TMNT Appeals to Males and Females

[Warhorse]

I was talking with my friends today about the upcoming movie, when we were throwing out the discussion that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seems to have as much of a female fan following as it does male.

Do you think the creators are surprised by this? What about the general male fan. Are you a little surprised to go on the forums and see that half of the members are female?

[AquaParade]

I'd be lying if i didnt admit to being a little suprised haha. Just because of the fact that the show is about well...four boys...But i understand why tmnt is also popular with females, theyre just plain fun. Makes me wonder if I'd be into the tmnt as much if they were female.

[DrSpengler]

Well, there are a lot of fangirls who are of..."questionable mental faculties" and appear to actually be in love with these fictional turtles.

But you get that in every fandom based around a medium populated predominantly with male characters. Ghostbusters has a lot of screechy Venkman fangirls, which the Starscream fangirls within the Transformers fandom exist in frightening quantities.

So when I first joined the TMNT online community I had already dealt with Transformers and Ghostbusters fangirls, so seeing so many fangirls whose sole reason for loving the franchise is because "OMG _____ is soooo CUTE! ^__^" doesn't really surprise me.


***Disclaimer: The above post does not refer to any fangirl on this board specifically. There are several sane fans of the female persuasian who enjoy the fiction for its depth and charm rather than because they want to shag fictional animals.

[Spitfire]

I've actually come across way more female fans then male fans. Which is funny because the brothers play up guy humor and most girls I know hate guy humor haha

[gobo]

I don't think it's quite an even split. But, it sure does look awfully close! Between 60/40 and 55/45 is what I always thought. Good grief, what a nit I just picked... :lol: But, yeah. It surprised me to find that out when I was ten. The more fickle audiences (non-fans; those who only stick with a franchise until it stops being exciting for a second) are the real wild cards. Can we find a lady by that description for every dude of the same description that gravitates to TMNT? That's an incredibly tough call...

[Masked Ninja]

I never really did like "girl" things when I was little. Butt-kicking turtles were way cooler than Barbie could ever hope to be. :)

Plus they're fun to draw, and psychoanalyze the heck out of when I'm bored. Creepy fangirls make me want to die of embarrassment for my gender. :lol:

[iris]

Girls like ninja stuff too! And the world is decidedly lacking in TV series that star cool, interesting female characters who aren't obsessed with fashion, glitter, and romance. Bleh. Turtles was much closer to my life, especially since I have 3 brothers and we used to get into some serious scraps.

I sometimes roll my eyes at the 'guy humor,' but that doesn't mean I hate it. It just means sometimes I think boyz r stoopid. ;)

But you know, online forums don't really make a good polling place. Girls do congregate to chat online more than guys, so they're overrepresented on most forums (although it depends on the subject).

[Warhorse]

I like what I like. That's all there is to it. I was never into Barbie. But I did like Rainbow Brite, but I think it was her horse that I really thought was cool.

The Turtles I just started to get into one afternoon back in the eighties.. It probably wasn't until the motion picture came out that I really became a mega fan. And they stuck around a hell of a lot longer than Rainbow Brite and Starlight ever did.

You could also account for April O' Neil, and that little bit of feminism added to the show made it more comfortable for the ladies to be fans without feeling out of place.

[gobo]

What I'd like to know is what the ladies thought of the man-hungry Irma. Was she an insult or was she just funny?

[Jester]

I know my sister dug the TMNT back in the day....but I think it may have been because of me...:P

[Jo Dawn]

I never really did like "girl" things when I was little. Butt-kicking turtles were way cooler than Barbie could ever hope to be. :)

Plus they're fun to draw, and psychoanalyze the heck out of when I'm bored. Creepy fangirls make me want to die of embarrassment for my gender. :lol:

Ditto to EVERYTHING you just said. I hated 'girl' things (and still mostly do, to a point) and yeah... fangirls are just... *facepalms* I just want to apologise or something. Heh.

[iris]

What I'd like to know is what the ladies thought of the man-hungry Irma. Was she an insult or was she just funny?

Funny (http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/1992/toonirma.htm)?

I had no idea what to make of Irma. She was a clutzy, kinda loony version of April.

[VaughnMichael]

I was talking with my friends today about the upcoming movie, when we were throwing out the discussion that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seems to have as much of a female fan following as it does male.

Do you think the creators are surprised by this? What about the general male fan. Are you a little surprised to go on the forums and see that half of the members are female?

