Are women in the Naruto world weak?

[benelori]

Well they are rare, so that could cause the impression, but we've got female kages, advisors,one akatsuki member, female ANBU, so I wouldn't say they area weak

[Necro-melo]

Konan was the biggest joke i'v ever seen. I can't believe they let that girl wander in Akastuki, to think as she were worthy of being a member and that she should be on equal standing. Seriously i'm sure even Tenten or Karin could beat the crap out of her, yeah we didn't see much out of her ubber paper, still it looked so weak..Aside from her 'fighting skills', she sure have a lot of quotes in her arsenal! Nagato.../ Don't over do it Nagato. You shouldn't use that jutsu Nagato.
If not, she is just standing there as part of the background for us to stare at her beauty. I understand her hard past, but isn't this a bit too much? I was hoping so much from her, it's a disaster. I'll stop my QQ for now.

It's so sad that the Kunoichis doesn't play any bigger roles, they probably possesses so much more potential than we imagine, if only they would stop screaming, crying or watching all the time. Or poping a jutsu once in a while, (that fail 3/4 of the time) or only having suplementary abilitties, it would be much more fun!

Right now, i'm so sick of the healing nins, it as it's uses but can't they learn that and something ELSE? Sakura & Tsunade big ass punches are strong you could say,(at least Tsunade is, Sakura is just a rip-off) but so damn boring, it lack creativity so much..as for Karin her chakra sensor thing is not enough in my eyes.

As a girl you can't imagine how dissapointed I am with the girl-power in Naruto ¬¬ I could go on for hours but i'll pass for the night, because most of my rabling on the naruto's women is very negative.

[kthy0056]

Girls are supposed to stay in the kitchen, not on war :P.

I'm sure that girls were added like most the shonen mangas, just to add diversity and boobs and cute faces. Sorry for all girls, but that's the sad truth.

[Kuranzyan]

Sakura and Chiyo vs Sasori is probably the most Über thing you can get from Kunoichi in the Narutoverse. After all, according to Kishimoto's power formula in Naruto you get Muscles+guts=raw power, and as we all know, men are the most likely to follow that principle. Sure, girls/women can be as strong as any male, but they'll never get as muscular and cocky as men in most shonen manga. It's sad, but it's not like it'll change on a whim.

[ashher]

I'm desparately waiting for a female character who is really tough. She might lose but she will not sink in my respect.

What do you think?
Please convince me that Naruto's females are not weak! Gimme some facts so that I can consider a female character in Naruto really tough and strong!

i've added "( part 2 spoilers!! )" to the title, because you mentioned sakura's actions in part 2 - K

I am sorry I can't convince u so cause I am bad at lying.

Kishi is a wonderful writer who particularly excels in character development,his one big weakness is in female character development.I am not just talking about their weakness as shinobi,just as literary characters they fall to much lower grade than their male counterparts in naruto.They are not interesting,don't show much progress over the time,have very few or no layers as character at all.

If this is of any consolation to you,then just know that many of the great writers also have the same problem.....one of them i would like to rmention and that's Charles Dickens.

[juUnior]

but we've got female kages

Oh, yeah, I forgot the beautiful Mizukage <how could I : ( > She's got big boobies <like Tsunade> so she defiently is strong <not considering status kage - it's bullshit xd> Yeah, Mizukage will show us somewhere in the future what she's capable of <I'm thinking about battle abilities xP> And I like her "gentle, nice smile" <aka Choujuurou style xP> when at the same time she says: "Silence, I'll killy you" <terrorist ; >> And here she said it in such a "power" way:
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2509/73968046.png
*x*

Konan was the biggest joke i'v ever seen.

I must agree - I expected SOOO MUCHHH from the only woman in Akatsuki, and she was just barely some pawn to Nagato.. No, I don't mean to say abd things about women in general, but as a character in the manga she was a dissapointed. I even like her "paper jutsu", really, and it looked freaky when she firstly showed in that paper form <almost every Aka member looked in some way freaky, so do a female one xD>, it was like from some horror movie or sth, but it looked nice. And then Ji-man showed that "killing" paper is nothing special - that was all for her jutsu.. crappy jutsu in means of battle prowess :x About her character: yeah, I like her cold attitude, but about her attitude towards Nagato - man, this was the only thing I hated about her, but it seems that it can't be helped considering her past, Nagato was to her everything <and she said sth like that about him and Yahiko to Naruto at they farewell scene>. Plus she was a beauty that Konan, hyhy xD <I like the drawing from db3 - it's sad Kishi didn't showed her like that in the manga xD>

Sakura & Tsunade big ass punches are strong you could say,(at least Tsunade is, Sakura is just a rip-off) but so damn boring, it lack creativity so much..

