Boundaries, Rape Culture, and Code Lyoko

by alemonlemoned


Let me go, William.
Okay, but before you do you gotta give me a kiss goodnight.
Huh? (frowns) All right, but first close your eyes.
Great! I guess my evening wasn't a waste after all.
-- The Secret (3.7)

What is rape culture?


In its simplest terms, a rape culture is an environment in which rape is widespread and in which sexual violence against (predominantly) women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.

In more in-depth terms, a rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.

In a rape culture both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes. This violence, however, is neither biologically nor divinely ordained. Much of what we accept as inevitable is in fact the expression of values and attitudes that can change.

Rape culture is the objectification of women, which is part of a dehumanizing process that renders consent irrelevant. Rape culture is treating women’s bodies like public property. Rape culture is street harassment and groping on public transportation and equating raped women’s bodies to a man walking around with valuables hanging out of his pockets .
- shakesville.com, Rape Culture 101

A few other handy links:

How does rape culture play out in Code Lyoko (and how does this reflect our societies?


Code Lyoko, like many TV shows, has various problematic elements in its content that mirror real life issues in society, but in this post I’m going to focus predominantly on the way rape culture is shown within the show. Some of most clear and obvious examples of rape culture are shown in the interactions between William and Yumi, as well as the love triangle between Ulrich, Yumi, and William as a whole. Because, over the span of two seasons, William shows up twice at Yumi’s house in the middle of the night and tries to kiss her without concern for her consent (the quote at the top of this post is from one of these scenes), William and Ulrich both reduce Yumi to an object with no personal autonomy to be won in the competition between them, and rape culture in general influences the entire way the dynamic between William and Yumi plays out.

A culture which objectifies women, rendering consent irrelevant, is why William can, without a second thought, show up unannounced late at night outside Yumi’s house in episode 2.13 A Bad Turn, and proceed to force his way into her personal space by grabbing her chin to make her look at him while telling her “I go totally crazy when I like a girl” (as a romantic soundtrack plays in the background) and then try to kiss her while her back is, literally, against a wall as his arm cages her in. When she maneuvers away from him, she apologizes , stating her confusion as her reason for moving away — and it’s a culture that expects her to accept all sexual/romantic advances from men (regardless of her own feelings and consent to these advances) gracefully and positively that drives her to feel the need to apologize for trying to remove herself from an unwanted situation that is making her uncomfortable.

William has shown a pattern of not respecting boundaries, potentially including a situation before he even appears at Kadic. He’s said to have been expelled his old school for posting up love letters all over the school (because, again, “love makes him totally insane”) in the first episode he appears in, 2.1 New Order. When you consider the way he acts around Yumi/his tendency to make what he considers romantic gestures even when he’s gotten outright denial from the person he’s interested in (as in 3.9 Sabotage, discussed below), there’s a fair chance that this love-letter extravaganza was actually an overwhelming and inappropriate gesture. See this man with a sandwich board in the subway for how “grand romantic gestures” can actually be completely inappropriate, creepy, and absolutely unwanted by the person they’re directed at. This highlights an aspect of The Nice Guy complex and rape culture as a whole, where doing grand/romantic things for a women comes with the expectation that she will then, in return for these “nice” gestures, be obligated to fulfill your romantic/sexual desires.

William shows this pattern of behavior again in 3.9 Sabotage. A couple of episodes before, in 3.7 (which will be discussed at length for being one of the clearest examples of rape culture) Yumi clearly states to William, “Because I find your two-bit Casanova act sickening. In the beginning it was pretty nice, but now I am really fed up. So why don’t you buzz off and leave me alone, William.” Despite her rejection and direct request for him to leave her alone, during 3.9 William proceeds to tell a classmate that he’s going directly to the gift shop during their field trip and buying a gift for Yumi (another unwanted romantic gesture) and becomes instantly annoyed and offended “as usual, she couldn’t wait to give me the slip,” when he finds out she’s left while he was talking. William does not understand why his “nice gestures” like buying gifts, etc, would ever not be received positively by the person they’re directed at, and he clearly believes that doing these things will, eventually, lead to him being in a relationship with Yumi.

Yumi’s autonomy and personal choice within romantic situations is actually often erased and ignored by the male characters interested in her, which is seen frequently in the interactions between William and Ulrich. Ulrich’s jealousy continuously stems from his fear that William will ‘steal’ Yumi from him, despite the fact that neither of them have established a relationship with Yumi, and his focus is entirely on William’s actions/the rivalry between them, rather than considering Yumi’s feelings and ability, as an independent person, to make her own choices about her romantic partners. There’s a conversation in 2.10 Marabounta that just about sums it up:

Ulrich: Yeah right, when you have a good chance to humiliate the competition, you might as well go for it.
William: I miss something here? What’s your problem?
Ulrich: You’re my problem.
William: Uh, no, that’d be too easy, Ulrich. Let me tell you what’s wrong around here. My being around Yumi forces you to ask yourself a question. A tough question that you can’t answer. Here’s a piece of friendly advice — go and talk to Yumi from the heart, or else one day, I will. And then I really will be your problem.

