Gender Qualities Essential to Survive

in Dystopian Societies:

As Exemplified by Psycho-Pass and

Homestuck

Olga ILINA

Introduction

At the beginning of the 20th century, the genre of

utopia in literature found its logical conclusion in
dystopia, which, like utopia before, is a schematic,
exaggerated description of a so ciety that usually exists
in isolation (so metimes on a planetary scale, without
alternatives) and in the near future. Whereas utopias
describe the “ideal” structure of a future society,
dystopias hyperbolize certain problems of real or
imagined societies to emphasize the dangers that await
hu manity inclined to constr uct an idealized society by
simplifying the reality.
20th was the first century to see two world wars,
the atomic bomb, a series of genocides, and a global
confrontation in a new form - the Cold War; it is only
natural that the genre of dy stopia flourished. At the turn
of the 20th and 21st centu ries, mass culture came to
love dystopias, and so did Japanese animation. Many
anime dy stopias such as Akira (1988), Ghost In the
Shell (1995), Evangelion (1995-1996), and later Psycho-
Pass (2012) or From the New World (2012-2013)
became milestones of the genre.

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

Cyberpunk is one of the most popular forms of

Japanese dystopia, owing its emergence to the American
writer William Gibson. In the Western (especially in
North American) popular culture, the leading positions
are retained by classical dy stopia, often describing
societies that have survived an apocaly pse.
In my work, I focus on the gender aspect of
dystopia and look at what roles are assigned to female
and male characters, what are their typical vices and
virtues. I analy ze and co mp are popular dystopias to
determine the image of the future society in these wo rks
as well as the image of the future female and male.

1. Japanese anime Psycho-pass and North

American Web-co mic Homestuck

In order to co mpare the roles assigned to male and

female in the two types of dy stopian societies,
cyberpunk and post-apocaly pse, I have decided to dwell
on one popular and signifi cant work in each of the
genres. The two selected works appeared roughly at the
same time, and, in my opinion, clearly reflect the
current development trends of cyberpunk and classic
dystopia.
Japanese cyberpunk is represented by the anime
Psycho-Pass (the first season was realized in 2012-
2013), released on screens in the form of an original TV
series and directed by Katsuy uki Motohiro and Naoyoshi
Shiotani. The first season consists of 22 episodes.
One of the co-directors of the series confesses that
Psycho-Pass was inspired by Western specimen of the
cyberpunk movie genre, in particular, Gattaca (1997),
Brazil (1985), Minority Report (2002), as well as the
iconic Blade Runner (1982) 1 . The last two films are

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 Gender Qualities Essential to Survive in Dystopian Societies

based on the works of Philip K. Dick, an American

writer who made a significant contribution to the
development of dy stopia. The action in Psycho-Pass
takes place in the near future Japan: according to the
director Naoyoshi Shiotani, “instead of pushing it
directly 100 y ears in the future and all the technology,
we wanted to dial back into the 80s detective drama feel.
I don't think most Holly wood movies do this as much,
like Blade Runner” 2 .
Psycho-Pass was licensed by Funimation in North
America and gained great popularity among Western
audiences.
The work selected to represent post-apocalyptic
dystopia in this paper is Homestuck (2009-2016), a
North-American web comic, written, illustrated and
animated by American author and artist Andrew Hussie.
The co mic combines static imagery, animated GIFs and
chat logs, as well as music, animations an d Adobe Flash
games. Despite the complex structure, the main part of
the web-comic is text illustrated with pictures, and as
such must be identified as a piece of literature. However,
the interactive element, when the reader actively
participates in the narrative, which is achieved through
browser video games, animated videos and musical
acco mpaniment, sets Homestuck apart as a new original
web-comic genre. In addition, as the author was
publishing the chapters in 2009-2016, he managed to
keep the audience on their tiptoes due to the
complicated and non-linear plot and a variety of
unpredictable characters. And nu merous references to
the actual mass culture allowed Homestuck to gain
immense popularity among Western y oung audiences.
Among other things, the design of so me of the
main characters in Homestuck resembles the classical

