The role of queerness in personal identity

Key foods

• Quirks shape personal identity and personal worth, and define a person's life path and sense of belonging.
• How society perceives queer behavior determines whether a person is labeled a hero or a villain.
• Living in a superpower society means enormous social pressure and expectations on quirky owners.

in the world of My hero academyQuirks are superhuman abilities that people are born with. These abilities often appear from the age of four and are known to affect over 80% of the population. Since these abilities emerge when a person is in the early stages of development, it is not uncommon for them to build their personalities based on their characteristics and make certain important decisions to fit their characteristics.

Quirks are very important in this world, and being born without quirks is devastating. Fans see how upset Izuku Midoriya and his mother were when the doctor told them that Midoriya would grow up without him. What quirkiness does for people is profound because it shapes their self-perception, social interactions, and career paths. Midoriya knew without a doubt that he wasn't going to fit in and that he could never become a hero, no matter how much he dreamed of it. The presence or absence of quirks determines the course of a character's life and often creates expectations that shape how they fit into society.

Peculiarities and personal identity

Self-perception

Personal identity is how a person defines and understands himself. It includes aspects such as personality, values, beliefs and roles they take on in life. It is how a person sees himself as unique and makes him feel separate from others. Characters in My hero academy They often tie their sense of worth to their traits. For example, Midoriya, who was born with signs that suggest he might not show a bad temper. Midoriya felt inadequate and worthless because he was part of the minority who was born without a surprise and therefore could not be a hero.

Midoriya's encounter with all his powers and his winning for all changes his perspective and gives him a sense of purpose and belonging. Midoriya's quirks increase in value as he now sees himself as someone who can be a hero.

Yoga Aoyama was also born without surprise. This led him and his parents to seek unorthodox ways to achieve the oddity, such as calling All for One, the greatest villain in his world, which gave him navel-gazing but at a cost. Born undeserving in a world where the majority are born with a bad temper, his parents feared the kind of discrimination he was about to face for something that was no fault of his. Personally, Yuga struggles to fit in and sees himself as inferior and unworthy like Midoriya. Even with a quirk, she still struggles with insecurity knowing what she's been through and the price she's paying for that quirk.

self acceptance

Quirkiness is something people have the least control over. Different people exhibit different characteristics, some are stronger, stronger and more versatile than others. This makes people less likely to see themselves as cooler or stronger for not acting. Ijiro Kirishima had a hard time accepting his quirkiness because he felt inferior compared to others such as Todoroki's hot, half-cold quirk or Bakugou's explosive quirk. Over time, Kirishima learns to embrace his tough ability and learns that there is more to being a hero than flashy powers. His teacher, Shota Aizawa, can also be thanked for this. He learns that it really comes down to a person's resilience and spirit. Learning this made him accept himself and gave him a sense of belonging among his peers.

Strange and social roles

How strange holders fit

While some people use their traits for good, others use it for bad. That is why there are villains and heroes in this world. Society expects people who use their traits for good to protect their city and even the world from criminals, and also not oppress a minority who happen to be unassuming.

Heroes are celebrated for using their qualities to protect society, while those who abuse or defy social norms are labeled villains, such as Tomura Shigaraki, the League of Villains, Dobby, and others. The difference between a hero and a villain often depends not only on the individual's eccentricity, but also on how society perceives and reacts to the individual. For example, society perceives Stain as a villain. Lekh is also not a hero, but his role may be considered heroic to some and villainous to others. It is Leke's responsibility to wipe out any hero who is not clean, has ulterior motives for becoming a hero, and is in it for fame and money. A true hero should not care about the benefits that come with the role, but should only care about saving lives and pursuing justice.

According to Stain, only All Might can be considered a true hero and the others are only there for selfish reasons. Regardless of Stein's motivations and beliefs, society sees him as evil because he goes around killing people.

All Might is a perfect example of what society expects from queer owners, essentially heroes. All Might served and protected Japan so much that he was revered as a symbol of peace and recognized as the number one hero in Japan. Rain come sunshine; As long as the villains are terrorizing the citizens or the citizens are in danger, all the power will appear. Even after sustaining severe injuries, he did not want to step down due to social expectations.

Discrimination and prejudice

In a world like this, discrimination and prejudice are inevitable. Angie showed a bias towards Todoroki over her other children, due to the equal distribution of his traits. His bigotry drove his eldest son Touya Todoroki to the dark side, as Touya became the dobby villain most fans are painfully familiar with.

Those born with destructive traits or those considered “monsters” by societal standards. For example, Spinner from League of Villains fits society's standards of a villain due to his mutant trait, Gecko. The spinner has lizard-like features and faces discrimination because of it. Spinner and others like him have been marginalized by society and faced prejudice or ostracism. It reinforces a rigid social structure in which queerness serves as the primary determinant of one's place in the world, either empowering individuals to achieve fame or limiting their potential roles. do

Pressure and expectations of society

What is expected of Quirk holders

With great powers come great responsibilities, and although these people did not seek the powers they were born with, the responsibilities of having such powers rest upon them. Characters with strong eccentricities often face intense social pressure to become heroes and live up to expectations. All Might's eccentricity, One For All, positions him as a symbol of peace and puts the weight of society's safety on his shoulders.

Even with the huge hole in his chest, All Might didn't want to retire as a hero because society expected him to be protected and he basically kept the villains in their place because most of them feared him. In the end, he was forced to retire as he lost all of the One For All elements, reducing him to a bland, shadowy figure of his former muscular self.

Society is also the cause of evil. People have less control over the quirks they end up encountering, but there are some quirks that look good and others that look bad. Bakugou's explosive quirk is seen as a brilliant trait by society, and they assume that Bakugou has villainous tendencies. Unlike Bakugou who stayed true to his heroic path, other characters have also been judged this way. These other characters are not so many. Characters like Spinner, Dabi, Twice, and Himiko Toga became villains in response to how their eccentric behavior pushed them away from social norms.

In the end

Living in a superpower society imposes its own pressure, expectations and acceptance on the individual. Having a quirk in this world means that one has to be either a hero or a villain, not in between. Only nerds have a say in what they want to be, but they can't be heroes for sure. Quirks are more than just superhuman abilities that these people are born with. It determines their destiny, shapes their interactions with others, and most importantly, shapes how a person perceives themselves.

My hero academy Now available to stream on Crunchyroll.