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I watched this show and found it to be pretty funny at times. Don't get me wrong, it does have its fair share of problematic elements. Usui being a creepy stalker, for example. But what I wanted to focus on is Misaki and her misandry.

I...kinda don't feel like explaining the full synopsis of the show...so here's a link to one (it's not very long): https://kaichouwamaidsama.fandom.com/wiki/Kaichou_Wa_Maid-Sama!_Wiki

If you've seen the show, skip down below to the divider to get straight to the rant.

The show depicts Misaki as someone who hates all men because her father left her, her mom, and her sister deeply in debt. This manifests into physically and verbally abusive behavior towards the guys at her school (Seika High), earning her the reputation of a demon-like dictator among them.

However, she's not like this to the girls. In fact, they kinda see her as a hero. Seika High used to be an all guys school, but started allowing girls entry in recent years. As a result, there are more guys than girls, and the guys weren't exactly gentlemen to these newcomers. The implication was that they regularly harassed these girls and also were dismissive of their ideas and feelings. Until Misaki became student president (the only reason she attended this school was because her family is poor).

In the second episode, there's a school festival coming up. As such, she's in charge of approving what kind of activities the students can arrange. Misaki's goal for this festival is to attract more female prospective students to Seika High. As such, she rejected many of the guys' ideas from Class 2-2 for activities (including a Strip Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament and guy on girl wrestling, essentially activities specifically designed to exploit the girls).

She ends up asking the girls what they want to do, and they offhandedly suggest doing a cafe. Misaki immediately approves, and the boys exclaim how unfair it is. To be a little fair, Class 2-2 was the last class that didn't have an approved activity, and the guys have only suggested misogynistic ideas (a photo session at the pool starring female models? seriously?). At this point, the boys have had enough, and secretly made plans to overthrow Class 2-2's cafe on the day of.

At some point, Usui warns Misaki that her negative treatment of the boys will backfire one day if she continues down this path. She brushes it off.

The festival comes, and things seem fine at first. Then the boys implement their plan. Misaki walks into the classroom, only to see the male students in medieval costumes harassing the customers. The girls tell her how they didn't know what to do when the guys arrived. Misaki gets upset and orders the boys to go into the hallway.

She starts to scold them, but they retaliate. They tell her "screw you," call her a b*tch, and start to walk away. It was then that Usui's words dawned on Misaki, as she can hear the female students struggling with the customers inside. She then apologizes and meekly asks for their help, but they say its too late, and she goes back into the classroom to help. Her skills as a waitress at a maid cafe help save the day, and the boys do come in to help out again thanks to Usui. The ending implies that she'll be more gentle towards the boys, but she's still abusive in future episodes.

My problem here is with how Misaki's misandry is handled (generally in the show) and the boys in this episode. We'll start with the latter.

Misaki is definitely in the wrong for how she is treating her male classmates, but they aren't in the right, either. This episode kinda treats the situation like only one side can be wrong, that side being Misaki's.

When the boys got upset at her for not listening to their ideas, I remember thinking that they were a bunch of hypocrites. They, too, weren't really listening to the female students. If Misaki wasn't student president or there at all, the guys would be just as dismissive to the girls' ideas. They do outnumber the female students, after all. It wouldn't be surprising if the female students would be too afraid or discouraged to oppose the male students because of that fact.

The guys wanted to do activities that would put the girls in uncomfortable positions, all for the guys' entertainment. That's incredibly selfish on their end, and the show just doesn't really acknowledge that. Or, at the very least, Misaki's misandry overshadows it to the point where it seemingly justifies what the boys did (harassing unsuspecting customers and their female classmates).

Speaking of Misaki's misandry...

The way it's depicted is much too shallow. I want to say that I never liked the trope of anime girls physically abusing guys for comedy. That trope needs to die (if it hasn't already) along with other horrible and tired tropes, like the creepy old man that likes to grope young women. Misaki's a tsundere type, so it sadly comes with the territory. Another sad thing about that is that it could've led to some really interesting character development.

I'm not against Misaki being a misandrist at first. It could be similar to Sokka's character in Avatar: The Last Airbender. He was a misogynist in the beginning, but learned to be more respectful of women as the series went on. The issue is the notion that misogyny is exactly the same as misandry, just with the genders switched. That is not the case, and here's why.

In a patriarchal society (like in Japan where Maid Sama! takes place), it can be easier to develop misogynistic beliefs, as its something that's usually taught or picked up at a young age. Additionally, society can encourage such beliefs and (socially) punish anyone who opposes them. People are practically pressured to keep these expectations uncritically.

As for misandry, that's something that's more likely to develop from resentment. This can come from mostly negative experiences with men rather than a society that encourages such discriminatory beliefs. It's not the same as misogyny, though it's possible for misogyny to develop in a similar manner.

And here's the problem I have with Misaki's misandry; it's treated like misogyny, but with boys instead. She started distrusting and hating men after her father left their family with mountains of debt, but that doesn't seem enough to hate ALL men. If anything, that could instead serve as a catalyst.

She was nice before, but what if, once life got worse after her father left, she was forced to go to worse schools with less oversight on bullying? Misaki encounters bad experience after bad experience with guys who pick on her because they see her and other girls as "easy targets." It keeps getting worse, even when she starts attending Seika High. At some point, she puts her foot down and dedicates herself to protecting the female students in her school. That leads her to working hard and committing to becoming the new student president. She achieves that goal. But with all of her resentment, she treats the guys terribly and the girls favorably.

She remains untrusting of men, until Usui enters her life. Instead of being a creepy stalker, they can somehow develop a friendship that can help her start trusting men again. She eventually becomes nicer to her male classmates while also teaching them to be more considerate and sympathetic towards their female classmates. The men no longer fear her and the women can feel safe at Seika High.

Now, I know this is an old anime and it was more focused on lady fan service. However, I wanted to get these words out of my head so they don't distract me from my everyday life. I know it was long. If you made it this far, then thank you. And sorry.