My problem with Sanji's sexism and the way it's treated is this. People are calling it a character trait. Which it is, but it's a specific kind of character trait. Sanji's sexism is a flaw. It's something that holds him back and gets between him and his goals. It's not being treated like it's a flaw by so much of the fandom and in particular by Oda himself. There's no saying it isn't a flaw. Look at how it handicaps him in the fight with Bon Kuri. With Kalifa. With Violet. Imagine the trouble there would have been if she wasn't a double agent. It keeps getting in his way and putting his people at risk in the story, and from the perspective of a reader we can see it as morally dubious. And look, no one's saying you can't or shouldn't write characters with sexism as a personal failing - flawed characters are good characters, but generally it's good writing to make a character arc out of a fatal flaw. To show it being worked on or grappled with over time. And Oda isn't incapable of this.
Usopp's cowardice was a fatal character flaw once. His lack of confidence is still a defining character trait, but he's faced his fears and come a long way since we met him.
Luffy's rashness and tendency to bite off more than he can chew were character flaws. They bit him and his whole team in the ass at Sabaody, so he took the time to make sure he was ready for the next stage of the journey after Marineford instead of just rushing in, showing growth as a person.
Robin's aloof nature and nihilism were character flaws that brought on the whole conflict of the Water Seven Saga when she resigned herself to death. But she was inspired to choose life, and is a much more open and warm member of the crew. Her darker side grew into a tendency towards black comedy.
These are great examples of One Piece character development.
Sanji, on the other hand, was sexist when we met him and… is still sexist now. If anything he's worse than before, following the timeskip. It's not as if he's lacked chances to grow, Oda just keeps giving him easy ways out instead of really challenging him. It was fine once, with Bon Kuri, where it was new enough to be funny and there was a clever workaround. But then Kalifa happens and he's not even scolded for putting Robin at risk like that. The fight doesn't matter because Nami steps in and he gets to fight Jabra later. As mentioned above, there's Violet, who could probably have killed him outright if she wasn't undercover. Oda just keeps letting him off the hook. Sanji's sexism isn't being treated as a flaw by Oda: it always ends up being portrayed as hilarious at best, and noble at worst.
I hope, I hope so bad that all of this is leading up to a big moment of character growth in Totland. But I'm not holding my breath.
Oda doesn't have to change who Sanji is. Womanizing can remain a defining character trait, we know that's not going anywhere. But if he could just gain a tiny bit of respect for the danger posed by female enemies, or reach the point where he'd maybe consider choosing his crew over a woman he met yesterday who is trying to kill him, that would be great. That would do wonders for his character.
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
@sggupta:
Agreed.But it also means everyone's gonna have a different opinion.your opinion or criticsm can also be questioned.
Not really.
Whiskey Peak was placed at the beginning of grand line,and so yeah the enemies were weak.But it was 100 against one,so zoro was constantly on his guard if you watch carefully.Yet,he didn' t really go all out against anyone if he didn't need to.the nun and the child were spared as you brought up.but miss monday was a named member of BW,and was quite strong.so he had to injure her.but even then,he didn't cause that much damage to her,and she even helped vivi escape later.
In enies lobby,no one was vastly weaker than zoro except fodder,whoch don't really count.
In fishmen island,no one was barely even a challenge,and in the hyozou fighy,zoro gave him a chance to surrender and even after he defeated him,hyozou was alive and well.
You seem to be forgetting that all the SH's have greatly improved over the course of the series,especially after the time-skip.what could have easily killed them before won't even faze them now.
He doesn't want to fight Tashigi becoz she reminds zoro of kunia,which he doesn' t like.it weirds him out.
Miss monday challenged zoro to a contest of pure strength,and zoro is one to never shy away from a challenge.so he beat her at her own game.plus,he crushed her head sp i don' t know what you want.even the person he defeated with his swords,like igaram were not mortally wounded,and were fine afterwards.
Cool.It 's also okay to disagree with some points of criticism and debate them.Sanji's actions and overall portrayal of women aside,i just don't accept that zoro has sexist(?) tendencies.
But you know.it's cool to debate and disagree with others regarding something you love.that's what we are here for.so i say it' s cool to differ and disagree.
Alright, we can argue all day about whether Monet or a hundred mooks is more of a threat…
! 
but you do know that you've brought up some great examples of sexism in what you're saying, right? Zoro is 100% willing to draw blood against the mook bounty hunters, mook marines, mook pirate mobs, mook Punk Hazard guys (I forgot he downed a bunch of them when I last posted) but he just happens to not do it every time there's a girl around. As you said, there was no way not to fight Miss Monday "but even then, he didn't cause that much damage to her"
That's the thing, isn't it? He won't cause damage to her. You say he "crushed her head," but like, look at the panel where he lets her go. There's no blood, no bruising, no finger imprints from where he grabbed her. The only sign anything at all has happened is that she's foaming at the mouth, which is a good sign of being awed or shocked into unconsciousness (or haki, but yeah, no). The bystanders just say he "beat her in a show of strength," which doesn't say a whole lot about what he actually did.
As you say, she gets off easy. See that's the thing. Women are put on a pedestal. They aren't treated like people. They're not to be hurt, and if it does come to that, it can't be done in a way that's gonna leave any permanent or visible marks. Look at the nun, at Miss Monday, at his reaction to Robin being shocked, at Monet. Look at Tashigi, who begs to be taken seriously the same way Kuina did, but never gets it. Yeah, it's a complicated set of feelings for Zoro, but it doesn't feel very in line with what Kuina would want him to do, does it?
Women consistently get special treatment from Zoro (and Sanji, and basically by Oda), and it's not because they're weak. Well, it kinda is, as the series likes to remind us, their bodies just aren't as tough. But they're weak in a different way to all the mooks that mowed down by the dozen. Hyozou was disarmed and given a chance to surrender, then cut down. Monet is disarmed and given a chance to surrender, but Zoro acts passively and lets Tashigi finish her off. No one else is getting the I-won't-cut-you-down treatment.
In spite of having more female opponents than literally any One Piece man who isn't Luffy, and in spite of using swords, giving his fights a high chance of ending bloodily, the only time ever Zoro used a blade on a woman was when he cut Monet's cheek. After a while it stops being something that happened this one time. It's a pattern.
And some of this is Oda's fault as well. Mooks are disposable, but there are never any female marines or female mook pirates. They're only in specifically female crews like Tsuru's and Hancock's, and take a moment to think of how many onscreen battles they've had. There are never any girls around when a whole squad gets beat in one panel by someone tough. Just, never. And the only real reason is that Oda probably just doesn't want to draw it.
Odacchi! Question!! You know how there aren't any females in the Whitebeard Pirates? It bothers me! P.N. Apple
