Jaclyn Fagan

12/15/23

Feminism in Movies: How Miyazaki’s Heroines Defy Patriarchal Norms

Movies and literature are always trying to adapt to the ever changing values of society.

They can be used as a tool to offer new perspectives to the audience to oppose a harmful

perspective they might have. In Western and Japanese society, a lot of people hold opinions that

are harmful towards women, so there are a lot of movies and books that try to counteract these

harmful views, although some are more effective than others. Hayao Miyazaki is a movie

producer that tries to offer a feminist perspective in his movies. Using two of his movies,

Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle, I will demonstrate how his female characters are

relatable and defy the expectations of a patriarchal society to show his young audience a feminist

perspective on female characters that is often badly portrayed in modern movies/books.

The expectations of women in a patriarchal society are very strict and harmful. In both

Japanese and Western culture, women are expected to stay at home to take care of their children

and do household chores. Women in western culture have rigid and restricting expectations

placed on them by society, affecting their way of life, thinking, movement, and looks. Women

are “hesitant to move”(Bartky 6), which is shown in a “reluctance to reach, stretch, and extend

the body”(Bartky 6) in an effort to take up as little space as possible. Women are also taught to

cast their eyes downward to avert the gaze of a man with some sort of superiority. Women are

also expected to remain pleasant by smiling often, and not wear a lot of expression on their face

so their skin will remain smooth and wrinkleless (Bartky 6-7). Western patriarchal society also

has a lot of expectations when it comes to a woman’s beauty, and what/who is deemed
“beautiful.” Advertisements for beauty products strategically make women feel like they “fail to

measure up”(Bartky 9) when it comes to beauty standards, but with ever-changing beauty

standards, women are set up only to fail. Women are expected to wear makeup to appear more

beautiful, but with the ever-changing beauty standards it can be hard to keep up with the trends.

The problem with makeup is explained very well by Sandra Bartky in her chapter Foucault,

Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power, saying that “the ‘art’ of make-up is the

art of disguise, but this presupposes that a woman’s face, unpainted, is defective.” Women can

not be too muscular, either. They are allowed to be in shape and have some muscular strength but

it is not appropriate for a woman to be more muscular than her male counterpart. As said by

Bartkey, “the bride who would tenderly carry her groom across the threshold is a figure of

comedy, not romance.” Women in Japanese society are also held to some similar expectations.

Women are expected to stay at home, while men would seek out jobs. Women also had very little

political power, and could not legally participate in politics (Belarmino 3). The societal status of

a woman is based on the status of her husband, which shows the extent to which women were

not seen as valuable as men, even if she has a respectable, high paying job. In relationships,

women were expected to be “supportive and submissive” even though society thinks of them as

the “lesser partner”(Belarmino 5). Patriarchal societies place harmful expectations on women

that greatly affect the way they live, act, and look to make them inferior to their male

counterparts.

Women in Miyazaki’s films Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle defy the

expectations of women in society. San, the main character in Princess Mononoke, does not

accept the role of housewife and chooses to live in the wild and be free. Even at the end of the

movie, she refuses to go with her lover and instead chooses to stay in the forest, making them
come to a compromise that they will visit each other. Another woman in the film, Eboshi, also

refuses to be a housewife, but instead is an authority figure and runs Irontown. San, Eboshi, and

the women in Irontown are not submissive nor fearful of men. At 31:31-31:59 in Princess

Mononoke, a woman openly belittles and teases her husband in front of others, which is

something that would never happen in Japan. These women are not hesitant to move nor look a

man in the eye. San is often seen making big movements with her body, and it is clear she has no

insecurity of taking up too much space. The women also work in Irontown, and are even allowed

to use weaponry. It is the women who protect Eboshi from San when she infiltrated Irontown,

and it is the women who used guns to protect their village from attackers. The women in the film

are important in their society, and can hold leadership roles. This is very different from the

values of a patriarchal society, where women are expected to be housewives and not leaders.

