fuckyeahlongbox:

I know that “the author is dead” etc but part of what fascinates me about Haruka as a character is that Takeuchi has explicitly said that she created Michiru and Haruka to be the ideal woman and the ideal man - except that she gave all those traits of ideal masculinity (I think she refers to Haruka as the “fairytale prince”) to a woman. So yeah, you can read that as them being a “stereotypical” butch/femme couple, and obviously people are going to have different reactions to that. But you can also consider that in the same way that Mamoru is often the damsel in distress, the quiet strength to Usagi’s raw power, Haruka is a woman who takes on the man’s role, and that’s fantastic.

And additionally there is nothing wrong with being a butch/femme couple. When you consider that most of the time “butch” lesbians are the butt of jokes in mainstream pop culture, it’s fantastic that butch ladies, that people who ID as women but are comfortable wearing masculine clothes and doing masculine activities, have been given a role model, someone who is flawed but strong, someone who is allowed to love and be loved, someone who is a person and not a punchline.

Within Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi gives us so many different women. Jupiter has a special place in my heart for showing us that tomboyish girls are allowed to love “girly” things, like cooking and flower arranging; Haruka takes that one step further, reassuring us that you can be a woman with very few traditional “feminine” traits. Between all the scouts, we learn that no matter what your strengths or weaknesses you are an awesome person. Haruka has an important role in emphasising that. 

I also think it’s interesting that ultimately only three of these women end up in long-term relationships. Some of that is explained in the characters themselves - Minako is explicitly told that she will always be unlucky with men; Rei despises them (at least, in the manga); Ami still seems very shy and uncertain around men. But the relationships that are there at the end of the series - one is Usagi and Mamoru’s, the girl who has saved the universe and the man she has chosen to love, and the other is two people who despite apparently being split into the role of “man” and “woman” are both women. I guess you can read that as stereotypical and boring. I read it as empowering.

Just reblogging so everyone can read this, because it’s awesome. It is incredibly rare to see butch lesbians in media that aren’t jokes, and Haruka not only isn’t a joke, she’s a superhero and role model and undeniably cool.

I think Takuechi also said that Haruka was her ideal woman as well. The fact that she said her ideal woman was a butch lesbian who’s entirely comfortable with her sexuality is pretty significant.

From Wikipedia: Although this was not included in the series itself, Takeuchi stated in an interview that she feels Takarazuka is “the maximum level of feminine emancipation. These actress cover all roles of the plays, even the male ones. I was inspired by them to create Haruka.”^[23] She also described such a figure as “the female best friend and the fairy tale prince in one,” stating that she had wanted for a long time to include a character like this in one of her works. Haruka is intended as an older sister figure for the younger girls populating the series, and as a counterpoint to Mamoru, Takeuchi’s ideal man.

Also, see glompkitty’s post here, which I couldn’t reblog cuz tumblr sucks but it also super important to consider and awesome:

So much of this. Butch women just DO NOT make it into the media. At least not outside of one shot joke characters. Haruka was, in her casual nonchalance about both her “masculinity” and her lesbianism, really special. I mean, another thing that I feel is epically important (even if it may have been because of what was allowed at the time) Haruka and Michiru were NEVER just the lesbians, they never defined themselves around that aspect of themselves, nor was their lesbianism ever a source of angst for anyone. You never see either of the two of them have gaynst, and no one is conflicted about being friends with them or questions that they should be raising a child together. (I also read the whole “Is Mako-chan bi?!?!” episode as more the senshi being surprised because they always thought of Mako as being super-straight due to her sempai-chasing ways? I know some people who see that episode as evidence of the senshi displaying some homophobia, but I really can’t see it)

I’ll admit though that I am biased and super protective of Haruka and Michiru. I attribute the two of them with my figuring out that I’m attracted to women by the time I was twelve, so you know they have a very special place in my heart. Haruka especially. I joined my middle school track team initially way back when because I wanted to be more like her. I even ran the 400 meter until High School because that was the race she ran the day she met Michiru. ( also used to secretly hope whenever I ran it that the future love of my life was there at the race, but of course THAT never happened) ‘Cause you know, there really weren’t that many role models out there for a young queer girl who honestly is more comfortable in ‘masculine’ attire. Haruka was just so… comfortable, and undeniably cool. I looked up to her more than any other fictional character. She made me feel like many of the things I felt made me different were actually cool. Really, really cool. That’s powerful. So yeah, I’m bummed that there are people who look at her and dismiss her as a ‘stereotype.’