I actully think it has more of a female following than male...you'd be suprised as I was to learn that most of the members on even the technodrome who have rather male screen names are females. It came as quite a shock to me.:|

[PizzaPower]

like what kind of gay humor?

[Buslady]

I never ever liked girly stuff, total tomboy tthrougout...I liked al lthe cool stuff like TF, GI Joe and all that back in the 80s growing up...it was only natural I got into TMNT.
When a desginer puts out a drawing featuring a male muscluar character, no matter what species he is, there is going to be some sort of female following. Look how they'r'e drawn in the 2k3 series...muscle. They're strong. Females are attracted to stregnth, it's a natural thing.
Then another reason is these characters are different. Everybody is the same in the real world, why not a little variety? So it's fictional, it's fun, no big deal. Nobody's being hurt in any way. Four humanoid turtles in a sea of humans, they stand out, they're the odd men out...I've always liked the odd ones. And yes I can appreciate TMNT for what it is - a great action show/comic/whatever illustrating the lives of five mutants in a human world and how they survive and their many adventures.
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...:D

Irma's a moron.

And I can name some fangirls who just make me cringe...but I won't. I am not one of those "Squeeeee" types. Ugh. :roll:

And NO there aren't enough female cartoon characters who seriously kick some major hiney! They're all like Bratz or crap like that, BLEAH! The only one on Fox/4kids/whatever they wanna call it this week/ that I can think of who isn't a total wuss is April.

[VaughnMichael]

like what kind of gay humor?
? whats all this then we'll have no trouble here!!?

[Draconic]

like what kind of gay humor?

Dude, guy humor.

[Leonardo_]

I actully think it has more of a female following than male...you'd be suprised as I was to learn that most of the members on even the technodrome who have rather male screen names are females. It came as quite a shock to me.:|


Why was it a shock to you? I would rather say it's a bit confusing, yes., but whatever...even I have got a male name...what's wrong with this?!

[Masked Ninja]

That's true - we do need some good female heroes that aren't all "omg my nails!! and boys!! and um... makeup! Oh yeah and crimefighting lol"

Irma? I always thought she was kinda ugly and pathetic. And a little too man-obsessed.

[Warhorse]

A good many of you pointed out how there are no female heroes to look up to. Not in the animated sense anyways. I dont remember her name, but the detective in Gargoyles would be as close to a female hero that I can think of that was animated. But that's it.

Other than that, what else is there for us girls. Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Well, it's cool to see everyone's input on this. I have an equal balance of friends and relatives that like the ninja turtles. We still to this day fight over which turtle is the best.

[VaughnMichael]

Why was it a shock to you? I would rather say it's a bit confusing, yes., but whatever...even I have got a male name...what's wrong with this?!
because it's shocking when you think some one is a dude and it's a dudet lol:lol:
quite a few members who play male characters on are female it's a bit confusing and yes shocking...there is nothing wrong with this..like I said it just comes as a bit of a shock when I thought people where guys lol

[Masked Ninja]

Yeah, the "original Turtle" I made up for fun is a guy... as are most of my characters. It's probably because I sucked at drawing females until recently. :lol:

I've been confusing people online about my gender for years... and I'm not THAT much of a tomboy. :P

[XERO]

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/v/venusdem.jpg

:embarass: :sweatdro:

[Raph's Girl]

A good many of you pointed out how there are no female heroes to look up to. Not in the animated sense anyways. I dont remember her name, but the detective in Gargoyles would be as close to a female hero that I can think of that was animated. But that's it.

Elisa Maza (who is now on the tv series Eureka) and Goliath's daughter, Angela. Other female heroes: Bulma in Dragonball Z, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Spider-Girl, American Dream, Storm, Rogue....

Anyways...I've found that there are more female fans than male fans for TMNT. Yes some fans do get a wee bit carried away and are a tad bit waaay more obsessed than they should be. Me? I gladly share Raph with the other Raph fan girls. Course Im also a Donatello fan.

As for the other fandomes...Im a major Gargoyles fan and admit to having a thing for Lexington. :P I've never heard of crazed Venkman fan girls...Im a Slimer fanatic tho. :lol:

[Warhorse]

I've been suspecting that female TMNT fans outnumber the male TMNT fans. Maybe we can relate to the different personalities more better then the fellows can?

