TMNT Appeals to Males and Females

[mikey2007]

it's kinda crazy for me too hear/see all of these girls that are fans of the TMNT, i think its pretty sweet, i have never really met a girl in real life that liked them to the extent like we do on this site, i've always wanted to meet one, it would be interesting.....i have a little sister(who is 11 now), and when they came back to tv in 2003, she would wake up to watch them with me, she even started collecting some of them, she kind of quit watchin them and playing with them lately (she still does on occasion) but i think it has to do with the fact that some of the other guys at school found out about this and called her "weird" cuz she watched it, it made me mad when i heard about this, but i guess that's why you don't always hear about other girls that like them because they aren't always open about their "obsession", is this the case?

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by mikey2007

but i think it has to do with the fact that some of the other guys at school found out about this and called her "weird" cuz she watched it, it made me mad when i heard about this, but i guess that's why you don't always hear about other girls that like them because they aren't always open about their "obsession", is this the case?

I think it takes a certain kind of person, male or female, to stand by their interests when their interests bring them ridicule from their peers. I know that is something a lot of the people here have had to endure, myself included. But if your sister chooses to "conform" to her peers, that isn't a bad reflection on her; not everyone is built the same way and she has to do as she has to to be herself. She may eventually learn that to be herself means not conforming, but it may still be a learning process she has to go through.

[Bad Guys Lover]

I`m not surprised to see so much female TMNT fans,cause I`m a female! i`ve always liked those "boy" stuff;you know,things like action movies,hero comics and of course,TMNT!I think boys should be glad to see how cool are the girls around them
P.S. Happy New Year!

[gobo]

Originally Posted by wyze2099

I'm male, and most of the TMNT fans I've befriended online have been female. Then again, most of my online friends are female, period. Not entirely sure why that is. I've also noticed that a high percentage of fanfiction writers on the Internet are female, and I'm not entirely sure why that is, either.

While I can pretty much relate in the ladies making up the majority of your online friends, I know my reasons. I like ladies and I want them to like me.

Originally Posted by wyze2099

Heck, I think one female fanfic writer (not in the TMNT fandom) put it well when she said (I'm paraphrasing here) that most of the personality traits she likes seeing in characters are present in males rather than females. Not out of a subconscious desire on her part to be a guy, but because male characters typically get to be more adventurous and deep than their female counterparts, who are usually the love interests. She's more interested in the protagonists than the supporting characters, which typically leads to her identifying more with the guys.

Born with a femi-nazi running loose in my head, I can't say hearing this sexist generalization makes me happy. But, a girl saying it? That just seems... WRONG! Girls can kick butt too, and when done right, they are admirable characters. To suggest that they will never be as interesting because of their gender is just awful.

Originally Posted by wyze2099

I liked that April learned to fight in the comics (Mirage and Archie versions especially), and I was rather pleased that April was a playable fighting character in a couple of the video games: Tournament Fighters and Mutant Melee. I don't care how generally reviled Mutant Melee is, I enjoy kicking butt in that game with April, as she genuinely looks like she's having fun doing it. Her celebratory booty-shake-dance animation alone is worth the price of admission, I feel.

Hellz yeah. When my nephew comes over and we play a vs. game, he always asks why I always pick the girl. I tell him, "for the same reason I always kick your butt with the girl".

Originally Posted by wyze2099

So I suppose all that long-winded stuff means that I can understand where some of the female TMNT fans are coming from in their interest, and that being a male TMNT fan sometimes means liking the female characters as well. It's not a clear-cut issue. Just as not all women are into stuff like Barbie, not all guys are into stuff like TMNT purely for the butt-kicking. People are more diverse and complicated than that.

So true. Although I'd hate to see it exaggerated to ridiculous levels, I wish the butt-kicking females weren't so scarce in popular fiction. Xena doesn't count since she's a parody (and all dressed for a fem/dom S&M convention). Anyway, good essay, dude.

[Katie]

Originally Posted by mikey2007

it's kinda crazy for me too hear/see all of these girls that are fans of the TMNT, i think its pretty sweet, i have never really met a girl in real life that liked them to the extent like we do on this site, i've always wanted to meet one, it would be interesting

I've told a few of the guys I've befriended on this site.....girls like us are camoflaged until a guy wants to see us But I can't tell you how happy I was to find this site and GUYS who didn't think TMNT was stupid.

