I used to love Sanji, I used to think he was an "amazing character" like 98% of the One Piece fanbase think, but the more I think about it, the more his character pisses me off.
His
main ideology is that
he shows women the utmost respect, due to his upbringing and circumstances as a child, he puts women on a pedestal.
However, there's a "gag" his character partakes in, where he is constantly perverted and degrading towards women. This perversion
directly conflicts and clashes with his main ideology. His character makes no sense.
For the people who say "it's just a gag", how can you say that? Sanji's "gag" has directly affected the plot. On Fishman Island, Sanji's perversion was an entire subplot of the arc. Chopper's hilarious bounties, THAT is a gag. Zoro getting lost all the time, THAT is a gag. Because they do not affect the plot.
Some instances where Sanji's perversion can be seen as disrespectful and degrading towards women:
In the instance above, Sanji is shown wanting to find a camera and take pictures of Nami while he is in her body. In this instance, it can be seen as disrespectful but it isn't as bad as other instances considering this is Nami, she doesn't care as much as random girls that Sanji doesn't know. However, it is still disrespectful and not the way you should treat a woman. This kind of treatment makes no sense because Sanji lives to preach that women should be put on a pedestal and should be given the utmost respect.
In this instance above, Sanji is shown touching Nami's boobs without her permission. Just like the previous instance, this is obviously not disrespecful but sexual harassment. I'm not going to say much about this instance though because again, it is Nami and she knows and loves Sanji.
In this instance above, Sanji is shown with his tongue out and "locking on to women". In the bottom left panel you can CLEARLY see that the women feel uncomfortable and harassed. This is disrespectful and degrading behaviour that I could overlook as "just a gag" if it was ANYBODY else. The reason why this is an issue is because it DIRECTLY contradicts everything that Sanji stands for. How can you preach respect yet continually disrespect?
This last one, the most recent instance of disrespect toward women, is probably my least favourite Sanji moment in the entire series. Sanji snuck into a bathhouse filled with women and spied on them, fulfilling his lifelong dream of being invisible and spying on women. This one made me feel sick to the core, because I thought the whole Absalom-dream gag was JUST a gag that was left and forgotten in Thriller Bark, but the Raid Suit came and reintroduced this shitty concept. This is one of my least favourite chapters in Wano so far.
If you love Sanji, that is PERFECTLY fine and I obviously don't hold you against it, this is a fictional character that we're talking about lol, I won't feel any way. Just wanted to express my thoughts on a character that I think is "poorly" written. Well, more like Oda just hates him. Oda has written Sanji into a corner that is terrible for his character multiple times.