And a similar conversation is repeated in 2.13 A Bad Turn:
Ulrich: Stay away from our group, you got that?
William: Listen, man, you’re the one who doesn’t get it. In the race for Yumi, I’m not in first place.

While William rightfully tells Ulrich to communicate with Yumi about his feelings, he’s still missing one crucial point in his statement: just because Ulrich and Yumi may not end up in a relationship does NOT automatically mean Yumi will end up in a relationship with him. He ignores her autonomy by assuming this is fact, and by referring to the situation as “the race for Yumi” he reduces her to a commodity to be won by whichever man finishes first. Ulrich repeatedly shows this frame of mind, by frequently referring to or acting as though William is his rival in a competition that he wants to win.

Sorry boys, but women are complex human beings with their own thoughts and emotions just like you, not competitions to be won! And you can’t blame another guy as being the only reason a girl wouldn’t want to be with you! That’s Nice Guy(tm) behavior. “Why does she want to choose that jerk over me?”

And then, there is a scene in 3.7 The Secret between Yumi and William that builds, in an entirely unpleasant way, on the scene outside Yumi’s house in 2.13 A Bad Turn. In this scene, William runs into Yumi in the middle of the night on the street outside her house, and this exchange then occurs:

Yumi: Okay, well I’ve got to go.
William: (blocks her) Really, where to?
Yumi: To save the world, is that a good enough answer for you? (annoyed) Let me go, William.
William: Okay, but before you do you gotta give me a kiss goodnight.
Yumi: Huh? (frowns) All right, but first close your eyes.
William: Great! I guess my evening wasn’t a waste after all. (closes eyes)
(Yumi backs up quietly, then runs down the street)
William: Yumi? Yumi? Yumi!

I repeat: Rape culture is the objectification of women, which is part of a dehumanizing process that renders consent irrelevant. Rape culture is treating women’s bodies like public property. Rape culture is stopping a girl in the middle of the night, blocking her from leaving and making it a requirement that she kisses you before you’ll willingly let her go, and seeing this as a perfectly acceptable, unquestionably okay thing to do. Because you benefit. Your night is now “not a waste after all.”

William shows absolutely no concern for Yumi’s consent. Coercion, either through means of physical or emotional manipulation used to pressure that person into doing something, takes away that person’s free will and ability to consent autonomously. Coercion is not consent — as stated in this linked discussion, any “yes” that is not given freely, enthusiastically and autonomously is not a real “yes” and should not be taken as consent for you to initiate sexual contact. Yumi’s seeming agreement to kiss William is only made under the condition that he will let her go if she kisses him; it is not a choice of her own free will. Coercion is a huge part of rape culture, and building a culture where mutual consent is valued is extremely important.

After Yumi leaves, the next morning at school this conversation occurs:

William: Hey, you know, last night you really pulled a fast one on me. No one has ever humiliated me like that before. Why did you do it for?
Yumi: Because I find your two-bit Casanova act sickening. In the beginning it was pretty nice, (angry) but now I am really fed up. So why don’t you buzz off and leave me alone, William.
(Jim interrupts, William argues with him, gets detention)
William (puts hand back on Yumi’s shoulder): Anyway, I’d like to know what you had to do that was so important last night, and I’m going to find out what your big secret is! Bet on that.

William feels personally offended and humiliated that Yumi “pulled a fast one on him” and spends the entire episode trying to get even with her by invading her privacy. And the entire reason he’s so offended and bent on getting even? Because she found a way to leave when he was trying to manipulate her into kissing him. In his eyes, being rejected is a horrible, awful thing for Yumi to do to him, but trying to coerce her into kissing him is not. This is rape culture. This is the result of William growing up in a culture that tells him that women are there for his pleasure and expected to automatically agree to any romantic or sexual advances he makes — and when they don’t, it damages his male ego, and this ego is more important than their consent. Again, rape culture is the objectification of women, which is part of a dehumanizing process that renders consent irrelevant. Rape culture is treating women’s bodies like public property.

This takes another step when William is under XANA’s control and moves into the territory of this: rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. XANAified!William’s interactions with Yumi are not just violent — they are violence with a sexual edge. There’s a scene on Lyoko in 4.2 Double Take that has always been one of the most chilling moments to me. XANA!ified William has Yumi backed up against the edge of a cliff, his blade under her chin, and is about to push her into the digital sea; and then he pauses, to stroke her face, before forcefully pushing her off the edge. The message here is clear: I can overpower you, I am in control — and the intimate nature of touching her face gives this message an unmistakable sexual connotation.



