Ah, I didn't know that, frostbite. I never played the original game. But still, most people who see her in, say, SSBM for the first time--where it's not insinuated anywhere that she's male--still assume she's a guy. I know I did (even tho I saw her long before SSBM).
Anyway, I don't really see Peach being "oppressed" in the games. No one holds her down just because they think she's a woman and thus inferior to men . . . usually she is kidnapped by Bowser, who has a thing for her (and her kingdom, of course). If Bowser were gay, he'd probably be kidnapping a prince, who would be equally helpless under the circumstances; Bowser's one strong dude. It's a personal thing for him. We've also seen Mario kidnapped, and defeated by Bowser (PM) . . . it just doesn't happen as often because the villians are always male and everyone wants up on Peach, wishes to usurp her throne, and/or knows that she is Mario's weak point. In fact, that the (main) villians are all male is a form of equally offensive gender sterotyping. The only main female antagonist I can think of is Captain Syrup (another strong Nintendo woman), and the "Good Guy" in that game was actually more evil than her.
ETA: No, I don't think feminists want to be men . . . they just want the same rights as men. I won't say they want to be COMPLETELY equal to men, because they don't, and that's one of my main problems with certain areas of the movement; you never see a female feminist (there are males too, you know) insisting that she be entered into the draft pool and forced from her home life into humiliating boot camp and lethal armed combat, or that she be smacked about by a man the same way another man would be if they got into a bar brawl (instead we get the "There's NO excuse for hitting a woman!" bumper sticker). The truth is both ***es are oppressed, in different ways, and the emotional/societal pressures men put on other men can damage their minds as much or more as those put on women.
Edited by - WanWan on 7/17/2002 4:04:11 PM
