Dealing with Dragons: gender and sexuality in manga

Winner for best New York Comic Con panel title of the weekend definitely goes to yesterday’s “Are you there, God? It’s me, Manga.” The panel was a presentation by two young adult librarians from the Brooklyn Public Library, Lisa Goldstein and Molly Phelan. They discussed the ways in which manga is fundamentally part of the broader spectrum of young adult literature and is equally valuable to teen readers.

Like the best young adult literature, manga deals with themes of identity and selfhood in a powerful, accessible way. I hadn’t realized the extent to which girls dominated the manga market—75% of manga readers are teen girls. Shojo, or manga targeted to teen girls under the age of 18, confronts issues of power (and powerlessness), gender roles and expectations, and ambivalence about sexuality. Manga is a safe space to discuss a sandbox of potentially problematic ideas—gender dysphoria, homo- or bisexuality, and one’s place within communities.

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