.....i have a little sister(who is 11 now), and when they came back to tv in 2003, she would wake up to watch them with me, she even started collecting some of them, she kind of quit watchin them and playing with them lately (she still does on occasion) but i think it has to do with the fact that some of the other guys at school found out about this and called her "weird" cuz she watched it

oooooh. That's a tough age for us girls. All the sudden everything is about fitting in and being "normal" Anyone who stands out is teased mercilessly. Things really affect you in this time frame. I remember that this is when I started wanting to date....but I was "wierd" (cause I liked comics and all that) and guys used to tell me they liked me only to make me the butt of a joke. That really affected me and made me not trust guys to the point that I didn't date until after High School. (but I must say, revenge of the nerds is sweet, because those same guys that teased me long ago are the same ones who fell all over themselves to try and date me after school was over....they had no idea it was me )

[mikey2007]

Originally Posted by Katie

oooooh. That's a tough age for us girls. All the sudden everything is about fitting in and being "normal" Anyone who stands out is teased mercilessly. Things really affect you in this time frame. I remember that this is when I started wanting to date....but I was "wierd" (cause I liked comics and all that) and guys used to tell me they liked me only to make me the butt of a joke. That really affected me and made me not trust guys to the point that I didn't date until after High School. (but I must say, revenge of the nerds is sweet, because those same guys that teased me long ago are the same ones who fell all over themselves to try and date me after school was over....they had no idea it was me ;) )

as that was a tough age for girls, i think i went through that in my first couple years in junior/senior highschool, i kind of had to hide my love of ninja turtles, it took me until my junior year to really start showing that i had and obsession with them, cuz i would draw them in art class and wear shirts and i even busted out one of those ninja turtle sneaker guys, haha funny times, but after a while this change came because i didn't really care about conforming and carring if people thought i was "weird"

[Bad Guys Lover]

I openly say that I love TMNT and I`m proud of it!
I don`t care if somebody calls me 'weird' ,cause that 'somebody' isn`t my true friend.

[mikey2007]

Originally Posted by Bad Guys Lover

I openly say that I love TMNT and I`m proud of it!
I don`t care if somebody calls me 'weird' ,cause that 'somebody' isn`t my true friend.

lol well i definitely do that now, i'm really open about it, i stand up for my green guys, i was one for halloween, u have no idea how many kids loved my costume

[Bad Guys Lover]

Originally Posted by mikey2007

lol well i definitely do that now, i'm really open about it, i stand up for my green guys, i was one for halloween, u have no idea how many kids loved my costume

There you go!All you needed was a little courage.

[DavieBoy]

I dig Raph because he has many qualities I can relate to; I'm not the sort who just wants to get him in bed; I can appreciate the guy for what and who he be...it's not my fault they made him so cute in TMNT1...

Quotes like that freak me out, referring to not merely wanting to get a FICTIONAL TURTLE into bed, as if it is even an option if Raphael really existed (if only).

And calling him a "guy" and "cute" lol quite disturbing really, it pays testament to Raph though that he has shown so much emotion and humanity that you can look beyond his species and see a person there. The more I think of it it is sweet.

Oh and about the fangirls, you get that a lot, particularly over male popbands and the like, who really "perform" terrible music and aren't the most handsome guys but the fact they are a group of boys make girls go gaga over them. Call it brainwashed by the media, it is terrible.

Those type of girls are pathetic and deserve zero respect in life. If anyone does like TMNT for that very reason they can **** off.

[Warhorse]

I think it's nearly impossible to be brainwashed by watching the Turtles. Especially seeing the kind of, or lack there of, publicity.

I'm a girl, and I'm not too sure why I got into them. I grew up as a tomboy, and that way of life carried into my adult hood. I just enjoy the underlying deep story about a group of mutant Turtles who are trying to make it in a tough world. And you also have that sad notion in the back of your head that once they are gone, that is it. A tragic story enveloped in a teaching of family, friends and honor.