[Cascadia]

I did not like too much girly stuff when I was a kid. I became a fan of TMNT before my brother did. The usual things that I did as a kid were science, horseback riding, playing with my instrument, which was not a typical female-dominant instrument.

[Roseangelo]

I guess I kinda went back and forth between girl and boy stuff as a kid.

I LOVED Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. But I didn't like Barbie and only got them from people who didn't know what else to give a girl. I also liked He-Man and Transformers. And to this day my favorite sport in the world is baseball.

I can't put a finger on why I latched onto the TMNT in the way that I did, but I know I stuck with them because of the depth of story and characters I eventually found when I found the comic books. Looking back on it, it's still hard to figure the reason I endured so much ridicule in school because of my fandom. Some days it felt like it was simply because I was a girl and TMNT was a "guy's thing." Some days it felt like every one else in the world just hated TMNT. But I was anything but popular before I fell into the fandom, too.

Most of my TMNT friends that I hang out with outside of message boards are female, but I figure that to be because I'm female myself and for us TMNT is a kind of girl talk. What really astonished me most when I started meeting other TMNT fans online was that not only were a lot of them female, but a lot of them were my age or OLDER. Heck, if you consider the group of us that goes to Comic-Con every year, I'm one of (if not the) youngest people there, and I'm 27!

I think it ends up being appealing to so many females because it's NOT just about ninja-ing (which is pretty much what one would assume from the way TMNT has always been marketed). But we love the ninja-ing, too! And yes, some of us also find the guys to be just darn cute. 8)

[ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael]

Before I joined the technodrome forums, that probably would have surprised me. I had never met a single chick who liked TMNT. Of course where I live it's not surprising.

[Buslady]

I did not like too much girly stuff when I was a kid. I became a fan of TMNT before my brother did. The usual things that I did as a kid were science, horseback riding, playing with my instrument, which was not a typical female-dominant instrument.

Same here with me playing Sousaphone back in high school, about oh...16 years ago......not many chicks played it when I was, today...I see alot more now!! WOOHOO! TUBA ROCKS!

:D

Guys seem to dig the action of the characters and us chicks are more into the emotional side of TMNT, we find them emotionally attractive and look past the green. Green is a nice color you know :P

[Roseangelo]

I played trumpet in band, which was an instrument that also lacked in girls. Woohoo, brass!

[gobo]

Maybe we can relate to the different personalities more better then the fellows can?I'm trying not to, but I can't help being insulted by this suggestion. But, then again, I played clarinet (or pretended only for one semester). Don't gimme that look! My parents couldn't afford a bass sax for me. :x

[VaughnMichael]

Green is a nice color you know :P
yes it's the color of spring ;) and it can be cool and friendly like.
I actully say all my favorite guys are green!

[PizzaPower]

Dude, guy humor.
hahaha, I totally read it wrong, LMAO

[iris]

I've been suspecting that female TMNT fans outnumber the male TMNT fans. Maybe we can relate to the different personalities more better then the fellows can?
I don't think that's true at all.

TMNT appeals to both genders for the same reason that a lot of things appeal to both genders-- because it's good. The characters have distinct personalities, but they're by no means flat characters. They have a human appeal. TMNT is not Chuck Norris. And there's humor, and danger, and just plain ol' good stories. As with the best fiction, it's like life, but better. ;) haha

No, you probably won't notice many female TMNT fans at school. One of the biggest reasons for that is TMNT is considered a Guy thing, so it's "not cool" for girls to like it. It wasn't even cool for girls to watch it when I was little. There are plenty of female sports fanatics, but you don't really see women walking around in shirts emblazoned with the name of their favorite player, do you? Kind of the same deal. And you can add in the fact that there's very little merch made for girls. *shrug*

[Aignatius]

I don't know why I play a male character. He's my primary creation, something from childhood, must be due to social conditioning. I didn't like what girls were supposed to be when I was a kid, so I gravitated more toward what boys did.
I'm sure Dr. Freud would have had a field day with this.

I couldn't in only a few words get into why the TMNT hold so much appeal for me, but I feel like I've known them all my life. It fit into what I was working on, creatively speaking. I made characters similar to them as a kid... I'm just bummed I didn't come up with them first, but then again, knowing my track record for procrastination, the TMNT would still probably be sitting around in some old notebook somewhere. I'm glad somebody who had the gumption to market them as persistently as Eastman and Laird did, was able to make them into what they are today.

