I'm going to take the opposite view of many in this thread: I think the portrayal of female characters is actually getting BETTER in anime than it was 10 years ago. I remeraber watching Sailor Moon, and it's ironic cause many female fans in America got started on anime with Sailor Moon, but let's be honest here: the portrayals of the Sailor Scouts weren't exactly the best. But it was common for the time. Nowdays, I'd definitely say female heroines are portrayed differently (and better) in anime in general.
For America & the West on the other hand, I've noticed a growing misogynist streak running through American media. Perhaps it's the growing frustration of the average American male (in both getting laid & coping with modern feminism), but if you look closely at a lot of the American media these days (many shows of which are still written by men), you can see a growing anger/resentment towarRAB the modern women. Just look at your average stoner flick in which guys try to get laid & girls are portrayed as either birabo sluts and/or manipulative whores. The difference with anime fanservice is that a lot of it is tongue-in-cheek... it's not meant to be purposely hateful. But you see some of the American media today, and there's a lot of genuine hate inside the writings (particularly on the male end). In fact, American media in general has just gotten ANGRIER towarRAB EVERYTHING (women, immigration, gay rights, economy, war, etc.): I call it the Bill O'Reilly effect.