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

pictorial style of Japanese anime (e.g., the character

named Dirk Strider is armed with a katana and wears
anime triangular glasses, referring the reader to Kamina,
the anime character fro m Gurren Lagann), although the
author Andrew Hussie denies direct influence of this
anime on his work. However, it cannot be denied that
Homestuck contains references not only to the Western,
but also to the Japanese mass culture.
Thus, in this paper, I compare two dy stopian works
that were created at about the same time and in which
both their own characteristics and the mutual influence
of cultural traditions are visible.
The story of Psycho-pass takes place in an
authoritarian future dystopia, where o mnipresent public
sensors (Sybil sy stem) continuously scan the men tal
states of every passing citizen. The resulting assessment
is called a Psy cho-Pass ( サ イ コ パ ス ). When the calculated
likelihood of an individual committing a crime,
measured by the Crime Coefficient ( 犯 罪 係 数 ) index,
exceeds an accepted threshold, he or she is pursued,
apprehended, and killed if necessary by police forces.
The story follows two protagonists, Shiny a Kogami an d
Akane Tsunemori among other members o f Unit One of
the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation
Division.
Shiny a Kogami is one of the elite police officers
called Enforcers. His task is to kill people whom the
sy stem recognized as socially dangerous due to their
high Crime Coefficient index. However, he himself, like
other "Enforcers” is selected for innately high Crime
Coefficient, marking as "latent criminal"; he and others
are overseen by police Inspectors, who have the
jurisdiction to shoot them with their special guns
Dominators should they pose a danger to the public.

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 Gender Qualities Essential to Survive in Dystopian Societies

As the story progresses, we learn that Kogami

himself was an inspector, but after a crimin al killed his
partner, he became hardened and his Crime Coefficient
became dangerously high. The main purpose of all his
life is to find this criminal and finish him.
The main heroine, Akane Tsunemori is a new
police Inspector at Unit One of the Public Safety
Bureau's Criminal Investig ation Division. She and her
group investigate the works of Shogo Makishima, a
prolific criminal mastermind.
Shogo Makishima is a Criminally Asy mptomatic ( 免
罪 体 質 ) – he is persistently assessed as having a low
Crime Coefficient by the Sy bil Sy stem in spite of his
actions and plans, thus protecting him from Do minator
shots.
The Enforcers and Inspectors start hunting
Makishima, who aims to destroy the society created by
the Sybil System because he does not want to live in an
utopian society.
Meanwhile it turns out that Sibyl is a hivemind of
similarly asy mpto matic individuals and it wishes
Makishima to join the sy stem. He disagrees and escapes.
At the end of the story, Kogami finds Makisima,
who still tries to destroy the system, and, despite all
Akane’s attempts to stop him, he still kills his longtime
enemy and disappears.
Homestuck centers on a group of teenagers who
unwittingly bring about the end of the world through the
installation of an upcoming comp uter game.
This web-comic can be attributed to such genres as
action-adventure, apocalyptic, dystopia, comedy -drama
and science fantasy. Its plot is complicated, and its
length is considerably huge: over 8000 pages.
As it stated on the comic’s website,

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

“it's a tale about a boy and his friends and a game

they play together.
On his 13th birthday, John Egbert starts playing a
mysterious videogame called Sburb. Unfortunately, this
triggers the apocalypse. Fortunately, he and his friends
can make things right—if they can beat the game.
They’ll need a lot of teamwork, a little luck, and some
inspired shenanigans along the way to make it through
this mind-bending, genre-defying adventure” 3 .