[METALHEAD]

that many chick huh? s'cool. i like chatting with chicks then guys- maybe becuase i had alot of friends that are chicks in highschool 4 years ago

[Warhorse]

I'm trying not to, but I can't help being insulted by this suggestion. But, then again, I played clarinet (or pretended only for one semester). Don't gimme that look! My parents couldn't afford a bass sax for me. :x

Don't be insulted. I was being a wiseass. Anyways, I'm not sure how guys are wired, but most women I know can possess all of the personality traits of the Turtles. Mostly Raph's though! But sadly, not enough Mikey's out there.

[Buslady]

I played trumpet in band, which was an instrument that also lacked in girls. Woohoo, brass!

YAY I played that too!
Trumpet, trombone, tuba/sousa, baritone(treble), and french horn <--pain in the )(@#*$

BRASS RULE!

[Cascadia]

Same here with me playing Sousaphone back in high school, about oh...16 years ago......not many chicks played it when I was, today...I see alot more now!! WOOHOO! TUBA ROCKS!

:D

Guys seem to dig the action of the characters and us chicks are more into the emotional side of TMNT, we find them emotionally attractive and look past the green. Green is a nice color you know :P

If we were in the same band, I would be near you. I played a F-attachment trombone, which I still have in my closet. I also played a bass trombone. My brother played the French horn and I would agree, it is a very hard instrument to play.

[BigApple3AM]

I was thinking about this while I still worked at a toy store. The girls aisle stuff has crap, stuff like bratz... I would never buy that for any kid ever. Talk about bad influences. The worst part is it was one of the most popular toys.

Still there is major double standards when it comes to what girls can like and what guys can like, socially that is.

In my psychology class the teacher said something like how there was a big ruckus about sears showing more boys playing with toys in their magazines than girls and it came down to the fact that if a girl was featured playing with a toy, moms wouldn't buy that toy for their boys, but if it was a boy playing with the toy it didn't matter and would sell for both genders.

Even properties that have universal appeal tend to have males as the protagonists. For example all the pixar movies.
Toy Story - Buzz/Woody
Monsters Inc - mike and something (ike?)
Bugs Life - that bug guy
Cars - Lightning mcqueen
Incredibles - the dad (was featured moreso than the rest of the family)
Ratatouille - patton oswalt's character

I think that's all of them. They may have strong female roles in the films like in cars there's sally, but they're never in the spotlight, and it's because if they had a girl as the main character they would lose the boy demographic, but a guy will attract both sexes.

It's lame but it's true.

That said I'm glad there's a lot of girls into tmnt. Unfortunately I've never met any in real life.

[gobo]

I didn't want to mention that because it might not be peacfully accepted. Thanks for being my human shield, Ecto. :D Seriously, that is how it works. If people see a girl playing with a toy in advertisements more often than a boy, few moms will get it for their sons. It's an unintentional bias.

Actually, I have met a few female TMNT fans before. I'm pretty sure that the girly female TMNT fans are one-in-a-million because these all had that rough & tumble thing going on. :ohwell: And, they all looked like they could beat me up. :tcouch:

No hard feelings, Warhorse. I love a good wiseass. Just don't hurt me, and we'll call it even. Deal?

[Aignatius]

I was thinking about this while I still worked at a toy store. The girls aisle stuff has crap, stuff like bratz... I would never buy that for any kid ever. Talk about bad influences. The worst part is it was one of the most popular toys.

Egadz. Agreed on that. The Barbie aisle at Target looks like some kind of Pepto-Bismol induced nightmare... :dead:

[Masked Ninja]

I always have felt inexplicably uncomfortable whenever I've had to walk down a Barbie aisle. No idea why. :???:

[iris]

I didn't want to mention that because it might not be peacfully accepted. Thanks for being my human shield, Ecto. :D Seriously, that is how it works. If people see a girl playing with a toy in advertisements more often than a boy, few moms will get it for their sons. It's an unintentional bias.
Heh... and sometimes a not-so-unintentional bias. I don't think that's a controversial topic, gobo. Most women are not new to the concept of double standards.

And the girls' toy aisle... it's like a fuzzy pink hell. Luckily, by the time I was born my older brothers had fairly abandoned their toy chest, so I got to play with leggos, nerf balls, skateboards, and all sorts of other stuff that was marketed for boyz. Not to mention having access to dad's collection of tools.

I don't look like I could beat you up. But I could build you a half-pipe. :lol:

[Roseangelo]

I wouldn't be able to beat you up or build you a half-pipe, but I could rebuild Windows on your computer. And then I could sew you some fuzzy pajamas.

