You know half the reason why guys find THIS girl attractive is because she reads books, not just because she’s nerd-hot.
Yeah, lots of impressionable young men like Yomiko Readman for a lot of reasons, two of them being her meganekko moe and her librarian chic. But it probably runs a lot deeper, since most guys who want Yomiko Readman as their “waifu” are ironically male versions of the Yomiko archetype, only in some cases either lacking a perception of their own good looks or self esteem. Yomiko Readman is, to paraphrase Carl Jung’s Man and His Symbols, an “anime anima” so to speak. Of course Carl Jung never lived to see anime become popular, but if he did, he certainly would have a fun time analysing the dreams of otaku.
Yomiko Readman’s not the only poster girl for reading in anime – Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a meta-example because most people know her as an anime character, even though she’s in reality of light novel origins, adapted to anime. Yuki Nagato is a quiet girl who is always focused on her reading, no matter how distracting Haruhi’s antics are. She’s focused on her mission too, to analyse Haruhi’s phenomena.
Why is the librarian meganekko anime archetype so powerful for some people? Do they yearn to reach out to somebody warm and full of life, somebody FEMALE, who can rescue them from a life of mundanity? – yeah… that’s pretty much what it comes down to. Bookish otaku feel pretty lonely in their lives, and maybe all those romance anime and magical girl shows has feminised them to the point that they don’t take action in seeking out like-minded women who might share their interests in reading and enjoying books. Books as a hobby is a lot easier to explain to your prospective partner than anime and manga is, unless they’re into that sort of stuff too.
Interestingly enough, the reason why romance novels like Twilight and Jane Austen’s works appeal to women on a more sensual level is that women are turned on by ideas and concepts of sexuality concocted in their imaginations, whereas men are more visual. Remember, it’s not just hot bodies that appeal to women, it’s the mannerisms and etiquette of a gentleman that turns them on.
Men respond to visual stimulus more than text/imagination stimulus, but this is not always true. The stereotype of “All Fan Fic Writers Are Women” isn’t necessarily true either. I’ve written some fan-fic in my time, but not really intended as brain candy. It’s hard for writers (including myself) to create a balance between gender experience when it comes to steamy scenes – sometimes by appeasing one gender you might run the risk of alienating the opposite one.
Speaking of Haruhi Suzumiya again, it appears that in the light novel format of the source material, Kyon’s male gaze at Mikuru isn’t conveyed as effectively as it could have been. It’s no Anais Nin short story (not an irrelevant reference, Anais Nin writes far more tantalising fiction than the author of the Haruhi Suzumiya novels has achieved in the first installment of the series). It’s almost as if in trying to achieve literary fanservice of the cheesecake variety, the author has forgotten that men interpret alluring content that is written differently to what women would interpret it as.
Anyway, I have a few more articles on reading books in me, so be patient while I finish reading Catch-22 and play a bit of Scribblenauts.
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Copyright © Jacob Martin 2009. Images are Copyright to their respective owners.
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[...] Excerpt from: Brain Candy: What Books Turn On Whom? [...]
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