*makes a note to get Merc more cider, check on the homebrew partner*

There was a canard a few years back that if you genderswapped the cast, everyone would fit all too well. Boy!Asuka would be the fiery, high-spirited, drill-will-pierce-the-heavens test pilot, Rei would be the laconic loner, and Shinji would, of course, be The Chick, and the romantic interest the two were fighting over.

Then last week I was reading an essay on gender roles in fiction and why male authors write female characters (and, in specific case, why some authors write genderbent SIs, this being a SpaceBattles.com debate at the particular moment). And there was a lot of talk about how girls were 'allowed' to show emotional weakness and guys weren't.

I'm wondering if this is the heart of why Shinji - whose actions are very believable and in-character, even if we may find them disappointing - gets so much abuse and dislike from the fanbase. (Actually, no, I'm not wondering, I'm pretty darn certain of it.)

Note for example that Asuka -does- go through a similar (and more rapid, and more severe) emotional collapse herself, and nobody holds it against her: she's a girl, it's expected, it's -allowed-. Shinji? To quote Misato; "You're a boy, aren't you?"