Okay, so, I love animation, as you know. I’ve seen a lot of animated movies and shows in my time, especially featuring animal characters. Yet, they don’t give me the same spark that I used to have for them. If anything, by middle school, my “tomboyish” (read: baby-butch, gender non-conforming) self was tired to death of experiencing them in a lot of ways. I couldn’t put my finger on it, until much later. I realized that they were often trite, male-dominated (excluding the inevitable love interest), and, ultimately, much less untethered in human social mores than I initially thought. And as someone who was (is) probably more into animals due to them being cool and tough and uncontained regardless of sex, it was very disappointing to see that, even in movies made to be an escapist fantasy, the girl animals were often frightened, frail, conceited, delicate and coquettish just like in other media.
What’s more, they also all had the same “look” and didn’t offer much for cool character design at all.
They still don’t.
This is a comprehensive list of all the attributes that female characters physically display. Oftentimes, lady animal characters are just hodgepodges of 3 or 4 (sometimes more!) of like 20 different traits.
Please note that girl animals that are love interests tend to follow MORE of these tropes than side characters do, 5 or higher. Think about Sarabi from The Lion King compared to Nala. Since Nala was supposed to be the love interest, she had to be the “prettiest” in the cast (for some ungodly reason), while Sarabi, a mother, looked less striking.
[Abbreviations commonly used: TMC (than male counterparts), MMV (mileage may vary; maybe up to interpetation based on the situation at hand)]
Breast Bump, even on creatures that don’t have breasts at all
(Comparatively) long hair on head or the implication thereof
Imbalanced anthropomorphism (more human-like/has more human features for females tmc)
Building off the previous point, female characters have more clothes/are fully clothed tmc (including accessories such as necklaces or bows)
Softened facial exaggeration (in animation and/or design) to emphasize prettiness
“Defanged”/”Declawed” to seem less scary; that is to say, they have less or fewer sharp claws and teeth (or natural weaponry in general) tmc
Whiter scleras and teeth tmc
Smaller hands/feet/paws/talons/etc tmc
Implication of being “smoother” tmc
Rounder features/bodies tmc
Main coloration is something blonde-ish/light colored, sometimes a ruddy color (almost NEVER dark, esp darker tmc)
Has blue, sometimes green or, rarely, grey eyes (almost NEVER brown or black, ESPECIALLY if males have brown or black eyes. If they are brown, they are a brown lighter tmc)
Pink and blue dichotomy between female and male characters, resp
Makeup or impossibly impeccable grooming implied in natural fur/feather/scale/skin pattern (this INCLUDES mascara/long lashes and tweezed or drawn-on eyebrows)
Bigger eyes tmc
BONUS SPECIAL: ACTUAL animal dimorphism being done accurately, but played for laughs (usually at the expense of a smaller, male animal)
*passes #20 back to you*
One example here, with the tropes pointed out:
The Lion King, Simba and Nala
[#6 (whiskers), #9, #11, #12, #15, #17]
More examples of this under the cut, if you don’t believe me!
"You’re gonna survive. And good things are gonna start to happen again. And one day you may even look back and even this will not be such a bad thing.”
— Connie Britton as Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights, Season 4, Episode 7, In The Bag (via thingstotelldaniel)
Your physical size is literally utter bullshit to waste your time worrying about. The right people will love you no matter what. Promise.
Facebook is THE WORST thing to scroll through if you feel like shit about your life and that you’re not doing enough. Everyone romanticizes the shit out of their lives on Facebook.
Your first couple jobs you probably aren’t going to love. You’re working your way towards the career you want and most people don’t start right away in what they want to do, or even KNOW exactly what they want to do.
Anyone who is in their early - mid twenties and says their lives are great and act like they have their shit all sorted out are fucking L Y I N G and putting up a front. it’s bullshit.
Occasionally, rewatch your favorite movies and reread your favorite books from childhood. Sometimes it’s good to be nostalgic and feel that safe place for a bit.
You don’t have to smile just because someone wants you to or expects you to. Smile because you want to. Period.
Having BPD is like being on a rollercoaster that you never wanted to ride in the first place but everyone around you still accuses you of being too dramatic every time it drops
