Be a Man, Read Shoujo

Let’s get down to business…you’re a sad pathetic lot, and you haven’t’ got a clue…

-Li Shang, Mulan.

In today’s society, men hang on to being a man just for the sake of it. This is however, quite pointless, as in this day and age, the traits we associate with “manliness” are quite worthless. So why do we hang onto them? I believe the reason is that most men are under the impression that their reproductive organs will shrink off and disappear if they perform an act they consider “unmanly” Pitiful, really.

However, I think it takes a high degree of manliness to read Shoujo comics. True, the term pretty much translates to “girl’s comics,” however, that should not stop anybody. A true man cannot be brought down, and would be invulnerable to the damage it would cause lesser men. Many will run in an attempt to preserve their manliness, however, I find it much more effective to plow right through them, and assimilate all of the wonderful, uber-cute goodness. Why, the only reason I’m writing this is because I ran out of shoujo to read. Trust me, you’ll still be a man afterwards. Actually, you’ll have proven yourself to be more of a man. Really, what better way to prove your manliness than to retain it through a great amount of girliness?

But wait, before you go delve into the uber-cute world of shoujo, please understand that there is more to it than proving youre manliness. Indeed, it is more important that you ENJOY this. Ah yes, the important part, and the main reason we read manga. So how do you enjoy this? Well, you start slowly…. You can’t just dive into the most cutesy shoujo first! You have to build up your defenses, acquire taste. A great place to start would be Vampire Knight, a story about a school… that is hiding a den of Vampires. Because, as we all know, everything is better with vampires, and shoujo is no exception. Then you can work you’re way in, and try some less masculine stuff. Eventually, you’ll be reading through Fruits Basket and everything Shoujo Beat puts out like it’s nothing. And you’ll still be a man. I do this, and I’m still capable of weight lifting and other manly activities. Also, I still enjoy manly stuff like GTO and Claymore. You’ll have an entire new terrain to explore, and you may even enjoy it!

In conclusion, if you want to prove that you’re a real man, go pick up some Shoujo.