As John and his friends begin to explore the world

of Sburb, they are harassed by a group of twelve
Internet trolls who have play ed a version of the game
before. Further contact with the trolls reveals that they
are not human at all, but an alien species actually called
"trolls". As the trolls gradually become mo re important
to the story, the narrative shifts to a side story arc
exploring the nature of troll society which turns to be
dystopian and the specific sequence of events that led to
this group to enter the troll version of Sburb. The trolls'
arc concludes with them winning their game and
originally creating the hu mans' universe.
Gradually , the plot beco mes more and more
complicated, new characters come into play.
The readers open the future of the planet Earth,
which is ruled by the leader of the trolls. Skillfully
using human stupidity and self-interest, she seized
power over the whole planet (as far as we can judge),
and now humanity is on the verge of extinction (only
two people are alive), and earthly cities are flooded and
the planet is in decline.
Trying to save the situation and win the game, the
heroes lose and die several times. For many of them, the

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 Gender Qualities Essential to Survive in Dystopian Societies

only way to a final victory is to recognize their own

shortcomin gs and co me to terms with them.
In the final battle against Lord English, who
sy mbolizes the absolute brutal evil, sinister Jack Noir,
who repeatedly killed the main characters and their
parents, and against the ty rannical empress of trolls,
their weaker opponents, whose constant defeats and
losses taught them sy mpathy , mutual handwork and team
work, man age to defeat them. Then the winners create a
new universe.

2. Dy stopian societies: differences and common

places

Both works describe dystopian societies. Their

distinguishing features are the following:

Psycho-pass: totalitarian control over the mental

state of citizens that helps determine their position in
the society; immediate death awaits violators of public
order; society is governed by individuals who do not
obey the laws and moral rules of the society.

Homestuck: society is divided into castes by race

(depending on the color of the blood); violators of order
are punished with death; society is controlled by aliens,
i.e., a group of persons whose position in relation to
this society is “alien”, they came fro m outside the
society.

Differences in the image of societies:

Psycho-pass: there is no criticism of the existing

order, it has some definitely positive characteristic: for

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

example, there are almost no crimes in the future Japan.

Protagonists do not oppose the existing order: on the
contrary , they support it. Some express regret for the
past structure of society, where a person had more
freedo m of choice and expressions, but none of them try
to destroy the new order. Such attempts are made only
by the antagonist.
This type of society is described as cyberpunk.

Homestuck: the new totalitarian order is depicted

exclusively in a negative light, as imposed from the
outside (humanity is enslaved by aliens) and destructive
(Earth is on the verge of death). The protagonists
oppose this order, and the culmin ation of the work is the
final battle with the oppressive ruler-aliens, who have
established this totalitarian order on Earth. Humanity in
this case is also on the verge of death. In other words,
ordinary normal persons cannot survive in this society,
and they have only one way to survive - to fight against
this society.
Such societies are described as dystopia.

3. Gender qualities essential for surviving in

dystopian societies

According to the generally accepted opinion,

certain traits of character and behavior are inherent in
men and women. For example, courage, determination,
directness, and pronounced leadership qualities are
considered to be traditionally masculine traits. In turn,
women are required to be co mpliant, emotional,
obedient and tolerant. They should be able to listen and
understand the interlocutor, should be ready to
compro mise. Traditionally , it is also believed that a man

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 Gender Qualities Essential to Survive in Dystopian Societies

should take the lead in a relationship, he must make

non-ambivalent decisions, and the wo man is supposed to
be led and play a subordinate role. Often in patriarchal
societies, women's q ualities were negatively colored as
something primitive, chthonic, and unclean, close to the
animal, the biological origin of humans. At the same
time, being a man, a bearer of male qualities, was
considered a privilege and marked the bearer as
belonging to a sublime, spiritual, rational principle.
Nowaday s, the active influence of the third wave of
feminism and post feminism have redefined the
traditional gender roles and their meanings significantly
in modern mass consciousness, and it is thus interesting
to trace the results of this rethinking in the two works
selected for this study.
In Psyho-pass, the bearer of the traditional
feminine is the main character, Akane Tsunemori. She is
a brave girl who is not afraid to doubt the correctness of
her decisions or to ask advice from other people. She is
sociable, quickly finds a common language with
colleagues. She is compassionate, positively thinking,
and not prone to depression. It is precisely for these
qualities that she was given the responsible role of
inspector. Throughout the series, she is trying to find a
solution that would suit everyone, trying to save her
colleague detective (Shiny a Kogami) from the fate that
he condemned himself to (in other words, he seeks
vengeance the murderer (the antagonist) for the death of
his partner, thereby condemning himself to destruction,
while Akane wants the murderer to stand trial and be
convicted of crimes under the laws of the state). In
addition, she manages to cope with herself after the
antagonist kills her best friend, and, unlike Shinya
Kogami, she finds the strength not to sink down to

