never knew daylight could be so violent

Usagi and sex

luna-whiskers:

rachaellikespink:

So I thought I’d take a break from my “in defense of” posts and talk a little bit about Usagi’s sex life. It shouldn’t be too long.

HEEEYYY check this out.

One of the most-discussed panels of Sailor Moon. Did they have sex or didn’t they? IS USAGI A VIRGIN? THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS.

Except it isn’t. I kind of like it that Naoko didn’t make a big deal about Usagi’s “first time” with Mamoru. Maybe they did have sex for the first time in this panel. Maybe they’d already had sex. Maybe they didn’t actually have sex, but just made out and touched each other’s upper bodies. Maybe they had oral sex but didn’t go “all the way.” Sex isn’t limited to one action, after all, but for some reason people tend to make a big deal about a girl’s hymen being torn, like it’s something special, like it’s the only kind of sex that matters.

You see a few “fade to black” (and one “fade from black”) scenes in the manga, and none of them seem “first time-y,” because there’s so much more to Sailor Moon than just Usagi and Mamoru’s relationship. At its core, Sailor Moon is about love (romantic and otherwise) and friendship, and most of that love and friendship is between girls, even though the main couple is heterosexual.

And what makes Usagi and Mamoru special isn’t when they have sex for the first time, or what they do when they have sex. Sex is part of that love, but it’s not necessarily to dwell on it to tell the story. And it’s certainly not necessary to dwell on when Usagi loses her freakin’ virginity.

Another thing I like about how Naoko dealt with Usagi and Mamoru’s sex life is that she’s not reluctant to be physically intimate with him, and he’s not manipulative or pushy about it. I see a lot of manga like this. The girl’s clearly uncomfortable with everything, because in porn culture, reluctance and unwillingness is sexy, but the guy is a MAN, damn it, and he just can’t control himself anymore! One could argue that the girl is only pretending to be reluctant, but to girls and women reading, it sends the message that a girl who accepts her sexuality and enjoys sex is undesirable.

But Sailor Moon says “Fuck you” to all that. Those two love each other, and it’s perfectly natural that they’d have sex. We all know that most people have sex while still in their teens, and yet our culture shames teenage girls who have sex.

I don’t know whether or not Naoko was thinking of all this when she wrote these scenes, but I still appreciate it. Because Sailor Moon turns so many norms and tropes on their heads, I’m never ashamed to call myself a fan.

This is exactly what makes Usagi and Mamoru in the manga one of the most perfect couple portrayals ever.  Not the destiny stuff or the past life stuff.  It’s their actual present relationship and how completely natural it is that makes them so amazing.  Their intimacy is not treated as a dirty secret, or as a critical dramatic moment.  They don’t follow porn logic of “protesting girl/dominating man.”  Being together is a natural extension of their relationship. 

And yes, once again, I love that Usagi’s represented as “pure” but not as virginal.