Sophie, the protagonist in Howl’s Moving Castle, and San do not wear makeup or attempt to look

beautiful. Women are expected to wear makeup in an attempt to make themselves more

attractive, but San and Sophie do not care much for it. It is often that girls are “seduced by the

thrall of youth fixated, sexual objectification”(Shore 83) in a patriarchal society, so Sophie and

San’s escape from this fixation defies patriarchal norms. The first time San is seen in Princess

Mononoke, she has blood all over her mouth and face, which is seen as gruesome and

unattractive. Sophie never wears makeup despite her mother and sister always wearing it, and

wears very plain, modest dresses. She has some insecurity about her looks, but she has never

made it a priority to change her appearance to please others. The fact that these two protagonists

do not care enough about others’ opinions to make them change their appearance shows that they

do not adhere to the expectations society puts on women. San and Sophie are also very capable

of being independent and did not need the male protagonist to “save them.” Women are expected
to be very submissive and dependent on their husband, but Sophie and San would fare fine on

their own. Sophie enjoyed her job and lifestyle before meeting Howl, and would have lived a

happy life even if they never met. It is arguable that she is happier while she is with Howl, which

I agree with, but that does not mean her life without him would be awful. At the worst, she

would be content with her job. Howl did not “save her” from her old life, she had a choice and

made the decision to stay with him instead of going back. San is even more independent, with

her lifestyle at the end of the movie being the same as her lifestyle in the beginning. She lived in

the forest with her wolf mother, and even after meeting Ashitaka, she refused to be submissive

and go live with him. She stayed living in the forest because that is what she wanted most. There

is also a scene where San has to carry Ashitaka due to his wounds, but it is not done in a comedic

way as a patriarchal view would suggest. The women in these two movies strongly defy the

social expectations placed on women, making these films feminist.

San has “negative” personality traits which make her more relatable to a young audience

and relate a progressive message when it comes to female beauty and happiness. She is not a

people pleaser; she does not care what human society thinks of her, and does not bend to the

wills of others except for her goddess mother. A typical female protagonist is “beautiful,”

“incredibly beloved”, “kind,” “sympathetic” and “selfless” (Malka 5,8). However, San does not

display these traits. San is not supposed to be seen as undeniably beautiful, as the first image we

see of her is one where she has blood all over her mouth and face. She is better described as

independent, resourceful, confident, and determined. Even at the end of the movie, she does not

change her way of living for the person she loves. Instead, she forces Ashitaka to come to a

compromise, living separately but agreeing to visit each other. She is not sympathetic because

she has an unrelenting hatred towards all humans, which is a mindset she never truly gives up,
showing that she is not kind towards everyone either. These characteristics that are usually seen

as flaws make her relatable and provide a more authentic representation of teenagers. Her flaws

make her relatable because they make her realistic since not many teenagers are altruistic.

Authors want their characters to be good role models and be someone their audience can look up

to so they make their characters perfect, but that is not a realistic expectation to have. Since these

characters already possess perfect characteristics in the beginning of the book/movie, there is not

much personal growth that the character goes through (Malka 5). The teenage years of a person’s

life is where there is the most amount of growth, which is why there is that lack of accuracy

when trying to represent teenagers. Since San is not perfect from the beginning, her

characteristics change throughout the movie as she learns new lessons and is forced to question

her views on the world. This is more accurate of what a teenager would relate to. Princess

Mononoke still has a good message that is portrayed through San, not only despite her

imperfections, but actually because of her imperfections. She shows that women do not have to

be perfect in order to deserve love and happiness. Our society expects women to be “cheerful, to

look feminine, to be wholesome and not be bossy or express other domineering qualities”(Malka

15) and that if they are not, they are less deserving of love and happiness. San is not perfect, yet

she is still able to find love and have her happy ending, showing the audience that they can find

love and happiness too without having to display qualities that others have pushed as being

“perfect.”

Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle is also imperfect, and shows “negative” traits that are

not typically associated with heroines, which makes her relatable to a young audience. As shown

by Natalie Malka, these typical heroines are often described as having remarkable beauty, being

kind, selfless, and sympathetic. In the movie Howl’s Moving Castle, there were a few mentions
of Sophie’s average appearance, and even a scene where she breaks down, saying “I’ve never

once been beautiful in my entire life!”(Howl 47:27). She is completely average looking and a

little self conscious of it too, which is something that an audience of teenage girls can relate to.

