What if Sakura were a guy and Sasuke a girl?

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Honestly, this idea has been in my head for many, many months, and only now – while scrolling through my list of topics – I stumbled upon it again.

This thought came to me during a debate with Sf, back when I was still a Sakura hater. She threw a long-winded tirade at me, saying that people are biased against Sakura because she’s a girl – especially people like me. That we nitpick her behavior, especially when it comes to SasuSaku, while giving Sasuke a pass, because he’s a guy. I didn’t think much of it at the time, just jotted the idea down and figured I’d write about it later. Well – here we are, half a year later.

So now let’s ask: How would Sakura be perceived if she were a guy — in relation to Sasuke?

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Imagine a guy who, during team formation with a girl, kept trying to turn everything into romance, despite the fact that the girl’s behavior clearly shows she’s not into it and doesn’t want that.

Imagine a guy who, during a life-or-death exam, wanted to watch the girl go to the bathroom.

Imagine a guy who wants to keep this girl by his side – not because of what she wants, but because he would feel bad without her. It doesn’t matter to him that this girl has goals – like, say, wanting to avenge her family. Noble, right? Not in his eyes. He just wants to keep her close so he doesn’t feel sad.

Imagine a guy who keeps clinging to a girl, even knowing full well that she won’t reciprocate, that she’s not interested.

Imagine a guy who, even years later, keeps talking about his feelings, chasing after her, wanting to bring her back just so he doesn’t feel miserable.

Imagine a guy who keeps loving this girl for years, imposing his feelings, trying to manipulate her into coming back to him so he can be happy.

Imagine a guy who, even after this girl has tried to kill him several times, still keeps chasing her.

Imagine a guy who doesn’t think about her at all – only himself. He wants her affection because he’s unhappy without it. That’s why he keeps following her. He doesn’t care what’s happened to her, doesn’t know much about her life. But he still wants her to be with him – without ever thinking about her as a person.

He’s created this idealized image of her in his head and refuses to accept who she really is.

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Sounds creepy, disturbing, even disgusting to a degree, doesn’t it?

I do agree that sometimes people are biased against Sakura because she’s a girl. But if you’re going to bring up that argument, you also have to acknowledge the opposite side – Sakura is forgiven a lot because she’s a girl.

If she were a guy – just imagine how much more hate she’d get for this kind of behavior. Double, maybe triple. Because people are way harsher when it comes to this sort of stuff if it’s a man pushing onto a woman. It doesn’t get romanticized the same way it does when it’s a girl pushing onto a guy.

And honestly, that goes for Sns and SasuKarin too. Those ships get romanticized right up until the moment you flip the genders. If Sasuke were a girl, Naruto and Karin would catch way more heat.

In general, people view these dynamics differently precisely because Sasuke is a guy. If he were a girl, people would be far more critical of Karin, Naruto – and yes, especially Sakura.

But this discussion’s about Sakura.Sounds creepy, disturbing, even disgusting to a degree, doesn’t it?

Or is it actually a good thing the author made her a girl?

That’s a rhetorical question – and one that’s now exhausted.

Though honestly, maybe Karin would catch slightly less criticism from me, because she actually accepted Sasuke as he was. She knew a lot about him, respected his opinion, and genuinely wanted him to be happy — no matter where or with whom. But yeah... it still would’ve been pretty uncomfortable.

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