What other character spectrum is so well handled such as the Turtles? I can't think of any. They are heroes, but they are not superheroes, so of all the comic book characterisations, they seem to be the most reachable in my eyes.

[Buslady]

Originally Posted by DavieBoy

Quotes like that freak me out, referring to not merely wanting to get a FICTIONAL TURTLE into bed, as if it is even an option if Raphael really existed (if only).

And calling him a "guy" and "cute" lol quite disturbing really, it pays testament to Raph though that he has shown so much emotion and humanity that you can look beyond his species and see a person there. The more I think of it it is sweet.

Oh and about the fangirls, you get that a lot, particularly over male popbands and the like, who really "perform" terrible music and aren't the most handsome guys but the fact they are a group of boys make girls go gaga over them. Call it brainwashed by the media, it is terrible.

Those type of girls are pathetic and deserve zero respect in life. If anyone does like TMNT for that very reason they can **** off.

I HATE those type of fangirls. OMG they are so annoying. Those are the SQUEEEEE types. UGH.

I am a reserved fangirl type (or as my son says "Formal Admirer") , but sometimes the silly fan pops out but it's mostly not serious. Alot of people have a character they love, for me it is Raph. I love this character, he's very human inside that shell. If he did exist, I could go with someone like him-I would love to be one to make his life happier. I've always been the kind to look beyond the skin. I do the usual fan thing, draw and write fics...I have a huge Raph collection, I am on the obsessive side..its my nature...but hey, it's a healthy addiction.

[Rooish]

I hate those type of fangirls too. The ones who only ever mention one character... or the ones who never add anything to the conversations except something about that one character...

But yeah, I always thought it was kind of weird that I am the only person I know who actually stayed into the Ninja Turtles, and I am female. I'm not sure what kept me around. I'm not a tomboy exactly; I'm not really into either very "male" or very "female" gendered activities. I think I was just drawn to the different characters.

[zkarlette]

Im a girl never really a tomboy , when I was young I was really into the hole barbie , she-ra thing and anyways somehow I became a fan of the TMNT and still am, so I think It could appeal anybody just cause the show was that good and I really like the characters now more than ever.

[Time Mistress]

I'm a female who's also a TMNT fan. I've always been sort of a tomboy and loved shows about characters who practice martial arts from TMNT to Miss Piggy to Scarlett from GI Joe to Highlander to Rurouni Kenshin. I've always loved superheroes and sci-fi too and have usually prefered to watch what I guess would be considered "guys shows." Transformers is my all time fave, but I played with Barbie and My Little Pony back in the day too. There really aren't many good cartoons aimed at girls period - Jem, Sailor Moon, and She-Ra are about the only ones I can think of. I've always identified with April and the TMNT are just great characters with great stories, something that transcends gender.

[Rooish]

I thought that, especially b/c it was written by a man, Buffy was amazingly empowering for females. I hope it didn't alienate any guys.

[gobo]

Don't tell me someone was knockin' on Buffy. She was great for empowering women, yes. I admit, I'm more familliar with Swanson's portrayal, but it's a great kick-butt fem character. That's enough to get my attention. The only thing I wasn't so psyched about was that it had to be a horror-ish franchise. Why do they always have to put kick-butt female protagonists in supernatural or magical surroundings? The few sci-fi/adventure franchises with kick-butt female protagonists don't hold up so well unless said character is "hot". Does that disappoint anyone else?

[Rooish]

Hmm. That's true, kick-butt female protaginists (Buffy, Xena, um, the Alien woman) are in sci-fi settings often. Although lots of kick-butt male protaginists are, too (Superman, Spider-man, um... the Ninja Turtles...) And they do make female protaginists good-looking, but they make male protaginists good-looking too. I think they do everything possible to even make the TMNT look hot, in their own way. I mean, those screencaps of Leo on the rooftop in the new movie...

I think in general, there are way more male superhero protaginists, but the portrayals of both male and female protaginists are shallow. And by shallow I mean hot. And so women make do with the male protaginists that are most appealing. For some reason, the TMNT are.

[Andrew NDB]

It certainly felt like the (active) fandom were mostly female when I was like 18. Now? I'm not sure.

[oldmanwinters]