Despite her insecurity over her looks, she does not get upset when she is turned into an old

woman; she “makes the best of her situation”(Shore 83). She teaches the audience a good lesson

because she does not “[participate] in the sexualized beauty contest that snares teen girls,”(Shore

83) so she is not “victimized by shallow standards”(Shore 83). The lesson this teaches the

audience is that beauty is not everything, and that not subjecting themselves to a shallow

mindset allows them to grow in maturity and ultimately be happier. Even though Sophie is not an

unkind person, there are times when she is not entirely selfless and lets her emotions control her

actions. For example, when Sophie and the Witch of the Waste were climbing the stairs to the

castle at 56:31-56:47, the Witch of the Waste very obviously needed help, but Sophie refused to

do so because of her negative feelings towards her. A “typical” heroine would have put her

emotions aside and helped someone who was in need, even if they are the villain, but this is not a

realistic expectation to have. Malka says that if “typical” heroines let their emotions guide them

and make bad choices, they are expected to be apologetic for them, but Sophie is not. Not only

does she not apologize, but she makes her aversion towards the Witch of the Waste very clear to

everyone. Sophie is also incredibly strong headed and stubborn. She entered Howl’s house

without permission, and declared herself to be their new cleaning lady without asking Howl first

and started living in his house (Howl 29:34). She also almost kills Calcifer because she does not

listen to his cries and thinks he is overreacting. Sophie often uses a “tough love” approach which

is not like the caring, loving mother type character that heroines usually embody. Not only is she

not a pushover, she can be a little bit of a bully too. This shows the audience that they should not
be afraid to be assertive and stand up for themselves and what they want. It also helps her to be a

more interesting character because it allows for character development. Later in the movie,

Sophie ends up saving the Witch of the Waste’s life and cares for Calcifer. Her change in

relationship with other characters show how she’s learned and grown throughout the movie.

Since teenage years are a time of growth and learning, this makes Sophie a relatable character to

them because they can relate to the way her emotions and relationships change. Sophie’s

imperfections make her more realistic, and thus more relatable to a teenage audience.

Beauty and the beast is a trope that has existed for a long time. The stories change with

different cultures, but also have been changing throughout the years to respect society’s values of

that time period. There are differences between the messages in old Beauty and the Beast stories

and the messages in modern ones. The messages in the modern ones have more progressive

meanings regarding women in society. The movie Howl’s Moving Castle is a Beauty and the

Beast story because it includes an exploration of beastliness and beauty, a curse that is broken,

and romance. Howl’s Moving Castle has the characteristics of a modern Beauty and the Beast

story, which shows that Miyazaki is trying to show a more feminist perspective in his movies. In

the original Beauty and the Beast stories, not only is Beauty always incredibly beautiful, she is

also kind, selfless, and virtuous. This signifies that not only do women have to be beautiful, but

she also has to have the personality traits that come with it (Johnson 10). The common message

to be learned in Beauty and the Beast stories is to value someone’s personality over looks, but, as

Bridgette Johnson put it, “in a tale about the regenerative power of love and seeing beyond

physical appearance, it seems like a bit of a contradiction to have an undeniably beautiful maiden

finding the beauty within a beast.” This contradiction reverses the message of the story for

women. Instead, they are taught that women need to be beautiful in order to find love and
happiness. The Beauty and the Beast trope is supposed to parallel the situation a young girl

might be in when forced into an arranged marriage. This was appropriate for the time period, but

has since been outdated, so young girls do not relate to Beauty anymore. This is why the Beauty

and the Beast trope has had to change throughout time. The modern, more progressive Beauty

and the Beast stories tend to have plain looking Beauties who are insecure about themselves,

which is much more relatable to a teenage audience (Johnson 24). This change makes a big

difference because it is now showing that people who are not beautiful can still find love and

happiness. It is also becoming more common for the Beast to be female, and Beauty to be male.

