Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26516813-20190711012913/@comment-40203206-20190719081903

Re: The term 'SJW'

The term is not "extremely derogatory". Originally it was meant to describe a person who acts abusive or fanatical while trying to fight for social justice. Hence the "warrior" in "social justice warrior". I'm aware lots of people misuse the term to describe anything progressive, but that doesn't invalidate its original meaning.

In any case, I think people were wary of a female turtle being introduced for ulterior motives. If, for example, she only appeared in order to act as a vehicle for mean-spirited political messages (eg. the widely-mocked female Thor comic), then it would make a lot of people upset and harm the writing. Same thing if she was introduced solely for sex appeal or as a romantic interest (eg. Venus). If she was just a one-dimensional character whose only defining trait was her gender, then it would just be bad writing.

However, from what little reading I've done on this (I'm just a passerby who watched some cartoons, not familiar with the actual comics), I understand that Jennika is actually a fully fleshed-out character, rather than any of the poorly-written things I described. It's refreshing to see a prominently featured female hero who actually stands on her own as a character rather than simply being fanservice, a marketing tool, or a mouthpiece for a writer with an axe to grind.