It seems that the authors singled out friendships with females who have internalized masculine qualities as well as romantic relationships with other females as a means of illustrating that it is possible to have many different types of relationships with females, and that you can have the same type of relationshipthat you would have with a male with a female as well.
2.2.2.1 Reliance upon Masculine Females
As previously stated, [···] instead turn to [···] female friends for help. Among these friends, there are often females who have internalized masculine qualities upon whom [···] can rely. These females with masculine qualities are just as reliable as females without masculine qualities. Based on the personality of Sailor Uranus, it seems that it is possible for females with masculine qualities to assess or react to a situation differently from those who do not have masculine qualities.
Each Sailor Senshi possesses various powers and personalities,but among them there is one person who possesses clearly masculine traits: Sailor Uranus. We do not meet Sailor Uranus until the third of five story arcs, and the Inner or Guardian Senshi do not immediately become allies with her, but they nonetheless fight the same enemy. Perhaps it is because Sailor Uranus does not display either belongingness or cooperation, social values that could be associated with femininity, that they do not become allies at first. Once they combine forces, Sailor Uranus dedicates herself to protecting.
Sailor Uranus protects in the same way that a male would protect a female. In the fifth story arc, when the Sailor Starlights, a group of comprised of three
Sailor Senshi from another planet, appear and want to talk to [···], Sailor Uranus immediately gets in their way, raises her sword, and tells them “Don’t come any closer to us. If you want to get closer, you’ll have to do it over my dead body!” She offers not only to protect but to fight for the cause as well. While another character might have done the same thing, Sailor Uranus has physical strength that therest do not possess. She is also not afraid to back up her words, even if it means causing others harm. For these reasons she is more imposing than the other girls.
Sailor Uranus is willing to take more drastic measures than the other girls, and as a result she might be perceived as more masculine. In the third story arc, she tells the others that if the tenth Sailor Senshi, Sailor Saturn, awakens, the world could be destroyed. Sailor Uranus believes that the only way to save the world is to kill her before she awakens. The Guardian Senshi believe that there has to be another way. While Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto both agree with Sailor Uranus, it is Sailor Uranus who does all the talking. She is the only one who uses the word “kill.” It is not that Sailor Uranus is heartless; rather, she seems to listen to her head and logic instead of her heart and emotions. Most of the others find themselves wrestling with emotions at various points in time, but Sailor Uranus is always able to think clearly and logically, even if everyone does not agree with what she says.
2.2.2.2 Relationships between Two Females
Sailor Uranus, as Haruka Ten’ō, is a race car driver in her civilian life. Her sex seems to be completely ignored by fans as they have come tothink of her as a male.
Once the tween viewer realizes that Haruka, who she thought was male, is Sailor Uranus, she is confused. Sailor Neptune tells that “Sailor Uranus is both male and female,” so this seems to reinforce Haruka’s incongruent sex and gender. Since Sailor Uranus does not claim to be either masculine or feminine, we can assume that she has fused qualities from both genders. Takeuchi herself says that “Uranus has the heart of a man,” but she also says that “all the Sailor Scouts are girls,” so in the end, perhaps one should simply liken Sailor Uranus to an otoko-yaku (male role) in a Takarazuka play in terms of sex and gender (The Takarazuka is a stage troupe comprised solely of women. An otoko-yaku is a female who plays male roles in the troupe’s theatrical productions).
The partner of Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune (Michiru Kai’ō), is very feminine, prim, and proper, and as a result, she probably would not tolerate an unkempt, inconsiderate male as her romantic partner. By entering into a romantic relationship with someone like an otoko-yaku, such as Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune is not exposed to the less than desirable traits of a real male. This is because “an otoko-yaku is...a man [who is] superior to a real man. He is the ideal man from a woman’s perspective, whose style, behaviour, and gentleness far surpasses a real man (Nobuko Otoba, quoted in Haruyuki Nakano, Tezuka Osamu no Takarazuka, (Tokyo: Chikuma, 1994), 200).”
Perhaps it can be said that only another female would truly understand a female’s feelings, and only another female would truly know how to properly behave around a female. Sailor Uranus does not explicitly deny or reject her femininity, so perhaps she still utilizes her femininity when dealing with other females, such as Sailor Neptune. She has an advantage over a realmale due to the fact that, like an otoko-yaku, she is “an idealized, ‘beautiful’ man—a man without dirt, sweat, roughness, and a need to dominate (Lorie Brau, “The women’s theatre of Takarazuka,” The Drama Review 34, no. 4 (1990), 81).” Physiologically, she is still a female, and Sailor Neptune knows this. Moreover, there is no sense that Sailor Uranus controls the relationship, and there is no indication that Sailor Neptune plays a submissive or subservient role. The two are treated as equals in the relationship because they are both female.
In certain instances, a person with masculine qualities may be useful, so in these cases, they rely on other females who have internalized masculine traits instead of real males. Some even choose to enter into romances with other females, such as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, thus totally eliminating the need for males.
(Excerpt from a thesis by JENNIFER L. BROWN)
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