The modern tale allows both genders to “recognize the parts inside of them that society may not

wish them to acknowledge”(Johnson 37). Instead of a tale solely about love, there is more of an

emphasis on exploring who you are and figuring out your place in the world. In Howl’s Moving

Castle, although it is a Beauty and the Beast story, it is not clear who is the Beauty and who is

the Beast. Sophie and Howl both have characteristics of each which is part of why this movie is

feminist. Like in the modern tales, Sophie is not beautiful and has some insecurities. She also

gets cursed to turn into an old woman, so not only is she plain looking, she does not look young

either, making her even less attractive to others. Despite her appearance, she still gets a happy

ending and finds love, which is more similar to the message of a modern Beauty and the Beast

story than the old ones. Howl’s Moving Castle also avoids the contradiction of someone

beautiful having to find the beauty within a beast. Howl may be beautiful, but he also has a

beastly side which Sophie has to look past. They both find the beauty in each other despite their

flaws instead of just the beauty having to look past appearances. This makes the story feminist

because the woman is not the one with the responsibility to change her mindset; this version

shows that both parties need to make changes and see beyond each other’s flaws. Old Beauty and
the Beast stories have misogynistic messages that are harmful to women, while the modern

stories have more progressive messages that have the beauty and beast on equal footing. Howl’s

Moving Castle has characteristics of a modern Beauty and the Beast story, so Miyazaki wanted

the movie to align more with feminist views than misogynistic views.

There are claims that Miyazaki is not as much of a feminist as he claims to be, and that he

treats his female characters poorly. In chapter five of the book “Princess Mononoke:

Understanding Studio Ghibli’s Monster Princess,” Helen McCarthy claims that even though his

work is not anti-feminist, it is also “not in line with feminist thinking” because “in a lot of his

work, he is saying that men and women have established functions in the social order.”

McCarthy continues to explain that Miyazaki’s relays the message that as a child, anything is

possible, but when adult women step outside of those “established functions” in society they

have a hard time in his movies. I agree that his works suggest that women and men have different

roles in society and that the adult women have a hard time in his movies, but I do not think that

that makes it any less feminist. In order to relate to his younger audience, he has to create a

world that is somehow comparable to ours, and that is usually in the way that society functions.

The real world has patriarchal values so the worlds in Miyazaki’s cannon will also have aspects

of those values, but the point of the movie is not to reinforce those values; he is trying to show

why it is important to go against them which is only possible with the presence of some sort of

patriarchy. It is a similar reason as to why children have full freedom, but women have a harder

time when they grow up. The real world is the same way: children have big dreams and not

much responsibility, but when you get older, life gets harder. I feel like this is especially true for

women, who have to realize that they are not seen as equal by a large portion of society and must

fight even harder to get what they want. Again, his movies can still be feminist while having
women go through problems because the human societies in his movies are reflective of that of

the real world.

Hayao Miyazaki successfully and effectively creates relatable female heroines who defy

the patriarchal expectations of women. Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle and San from

Princess Mononoke are prime examples of these heroines. Miyazaki’s feminist films and unique,

progressive characters teach his young audience that women can be independent, and do not

have to be beautiful or perfect in order to find love and happiness. Western and Japanese

societies hold many patriarchal values, so these movies can make a big impact on the minds of

young teens and hopefully lead to a more progressive and equal future.

REFERENCES

Bartky, Sandra Lee. “Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power.”

Feminist Social Thought, edited by Diana Meyers, Routledge, 1997, Taylor & Francis

Group,

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203705841-7/foucault-feminini

ty-modernization-patriarchal-power-sandra-lee-bartky

Belarmino, Melanie and Roberts, Melinda R. (2019). Japanese Gender Role Expectations and

Attitudes: A Qualitative Analysis of Gender Inequality. Journal of International Women's

Studies, 20(7), 272-288. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol20/iss7/18

Howl’s Moving Castle. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, 2005.

Johnson, Bridgette, "Beauty and the Beast: Across Cultures and Time." (2013). Undergraduate

Honors Theses. Paper 104. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/104

Heroines." (2022).

McCarthy, Helen and Denison, Rayna. “Teenage Wildlife: Princess Mononoke and Hayao

Miyazaki’s Theory of the Feminine.” Princess Mononoke: Understanding Studio Ghibli’s

Monster Princess, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017, pp. 97–114,

https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501329753.ch-005.

Princess Mononoke. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, 1997.

Shore, Lesley Anne. The Anima in Animation: Miyazaki Heroines and Post-Patriarchal

Consciousness. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2014.