Kao dake yoi Classmate ga, Yatara to Guigui Kuru Yuri no Hanashi. - Ch. 8.1

[arcosapphire]

Obviously, not every yuri story does, but it does feel like it occurs more often than not, and this story is no exception.

I don't think that's true at all. Many of them don't really involve male characters at all. (Sometimes yuri stories are criticized for acting like men don't even exist in the world.)

So, first we need to exclude all the ones that don't even involve men. Then, there are plenty that treat male characters just fine. (The celebrated Green Yuri is like that; one of the most supportive characters is a guy.) Then there are others where there's an initial male antagonist, but circumstances are such that it makes it clear they're not representative of men in general. (This is often the case with villainess stories where the jerk guy gets comeuppance, but often there are other perfectly sensible male characters.)

So you're left with only a small fraction that legitimately take a "guys suck" route. And even this isn't one of them--sure, this one guy sucks, but there's no message about guys beyond that. (And actually...he's not even that bad; they're just not compatible and his biggest crime is keeping the pretty dead relationship going. That's why so many people in the comments want MC to break up with him...because they actually feel bad for him.)

 

[silverpetricof]

I don't think that's true at all. Many of them don't really involve male characters at all. (Sometimes yuri stories are criticized for acting like men don't even exist in the world.)

So, first we need to exclude all the ones that don't even involve men. Then, there are plenty that treat male characters just fine. (The celebrated Green Yuri is like that; one of the most supportive characters is a guy.) Then there are others where there's an initial male antagonist, but circumstances are such that it makes it clear they're not representative of men in general. (This is often the case with villainess stories where the jerk guy gets comeuppance, but often there are other perfectly sensible male characters.)

So you're left with only a small fraction that legitimately take a "guys suck" route. And even this isn't one of them--sure, this one guy sucks, but there's no message about guys beyond that. (And actually...he's not even that bad; they're just not compatible and his biggest crime is keeping the pretty dead relationship going. That's why so many people in the comments want MC to break up with him...because they actually feel bad for him.)

Hmmm. I suppose I can just chalk that up to me reading more stories where this is the case. There's a lot of yuri out there after all.

But besides that, I'm not even referring to the yuri stories that don't involve men at all. They don't involve them for a reason: it's because they're not needed. Whatever story is being told has no narrative use for them. When men do appear (or even at times brought up) it's for the purpose of conveying some message or reinforcing some aspect of the story itself.

Also I just want to be clear that I'm looking at it from less of a "men suck" perspective (although some yuri stories do have that kind of messaging to an extent) and more so men are disrespected in some way to promote lesbian relationships. Like putting down the former in order to prop up the latter.

And to some degree this manga does do this. FemC and the one guy are still technically dating on paper. Now we don't really know what the guy has been up to, but what we do see is FemC actively cheating on him with another woman. And even dragging her heels on officially breaking up with the guy. Regardless on my feelings on the guy (who, again, is not totally innocent either) that's pretty disrespectful.

 

[arcosapphire]

Now we don't really know what the guy has been up to, but what we do see is FemC actively cheating on him with another woman. And even dragging her heels on officially breaking up with the guy. Regardless on my feelings on the guy (who, again, is not totally innocent either) that's pretty disrespectful.

I see a big difference between "the story is disrespectful to a guy" vs "a character is disrespectful to a guy".

The fact that Ritsu is treating him disrespectfully is a flaw in her own character, and we're meant to see it that way. We know this because it's been pointed out within the story. So the story itself is treating her boyfriend with respect. No characters are out there trying to convince the readership that this neglect is okay. Instead, we know Ritsu feels guilt over still needing to break up with him, and it's also been pointed out to her externally that she needs to get it done.

 

[silverpetricof]

I see a big difference between "the story is disrespectful to a guy" vs "a character is disrespectful to a guy".

The fact that Ritsu is treating him disrespectfully is a flaw in her own character, and we're meant to see it that way. We know this because it's been pointed out within the story. So the story itself is treating her boyfriend with respect. No characters are out there trying to convince the readership that this neglect is okay. Instead, we know Ritsu feels guilt over still needing to break up with him, and it's also been pointed out to her externally that she needs to get it done.

Absolutely. And that's fine. I understand that people have pointed out what FemC ought to do.

But she's still dragging her heels over something she realistically should have done a long time ago (and without anyone having to tell her). It's good the acknowledgement is there, but the reality is that is still happened. And this isn't to say I don't like FemC, I do, I'm just speaking to her actions matter-of-factly.

Also I think people are under the impression that I care about what the story may or may not be endorsing. I don't. I don't think it matters for manga like this that doesn't take itself all the seriously in the first place. And even if it did it's free to say or comment on whatever it wants. Ultimately, it will be critiqued accordingly.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Hmmm. I suppose I can just chalk that up to me reading more stories where this is the case. There's a lot of yuri out there after all.

Confirmation bias (possibly and/or Selection bias) is what you're describing, and it's something to be mindful of when making statements like the initial argument you put forward.