Yeah - but on the other hand it has nice fanservice: when I first saw Tsunade ripping the wall I was: WOW When I saw Sakura in the beginning of part 2 with "finding" Kakashi in the ground I was: WOW When she pulled her Shannaro on the brick in the fight with Sasori and said "I'm not finished yet" I was: WOW And when she Shannaro'ed Sai when he was backmouthing Sasuke or Naruto I also was: WOW Besiodes that: boring, like you said

Girls are supposed to stay in the kitchen, not on war :P.

With that stereotype attitude you will have hard time finding a girlfriend <half-joke>

Sakura and Chiyo vs Sasori is probably the most Über thing you can get from Kunoichi in the Narutoverse.

I actually like also the moments with Temari from part 1 xD

[feisu-chan]

hmmm... i must say yes... it's either the women are portrayed as weak, or that Kishi's character development on kunoichis are on the minimum - very minimum...

yes, on Naruto Part1, temari and tsunade were the only strong women shown... sakura was too reliable on her team mates, but i'd give her 10 during the time she tried to protect sasuke and naruto in the forest of death (is that what the place is called?). the women were seen strong in their emotions, and i don't know if that's a good thing or not - given that i am female...

but in naruto part 2, i was really proud of sakura during the test with kakashi and especially when she was fighting sasori with chiyo... and she's really smart... however, she's pushed back to the background in recent chapters... Hinata has also improved, i think... but without her Byakugan, i'd say she won't last long as a ninja... Konan? i expected much from her... i couldn't even remember her fighting... she just stood there and watched pain... she's like Pain's secretary...

Naruto is a great story and it's one of my fave manga of all time... however, in general, women's representation in the manga are shown as male ninjas' aid and not to mention oozing with teenage angst...

or i'm just wrong, maybe they are strong; it's just that Kishi forgot to develop their characters...

Or maybe i'd just have to change my perspective... maybe the kunoichis' strength should not be measured by physical strength alone... Naruto's kunos are smart, emotionally strong, they can fight, and most importantly, their courage and dedication are incomparable to male ninjas... there, that makes me feel a lot better...

[Franckie]

Girls are supposed to stay in the kitchen, not on war :P.

I'm sure that girls were added like most the shonen mangas, just to add diversity and boobs and cute faces. Sorry for all girls, but that's the sad truth.

Did you know that girls account for 40% of Shounen Jump's readers? That's a large fanbase that SJ cannot afford to ignore.

The real truth regarding females in this series is that sadly, Kishimoto doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to write an interesting female lead. Women in Naruto are portrayed as largely useless and inferior to the men. The kunoichi are always the weakest members of their team and almost all of their motivations and goals involve men. Whenever a woman accomplishes something, that feat is immediately overshadowed by a man. For instance, Tsunade is able to heal many villagers... and then Nagato is able to revive the dead ones, and whilst Sakura has to team up to take down Sasori, men such as Shika and Sasuke have solo'd members of Akatsuki. I can only think of one account where a woman in Naruto solo'd a man and won (Tsunade defeating preskip Naruto). Then, of course, there's poor Konan, who isn't even allowed to form her own opinion.

Of the few women he does have some partial success with (Anko, Tsunade, Hinata, Temari, Chiyo, Tayuya) were quickly sidelined, forgotten, and overshadowed.

You don't see women getting treated so poorly in other series.

Bleach? Hallibel, Yoruichi, Soifon, Mashiro, Hiyori, and Lisa are all high-tier fighters. Heck, Aizen has ran away from a woman, Unohana.

One Piece? Both female members of the Strawhat pirate crew pull their own weight; Nami's job is the most important job on the ship (navigator) and Robin is the most intelligent Strawhat and the only one in the world able to read the Poneglyphs and unlock the secrets of the true history. There is one woman who appears to be a token love interest, but she happens to be the ruler of her own country as well as one of the most powerful fighters in the world.

Nurarihyon no Mago? Several women play promiment roles in the series. Yura regardly bails out her teammates and has saved the protagonist a couple of times. Furthermore, she's a major player in the current arc where the current Big Bad is a woman, and the Big Bad also happens to be one of the most powerful demons in the series.

Sure, there's some fanservice provided in the mentioned examples. Still, it's proof that shounen can create influential roles for women besides the "staying in the kitchen" concept. Additional examples would be Negima, Beelzebub, HxH, Psyren, D. Gray Man, FMA, GTO, Soul Eater, Evangelion, Code Geass, HSDK, Bloody Monday, Fairy Tale, Detective Conan, and Claymore are just one of many more examples which prove shounen can produce interesting, engaging female characters that are popular with both men and women.