Oh, and when you work at a toy store the Barbie aisle is THE most feared aisle of the entire store. Not only is there an ungodly amount of pink, but it's also the most trashed aisle.

I do find that I do not like female heroes who are built to be so badass that it almost comes across as phoney. The best example I can think of is Mara Jade from Star Wars. I can't STAND her, yet I know a lot of female SW fans who look up to her as a female role model.

[Masked Ninja]

I do find that I do not like female heroes who are built to be so badass that it almost comes across as phoney. The best example I can think of is Mara Jade from Star Wars. I can't STAND her, yet I know a lot of female SW fans who look up to her as a female role model.I wonder if this has something to do with my preference that April doesn't kick butt in TMNT. I mean, in the new movie it looks like she will, and I don't know how I feel about that.

Then again, I think it's less of a "look, what a phony kickbutt heroine" and more of "the Turtles are the main characters, dangit!"

I don't mind April training with Splinter at all - but I think she shouldn't get good beyond being able to hold off bad guys until the Turtles get there. After all, they have how much training under their belts compared to her? For her to be WOW AMAZING wouldn't make sense (unless she took karate through childhood, heh).

Though to be honest, new toon April is a much better role model for girls than old toon April "Damsel in Distress" O'Neil. :P

[Aignatius]

I don't mind April training with Splinter at all - but I think she shouldn't get good beyond being able to hold off bad guys until the Turtles get there. After all, they have how much training under their belts compared to her? For her to be WOW AMAZING wouldn't make sense (unless she took karate through childhood, heh).

It goes against the grain for me, to have females that are too powerful. At least physically. Leave that to the guy department with the actual physical strengths, in geneeral, they're built for it.
As far as endurance, toughness, resilience, and mental strength, yes, women can definitely be that.
My fave female fictional character is Eowyn, the Rohirrim princess from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings whose biggest fight was within herself. I loved the movie adaptation of her, she was an ordinary female human with ordinary physical limitations, dealing with realistic problems, had extensive training and talent with swordfighting, and an extraordinary dose of courage. Therefore someone a woman could possibly be in real life. A believable yet heroic character.

And yeah, I don't like seeing people upstaging the TMNT too much. I watch the cartoons, movies and read the comics because of them as well as Splinter.
April and Casey are tolerable, and I do like some of their characterizations. :D

I have been idly entertaining the idea of writing a "TMNT in Middle-earth" crossover, imagine the turtles and Splinter fighting orcs... but its likely they will be mistaken for orcs themselves. That could get bad for them, with both sides being against them... :ohwell:

[BigApple3AM]

I'm not a chick, but if I had to choose one woman who I would look up to it'd be Ripley from aliens.

Seems like the majority of females who like TMNT had brothers. Coincidence?

[Sage Ninja]

I have no brothers only sisters and I like the turtles. I liked shows like Gummy Bears, Care bears, My Little Pony, Transformors, Pirates of Dark Water, Conan the Adventurer, Ghostbusters, Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, The Rescue Rangers and a whole bunch of other cartoons. For me it was a mixed bag I liked both boy and girl cartoons .

Thge ninja turtles apealed to me I think because they where funny and I loved their interactions with one another. People can say that the old toon was shallow but I think quite often the old toon showed the turtles in states of diffrent emotion. And I liked that. It was light drama for me with out it being so dramatic that it brought me down.

Though to be honest, new toon April is a much better role model for girls than old toon April "Damsel in Distress" O'Neil.

Old toon April show cases a diffrent kind of strong female other than the one the that can jump into the fray and kick butt and hold her own. Remeber that this toon was made back in the 80's just a decade after the whole modern feminist movment. So April I think show cased like that. She was a go-getter and one that wasn't overly concerned about looking femimine or getting a guy but more about advanceing her career. And she was certainly not the mild mannered meek sort of woman eighther that earlier cartoons show case females. She was spunky and spirited, and actually i think her personality is intresting than new toon Aprils.

[Roseangelo]

Seems like the majority of females who like TMNT had brothers. Coincidence?

I have a younger brother, but he wasn't much influence on my interests. Wait, scratch that... he actually had a bit of influence in what I DIDN'T like. But since I'm the older sibling, I generally had more influence in his interests. I liked TMNT first, then he liked it, but eventually he grew out of it. I remain the "freak" in the family who goes to crazy conventions dressed in wacky costumes. :P

The role of April as a "fighter" hasn't ever bothered me much. She was wielding a sword back in the Archie books, too. So long as the big bad battle at the end is only the TMNT, it's all good.

