Dragon Ball criticized for limiting female characters to housewife roles

As Dragon Ball’s new Super Hero arc continues to explore Trunks and Goten's lives, it has been quickly established that the former has a crush on Mai. In chapter 90, on their first date, Mai's assures him that they could go out as many times as he wanted. While many people find it disturbing that a woman who has deaged and is now in high school is going on a date with a child, it has also opened up about the possibility of Mai and Trunks getting married in the future.

The idea of settling down has been problematized by certain readers who have objected to how male-centric the manga is. Most notably, Dragon Ball has been chastised for relegating prominent female characters to the status of housewives with little influence over their planet's or world's future.

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Fans have been critical of how the female characters in Dragon Ball are written

It is unfortunate that female character representation in shounen anime and manga is frequently lacking. Even popular series like Dragon Ball and Naruto have not been immune to this. It has been repeatedly pointed out by Dragon Ball readers how the series has begun to follow a pattern of Goku and Vegeta versus threats from greater planets where the duo have to power up to make the world a safe place again.

The wives, on the other hand, are completely invalidated. Chi-Chi, Goku's wife, is the princess of Fire Mountain and the daughter of the Ox-King. She has a fierce personality and superhuman strength, making her one of the strongest women on Earth. Chi-Chi abandoned her martial arts training after marrying and having children, contenting herself with becoming a housewife.

Goku, on the other hand, has frequently been chastised for being an absent father. Vegeta, who left Bulma to care for Trunks while he went to train, has also been accused of the same offense. Bulma is an outstanding scientist who works for the Capsule Corps. While she is not a trained combatant, it would have been entertaining to see her fight using cool gadgets, but that is not to be.

Android 18 is significantly more powerful than Krillin or even Super Saiyans. She also has an endless source of energy, and yet she has been underutilized since the Cell saga. Despite her professed desire to fight in the past, it has been determined that she should remain at home and care for her child.

Apart from them, Videl's character has undoubtedly been the most butchered. Being a skilled combatant and, most importantly, possessing the wits, Videl had initially displayed great potential. She even became Saiyaman 2 to assist Gohan.

However, the Videl in Dragon Ball Super is an entirely new character who has no resemblance to her counterpart from Dragon Ball Z, as she appears to exist just for the sake of Gohan and Pan.

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Final Thought

Videl and Chi-Chi (Image via Toei Animation)

The typical explanation for why the main female characters in Dragon Ball do not fight is that they would be destroyed by opponents like Jiren, Beerus, or Back Frieza. Nonetheless, the decision to confine them to their home is frequently made at the expense of their personality.

In a series where characters are constantly obtaining new powers and unlocking transformations, turning the existing female characters into powerful fighters is not difficult. While some characters who had lost relevance, like Piccolo and Gohan, have been elevated to the same level as Goku and Vegeta, the same cannot be said for the female characters.

However, Toriyama and Toyotaro have taken another way out. Instead of building on established characters, as they have done with the male ones at least, Toriyama and Toyotaro have chosen to introduce newer and stronger female characters, such as Kale and Caulifla, who might only be important for a few sagas before being forgotten or reduced to the role of submissive housewives.