Princess Mononoke- The Shojo and its function

What is the Shojo and how does it often function in Anime?

A Shojo in itself referres to a sub-genre in Anime which is specifically aimed at female archetypes.

Let us first look at the "WHAT":
Definition of Shojo? According to Miyazaki (Director, pg 11) it means: "Little female" (literally...). They are aged under the age of 18 and usually between 12-13.
How are they depicted? According to Napier (2001, pg 11) they are "Kawai" or cute characters. (Think bug-eyed, long legged, stereotypically dream-like and wishy-washy.)
How are the used? Tamea Prindle (Prindle, 1998) thinks they are used to portray the "shallow lacuna between adulthood and childhood, power and powerlessness, awareness and innocence as well as masculinity and femininity". If we couple this with Napier's (2001, pg119) definition that they "embody the potential for unfetted change and excitement that is far less available to the Japanese males" we can succinctly summarise that they are the metaphorical showcassing between the bridge-way of childhood and maturity and that the Japanese market (surprisingly a lot of males) find this an appealing escape from their rigid "demanding workforce of responsibilities" (Napier, 2001)
Setting? Shojo's are (generally speaking) usually found in a dream-like setting surrounded by wonder and magic and timeless dreamland-ness.

So, basically a Japanese version of wand-waving Barbie... right? Well, apparently not. Obviously, this is just a generalisation and there will, of course, be exceptions to the rule such as Miyazaki and his heroines. With their sassy ways and strong personalities, they challenge this archetype (and kick ass doing so!).

So, let's explore the "HOW":
Yes, Miyazaki's shojo look the part; they are attractive and petite and young and innocent e.g. Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. Yes, they often times are depicted in a dream-like world or quite literally in the clouds e.g. Chihiro Ogino in Spirited Away. But what set's Miyazaki's Shojo apart from the norm is their courage, curiosity, vivaciousness and strength as can be seen in Howls Moving Castle where Sophie's attractiveness as a character comes from her charisma. In Princess Mononoke Miyazaki goes one step further and his very attractive, very petite, not-quite-yet-woman but more-than-just-a-child heroine, Mononoke herself, is feral... I mean she is quite literally raised by wolves...  Miyazaki certainly hit the nail on the head when he said he wanted to "turn things on its head"!

Miyazaki himself has been quoted saying that he doesn't want his female leads to be mere "playthings for Lolita complex guys" or "pets" which I think is very apparent in Princess Mononoke. I don't think anyone would look at San and dare call her a "pet" (you'd more than likely get stabbed!). Their function is clearly to inspire and give a sense of leadership to young women. This is quite different to the Western way of thinking where the man is the leader and women are subservient but as Napier (2005) states “Perhaps many of Anime’s most important characters are female because it is so often the female subject who most clearly emblematizes the dizzying changes occurring in modern society.”

Thus!  "youths wearing Shoujo masks" (Panoramic Miyazaki, 1997) is the perfect-est way to sum up Miyazaki's female characters; meaning they look the part but they certainly don't act like it! Mononoke certainly did not act the part of the usual flower-in-the-hair, dream-the-day-away archetype when she sucked blood out of Moro's shoulder repeatedly and spat it on the ground, yet she looked beautiful and had a certain girl-ish softness about her when she turned around to face the audience and was covered in blood (in a weird only-in-Anime kind of way...).

References

Napier, S. (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl's moving castle (pp. 11,12). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Miyazaki, H. (Director) (2006) Princess Mononoke, Tokyo: Studio Ghibli Productions

Cavallaro, D. (2006). The animé art of Hayao Miyazaki (p. 11). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.

Film: Princess Mononoke