[BigApple3AM]

oooooh pirates of dark water, nice call. I still love that cartoon, I need to download it or something.

[Aignatius]

Hmm. Didn't think of that. I have two older brothers, one acts a lot like Raph, the other like Don. The "Don" bro is, surprise, surprise! an engineer.

[gobo]

Old toon April show cases a diffrent kind of strong female other than the one the that can jump into the fray and kick butt and hold her own. Remeber that this toon was made back in the 80's just a decade after the whole modern feminist movment. So April I think show cased like that. She was a go-getter and one that wasn't overly concerned about looking femimine or getting a guy but more about advanceing her career. And she was certainly not the mild mannered meek sort of woman eighther that earlier cartoons show case females. She was spunky and spirited, and actually i think her personality is intresting than new toon Aprils.
I hear you about the spiritedness. But, I always thought that she started out an excellent female role-model, and quickly became a femi-nazi parody. The outspoken female who perpetuates her own dependence by getting herself in trouble all the time. If she hadn't helped save the day in some eps, I'd have decided that she was only a plot-device.

[Warhorse]

It goes against the grain for me, to have females that are too powerful. At least physically. Leave that to the guy department with the actual physical strengths, in geneeral, they're built for it.
As far as endurance, toughness, resilience, and mental strength, yes, women can definitely be that.
My fave female fictional character is Eowyn, the Rohirrim princess from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings whose biggest fight was within herself. I loved the movie adaptation of her, she was an ordinary female human with ordinary physical limitations, dealing with realistic problems, had extensive training and talent with swordfighting, and an extraordinary dose of courage. Therefore someone a woman could possibly be in real life. A believable yet heroic character.

And yeah, I don't like seeing people upstaging the TMNT too much. I watch the cartoons, movies and read the comics because of them as well as Splinter.
April and Casey are tolerable, and I do like some of their characterizations. :D

I have been idly entertaining the idea of writing a "TMNT in Middle-earth" crossover, imagine the turtles and Splinter fighting orcs... but its likely they will be mistaken for orcs themselves. That could get bad for them, with both sides being against them... :ohwell:

I so agree with your statement on Eowyn. A lot of people complained about Tolkien not having enough women in LOTR epic, but if you were to look at the ones he characterised, they were quite powerful. Not in the sense of physical strength, but in their influence, personal strength and wisdom.

While I agree with most of you that it is ridiculous to see a woman over power a man, (one of the reasons why I think Karai beating the Turtles all the time is getting under my skin) I still idolize Linda Hamilton's Sara Connor from Terminator 2. I just thought she was too cool.

As for boys having an influence on my liking the Turtles. More than likely. Most of my friends then and now are guys, and they were heavily into the TMNT. It eventually grew on me and I became a fan. And most of the girls I hung out with thought the Turtles were cool. I dont know of anyone of them who ever bought a Barbie. Who in their right minds buy Barbie anyways?:ohwell:

[Sage Ninja]

I hear you about the spiritedness. But, I always thought that she started out an excellent female role-model, and quickly became a femi-nazi parody. The outspoken female who perpetuates her own dependence by getting herself in trouble all the time. If she hadn't helped save the day in some eps, I'd have decided that she was only a plot-device.

she was an out right plot devise on many occasions. I was just pointing out that there are other ways for a female character to be a strong character with out being a fighter. In fact I think it is more realistic for a female character to be shown as strong in other ways than by being a fighter. Mostly because I think the average feamle viewer would indentify with her more, since most females in normal society can bust out a few fighting moves and take on a group of armed fighters at a drop of a hat (or guys for that matter eighther) :lol:

[iris]

While I agree with most of you that it is ridiculous to see a woman over power a man, (one of the reasons why I think Karai beating the Turtles all the time is getting under my skin) I still idolize Linda Hamilton's Sara Connor from Terminator 2. I just thought she was too cool.
I don't think its at all ridiculous to see a woman overpower a man. In fact, I've seen it IRL. Granted, overpowering 4 ninjas who've been training since they could walk is a different story.

[gobo]

Granted, overpowering 4 ninjas who've been training since they could walk is a different story.
Yeah. That's just overcompensating PC BS.