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

personal revenge. Thus, we can say that her ability for

self-control and tolerance is significantly higher than
that of Kogami and Makishima (the antagonist), who
have more pronounced masculine qualities.
Kogami and Makishima, the two main male
characters are the exact opposite of Akane. They are
aggressive, ruthless, resolute and self-righteous. Both
are individualists, and because of that, they oppose
themselves to society. Although one of them is a
criminal, and the second is a detective, they neither of
them fits into the legal framework of society. One of
them actually dies in the end of the story and the other
one disappears in the end of the first seaso n.
Thus, it can be concluded that people with
pronounced feminine character are best adapted for
survival in the conditions of a near future society
(which, despite all its dy stopian features, also has a
nu mber of advantages over modernity, such as low
crime, stability, security , high level of citizens'
prosperity). They have a high level of the so-called
"emotional intelligence"; they are characterized by
optimism, prag matism, the ability to compro mise and
flexibility of thinking. At the same time, people with
pronounced traditional masculine qualities can not
survive in the new order – for that they are too
independent, unco mpromising and stubborn.
Further it should be added that in Psyho-pass the
bearer of traditionally feminine qualities is the female
character Akane Tsunemori, while the traditionally
masculine qualities are represented by two male
characters, a detective and a criminal. However, this
does not at all stop other characters professing clearly
opposite-gender qualities (for example, one of the
Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division

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 Gender Qualities Essential to Survive in Dystopian Societies

officers, Shion Karano mori (a wo man), demonstrates

pronounced masculine qualities and, apparently , is in a
love relationship with a female colleague). Thus, it can
be said that gender qualities do not have to coincide
with the character’s sex.

The Homestuck characters are play ing a computer

game, and the key to their victory is a set of aspects 4 .
The aspects may be active and passive. They also can be
described in the Taoist terms Yin and Yang 5 .
As the story progresses, it beco mes clear that
characters with pronounced masculine (Yang) aspects
are to be defeated in the long run, and those who have
managed to reveal their feminine (Yin) potential are
able to win a seemingly hopeless game.
The passive aspect of Yin represents the female
qualities of character in their traditional sense:
gentleness, co mpassion, emotionality, and tolerance.
Since this aspect is design ated as negative in the mass
consciousness, it often causes the web-comic heroes
who possess them to reject it subconsciously and try to
adhere to more activ e tactics.
For example, one of the main characters, Dave
Strider, has long opposed his own nature (conditioned
by the passive aspect), trying to imitate his brother, a
bearer of a pronounced masculine, active aspect. The
attempts at being a hero like his older brother lead Dave
to death in one of the altern ative story lines. As a result,
he manages to survive only in one and only scenario -
accepting himself as he is (which turns out to be much
less heroic than he would like to appear, and instead
much more sensitive and soft). He then gets the chance
to talk with his elder brother and accepts him with all
the flaws and virtues. As a result, they find a co mmon

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

language, reunite and fight side by side against a

common enemy .
Another main character, the cherub Calliope, has
long been under the influence of her tyrant brother, who
personifies the destructive masculinity . She is sure that
she must give in and lose to him, because he is stronger
and more decisive, and she concedes to him until the
time of a decisive battle co mes. However, in the end it
turns out that her female qualities are en ough to defeat
her evil brother and to create a new universe. On the
other hand, just as traditionally feminine qualities such
as empathy, kindness, gentleness and the ability to
accept and recognize the feelings of another (i. e.
tolerance) are required to win and create a new world,
pronounced masculine qualities turn out to be ruinous
for the characters that possess them, and for the world
as a whole. So, for example, the leader of a group of
trolls who play s analogue of Sburb on their planet,
ultimately realizes that his insatiable desire for power
has led the whole group of play ers to defeat, and some
to death. Still another hero, the already mentioned Dirk
Strider, notes that his and his friends’ session was
empty, and all his attempts to lead and be an active
leader were fruitless 6 . He is one of the characters with
the most pronounced active Yang aspect, but all his fine
leadership qualities and warrior skills turn out to be
useless to the dying, apocalyptic world of his session.
As a result of the session, realizing his uselessness,
Dirk, like a true samurai, commits a kind of suicide,
refusing to help his surviving comrades as every thing
starts collapsing. A similar fate - death - awaits the
main antagonists fighting for the destruction of the
world. And, while Hussie does not deny the importance
of masculinity, valor and leadership, as the main

