of the series. While she loses Nozaki to the battle with Thanatos, she herself does not end up dead — or *~destroyed~* without him. In fact, Kitajima smiles through her tears and enjoys Yonamine's support even in the face of her dragon's death. The world is spared and she's able to continue living her life WITHOUT DROPPING DEAD OR BEING MOROSE.
2) She leaves her position within the ISDA but never ceases to be involved in scientific experiments or monitoring. She's never "forced" to stop being interested in dragons, her passion for the species helps fuel a desire for a better future. She continues to devote herself to the protection of dragons without having to GB2KITCHEN or anything similarly stupid.
3) While her relationship with Nozaki is of key importance to her character, it is arguably platonic. Their relationship is definitely loving, but there is little along the lines of true romantic or sexual interest. They simply cherish and support one another in their goal to better understand each other's species. A platonic love between male and female scientists? GET OUT!
4) It is implied she dated and (gasp) continues to fuck around around with Yonamine, but this doesn't automatically equate to a marriage and babies end. This is fifty shades of awesome. She is able to have a saucy love/hate relationship without being trapped by a serious romantic commitment. They just have what they have without compromising their careers. Hell, Yonamine supports Kitajima's passion for science - frequently going out of his way to bring her things she might find interesting (long before he reports it in to his superiors). While there's arguably a considerable amount of romantic tension between the pair (x10 if you're watching the dub - holy shit), this doesn't translate into a romantic conclusion for either of them.
While Kitajima stands out as a female scientist in anime who doesn't have to choose between happiness and doom, she still does make some compromises across the series. Like Julia from Blood+, her ambition is brought down to size when it becomes "threatening". Neither character loses her ambition completely (they keep on truckin'), but both are forced to re-evaluate their priorities by the men in their lives. Being put "back on the right track" doesn't happen exclusively to female scientists, but it is still a fairly common occurrence. What makes Kitajima interesting is that she never takes the "easy" route of retirement, even when space dragons try to kill her. She thinks things through and simply continues on - in anime, this is sadly rare.
The female scientists of anime are varied in their appearances and motivations, but rarely in their inability to overcome inherent issues of engendering present in the universal female scientist archetypes. As members of a masculine field of thought and employment, female scientists in anime tend to be "hysterical" and in need of more balance in their lives. If they interact closely with male characters, this balance usually entails a romantic desire that, if consummated, tends to end in retirement and babies. If left to fester unsupported, the character is consumed by darkness - doomed to miserable spinsterhood or lonely death.
I rather like Kitajima because she ends up sacrificing some things/learning others without being forced to pick a suitor and leave her life as a scientist behind. She might not be the most nuanced female scientist in anime, but she certainly does set a bold example for the archetype.
» classic vs. current
The way Kitajima is portrayed as a female scientist links back to classic representations of women scientists in cult cinema. It could be argued that creators of Dragonaut have embraced some modern trends in her portrayal as well. Chrisopher Frayling explains the common roles of female scientists in classic cinema throughout the chapter "IT, SON OF THEM" in his book, Mad, bad and dangerous? the scientist and the cinema. His comments are as follows:
"The women tended to be research assistants or career scientists with boys' names who badly needed to rediscover their feminine mystique, or else clever members of the team who instantly turned into simpering victims when the mutant lumbered towards them. As someone says of a glamorous researcher in Hell and High Water (1954): 'Why would a girl who looks like that get mixed up in science?' 'It' was occasionally presented as being particularly in synch with 'She': in Them! it is the female scientist who intuits that the queen ant has laid her eggs... So 'It' was sometimes feminized by association. Which did not, of course, make the image of the female scientist any more attractive." (p201)
Kitajima is, in many ways, a character that keeps with some very 50s concepts regarding women in the field of science. She is the glamorous researcher, a ridiculous high-heel wearing fashionista whose beauty overtakes her competence in the minds of most viewers. Indeed, why would a girl like Kitajima get mixed up in science? As Frayling goes on to suggest, even in modern films, female scientists (particularly pretty ones) require an "explanation" of their career choice. While male scientists can simply enjoy science for the sake of science, women need a biographical story to justify their decision to partake in a "male" career. Frayling notes that...
"A fascination with science and problem-solving never seems to be quite enough. And there's usually a moment when, after all the build-up about 'leader in her field', the story goes into 'honey, I shrunk my brain." (p223)
Kitajima departs from the archetype in this regard. As we are shown repeatedly through flashbacks to the past twenty years of her life, she has always been passionate about researching dragons. While Nozaki comes along and becomes the 'It' with which she synchronizes, this twist doesn't occur until two years before the start of the series — Kitajima had already been working in her field of research for some eighteen years by this point! She has never been impacted by a dragon-related tragedy, nor has she ever been passionate about anything else (save for her brief affair with Yonamine). Kitajima has always been about science, first and foremost. In this sense, she could be likened to Ellie from the movie Contact. Both women are key scientists in their fields with an interest in extraterrestrials. Neither has a personal life that is the focus of her story, though both are shown as being somewhat socially inept. Ellie and Kitajima alike survive a brush with something truly incredible, each learning her own answers in the process.
While Contact and Dragonaut are modern science fiction titles with progressive leanings in their portrayal of female scientists, they both still adhere to some old ideals. Kitajima and Ellie are unable to function socially — a scientist trope that never seems to die. They are also attractive (though Ellie dresses this down) and relatively young for women in their field (unrealistically so, to an extent). In keeping with Frayling's notes above, both female scientists have notable intuitive links with the "monsters" in their respective stories. Modern fiction clearly still has a long way to go in its portrayal of female scientists, though transitional characters like Ellie (and Kitajima) are important sign-posts on the road to more inventive portrayals.
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