[aabxx]

I'm sure 95% of the guys would never have loved TMNT if they were females... I mean, just imagining "4 teenage mutant ninja female turtles" inside my head gives me the shivers. I'd guess most females would not like TMNT either if they were females.

TMNT is very macho when you think about it. Putting girls in a macho setting would be very, very weird. It wouldn't be the TMNT anymore.

The reason there are few good female heroes is because IRL, female fighters are very rare relative to male fighters. The (human) female gender is not a fighter, the (human) male gender is. And on top of that, watching cartoons is male-dominated, and the cartoonists are well... males ;)

About Kirai I don't have problems accepting her as a great fighter. Yes so she looks weak but you could imagine she has extremely strong tendons, extraordinarily strong muscle tissue, extremely high pain tolerance and lots and lots of speed. Stuff like that. She's a freak of nature :)

April however, in the 2003 cartoons, is VERY annoying as a fighter. For a very long time, she cannot fight, and all of a sudden, she fights off big, strong men who know how to fight, because she's been taking some lessons from Splinter? That is so unbelievable it's funny. Really reminds you that it's a kiddies cartoon :D

[Cascadia]

I have a younger brother, but he wasn't much influence on my interests. Wait, scratch that... he actually had a bit of influence in what I DIDN'T like. But since I'm the older sibling, I generally had more influence in his interests. .

Same here....I liked the TMNT before my younger brother did. He grew out of it and so did I until 2001. No one knows about my childhood interest. If anyone was curious on what my trombone looks like.

http://uob-community.ballarat.edu.au/staff/~lstinton/images/brass_instruments/trombone/tenor/bach_42bo.jpg

[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.

So given my natural inclination to gravitate toward fanfiction writers (since I am one) and TMNT fans (since I'm one of those, too), it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'm exposed to the female mindset a lot.

What I've learned in these interactions is that some of the female TMNT fans are interested in the personalities due to crushes on them or due to simply relating more to them than to female characters. 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.

I myself enjoy strong female characters, in fiction and in real life. Some of the stronger people in my life have been women, so I'm used to seeing that and I tend to seek that out (consciously or not) in stories. Heck, one of my favorite fandoms, X-Men, is rife with strong, interesting women. Not necessarily 'strong' in terms of butt-kicking, but in terms of character development. I consider myself primarily a character writer, so that kind of thing is important to me.

On the subject of female characters in TMNT, I thought April was hot when I was a kid, but it seemed like the longer the '80s cartoon went on, the more she played the damsel. She was constantly the bait Shredder used to lure the Turtles, even when he really didn't need to. She showed a lot of spunk in her efforts at resisting her capture, but it grated on me after a while. The video games really bothered me, because the story for each one seemed to be set in motion by April's kidnapping. I'm like, "find a new motivation already! I'm sure the Turtles would be more than happy to go kick Foot Clan butt even without having to bail April out!"

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.

That said, I agree that she shouldn't be portrayed as being on an even level with the Turtles, as she hasn't had nearly as much training. When I roleplayed as April in this forum, I liked portraying her as someone who was still learning. She knew just enough to maybe take down one Foot soldier on a good day, but she had to work her butt off to do so. Her confidence in battle was a work in progress.

Contrast that with Karai, one of my absolute favorite characters in the franchise. I was instantly fascinated by her depth and her range of emotion. She's one of the more conflicted characters in the franchise, so she's interesting to watch, especially when she's interacting with Leo. She's a vastly different character than April, and she's not a damsel in distress by any means. I like that she can hold her own against the Turtles in combat. I don't think it's unrealistic at all that she could defeat them, especially if she relies on her agility and powerful kicks. Her skill with the sword ain't too shabby either. She's not physically stronger than most of her opponents, but raw strength really isn't a focus of ninjutsu anyway.

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.

[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]

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!:P 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 :P
P.S. Happy New Year!

[gobo]

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. :D
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.
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". :lol:
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]

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 ;) :P 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]

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!:D
I don`t care if somebody calls me 'weird' ,cause that 'somebody' isn`t my true friend.;)

[mikey2007]

I openly say that I love TMNT and I`m proud of it!:D
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]

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.;) :P

[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...:D



:o

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]

:o

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.

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

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... :dead:

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]

hihEhsdwiIk

[ABrown]

Ah yes, 2006/2007. I was just praying that I would someday get to legally watch the lost fifth season of the 4Kids series.