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 Gender Qualities Essential to Survive in Dystopian Societies

characters cannot do without these qualities, he appears

to make it clear that compromise, tolerance and
harmony (again, traditional female q ualities) are
important here. Thus, even in a society of classical
dystopia, under the conditions of post-apocaly pse, the
most viable are characters who are able to rethink and
accept their femininity. Characters who have realized
that feminine qualities are as valuable and meaningful
as masculine.

Conclusion

Thus we can say that by 2010 there appeared a

nu mber of popular culture works demonstrating a
positive perception of traditionally feminine qualities.
This trend can be traced both in Western and in
Japanese cultural traditions.
Moreover, to quote Russian theorist of literature
and modern culture Dmitry Bykov 7 , we can observe in
modern popular culture a drift to the priority of
“feminine” qualities over “mascu line” ones 8 . Characters
with feminine qualities are no longer considered as
weak and passive; moreover, they gain an advantage in
the new world of the future.

1
“Directors's Panel with Katsuyuki Motohiro, Naoyoshi Shiotani, and
Atsuko Ishizuka”, Anime News Network, https://www.animenewsnetwork.
com/convention/2013/sakura-con/5(accessed December 15, 2018).
2
Ibid.
3
“INFO: Learn More About the Homestuck Universe”, Homestuck.com,
https://www.homestuck.com/info-story (accessed December 15, 2018).
4
“Force and flow the aspects aren’t the only existential duality at play
in classpects”, A Medium Corporation (US), https://medium.co m/@Rose
OfNobility/force-and-flow-the-aspects-arent-the-only-existential-duality
-at-play-in-classpects-fd1c3958314c (accessed December 15, 2018).
5
Ibid.
6
“Act 6 Act 5 Act 1 x2 Combo”, Homestuck.com, https://www.homestuc

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 文 化 交 流 研 究

k.com/story/5830 (accessed December 15, 2018).

7
Bykov is a Russian writer, poet, and publicist, literary critic, teacher
of literature. Until 2014, he worked as a professor at the Department of
World Literature and Culture at the Moscow State Institute of
International Relations, and also collaborates with Moscow State
University of Education. In 2015 the TV channel “Dozhd” launched the
program “One Hundred Lectures with Dmitry Bykov”. In the cycle of
literary lectures, Dmitry talked about Russian literature from 1900 to
1999. As part of the cycle, Bykov also gave lectures about world
literature and also focused on some works for children and young people.
The cycle went out until December 2017.
8
“Harry Potter and Cold War: Lecture of D. Bykov”, Youtube.com, http
s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E1PwM_GVu0 (accessed December 15,
2018). ; “Harry Potter – Gospel of Rowling: Lecture of D. Bykov”,
Ok.ru, https://ok.ru/video/531039390377 (accessed December 15, 2018).
; “Harry Potter and Rewriting of History: D. L. Bykov”, Facebook.com,
https://www.facebook.com/BykovDmitriyLvovich/posts/12257456508029
25:0 (accessed December 15, 2018).
In particular, Bykov himself has noted such a shift in Harry Potter
(1997-2007), where Harry Potter, the protagonist of the main cycle of
books, belongs to the house of Gryffindor (a pronounced masculine
type), but already his son, who became the hero of a later work, Harry
Potter and The Cursed Child (2016), falls into Slytherin. Bykov sees
feminine Yin essence in the methods of Slytherin, and concludes that
nowadays feminine qualities (diplomacy, ability to listen to the
interlocutor, tolerance) are more in demand than the masculine pressure
and aggression.

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