In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm. In another XANA attack in 3.9 Sabotage, Yumi is placed in another situation of sexualized violence. While the XANA-controlled vines only hold the male characters down, a vine crawls up Yumi’s stomach and between her breasts, underneath her clothing, reminding the viewers that she is to be viewed as a sexual object, even during a scene of fear and violence.

While XANAified!William’s actions in season 4 are a direct result of XANA’s control, William’s actions in the previous two seasons are entirely his own. And William? William is like a dozen of guys I went to school with. I was friends with guys like William — I watched my female friends be treated by guys exactly the way William treats Yumi. When I was fourteen I had a male friend who would constantly, constantly invade my personal space, make uncomfortable remarks at me, and try to feel me up — all as a result of wanting to be “cool like his older brother.” At the time, I was confused, because I was being told by my friends that I should take this unwanted attention as a ‘compliment’ since he’s clearly ‘so into you,’ and because I wasn’t quite sure why I felt so uncomfortable in the first place — because no one seemed to see anything wrong with his actions. 


And that is rape culture. That’s why the actions of characters on a TV show don’t exist in a vacuum — they mirror real life situations, and they influence the perceptions of the people watching them. When William expects Yumi to fulfill his romantic and sexual needs without regards to her consent, or when Ulrich and William fight over her in ways that reduce her to a possession to be won, they are directly participating in rape culture. And as Code Lyoko is a children’s show, children then watch this show and take in these portrayals as the way the world simply works — and in the case of William and Ulrich, who are both described as “cool” characters, people to aspire to be. And we, the viewers, have grown up in a world where we’re expected to see their problematic actions as “romantic.” 


But the positive thing is that by being aware of the problematic things in our societies and the way that rape culture shapes our perceptions and actions, we can lead to a change. Rape culture does not have to be perpetuated, and those who have been a part of the system can stop their part in it by becoming aware of their participation and changing both their thought processes and actions. In fact, in Code Lyoko Evolution, William has already shown a shift towards more appropriate boundaries, as seen in the way he’s began building a genuine friendship with Yumi, rather than the majority of his actions being oriented around trying to make her fulfill his romantic and sexual desires. He has learned some appropriate, consent culture boundaries in his physical interactions as well, including a scene in the episode Rendez-vous (5.11) where, when he needs to stop Yumi from potentially walking into danger, he rests his hands very lightly against her shoulders without gripping in, a hold she’d easily be able to break , and moves away quickly after. This is an interaction appropriate to the situation, unlike some of his past physical interactions with Yumi, including a scene in 2.26 The Key where he forcefully grabs her by the arm and drags her away while she’s in the middle of a conversation.


The scene from CLE is appropriate to the situation; William needed to quickly and silently stop Yumi from walking into danger, and doesn’t apply any pressure or force to his hold, nor hold on longer than necessary. However, in the scene from The Key, William shows no regard for Yumi’s personal boundaries OR the fact that she’s in the middle of a conversation, and bodily pulls her away. This shows no respect for Yumi, and is completely inappropriate.
The change in William’s behavior in Code Lyoko Evolution is an important and positive thing for the show to portray, as it sends the message that behavior can be changed — and characters do not have to continue to perpetuate rape culture they actively participated in before. This is true in life as well; many people are not even aware of how many problematic and dangerous messages they’ve absorbed from the rape culture they’ve grown up in, but as we have conversations like this — about our media and our world and our own experiences, we can become aware of these things and change them, as well as continue to spread awareness.

A TV show is not just a TV show, it’s a representation of our societies and the messages we want viewers to take in. And I know that if I had read this post years ago when I was fourteen, suddenly a lot of things would slide into clarity that I didn’t have the words to explain, even to myself, at the time — and it would validate my experiences as a girl growing up in a rape culture that made me feel unsafe for reasons I didn’t even understand. So please, look at your media, even your children’s shows, critically, and don’t excuse problematic behavior of the characters — talk about it. Acknowledge why it’s problematic. Acknowledge how it reflects real life and real experiences. Being aware and critical of your media does not mean you have to stop enjoying it (or stop loving the characters with problematic behaviors) — it just means being aware of these problematic things and not invalidating their existence. How to be a fan of problematic things is a great post on this topic.

So please! Pay attention to your media, love your media, adore your characters, but discuss everything about your media as well — the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s important.

And finally, a hundred thanks to someothermonstra, tehjelly, theyumistick, antiquecompass and sigur-roskolnikov on Tumblr for their contributions and help with this post.

Originally posted here , reposted with permission.