{"id":27225,"date":"2025-01-14T23:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T23:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/anime\/the-story-of-saiunkoku-and-the-myth-of-meritocracy-the-josei-next-door\/"},"modified":"2025-01-14T23:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T23:16:09","slug":"the-story-of-saiunkoku-and-the-myth-of-meritocracy-the-josei-next-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=27225","title":{"rendered":"The Story of Saiunkoku and the myth of meritocracy \u2013 The Josei Next Door"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Summer of Saiunkoku continues, this time in article form!<\/p>\n

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\"Shurei<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Once upon a time, a poor little girl named Hong Shurei did\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>dream of marrying a prince. Instead, Shurei saw the struggles of the people around her and dreamed of becoming a civil servant\u2014an impossible dream, for women were banned from public office. Yet when the law changed to allow her entry, Shurei soon learned her dream was not without its nightmares, for deep-seated prejudices loomed everywhere she looked, and these were not the sort of monsters one could draw a sword and slay.<\/p>\n

Despite its fantastical shoujo setting,\u00a0The Story of Saiunkoku<\/em>\u00a0is no traditional fairy tale, and Shurei\u2019s journey is much closer to unjust reality than escapist fiction. This allows the series to explore systemic oppression, workplace harassment, and the importance of structural support, especially in systems that claim to be merit-based. Through its young, marginalized civil servants,\u00a0Saiunkoku\u00a0<\/em>provides an intersectional critique of the \u201cbootstrap\u201d mentality, highlighting how oppression creates hurdles that often require more than just \u201chard work\u201d to clear.<\/p>\n

Cllick here for the full article on Anime Feminist!<\/a><\/p>\n

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If you like the dishes AniFem is serving up, please consider\u00a0subscribing to our Ko-Fi<\/a> or Patreon<\/a>\u00a0for as little as $1 a month!<\/em><\/p>\n

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