Jesus...I'm so sick of hearing this....
"The problem? Oda seems to dismiss women as fighters. "
Yeah? Vivi tried to fight but she couldn't why? "because she's a woman!" you shout, or is it because she's royalty protected by guards? same with Shirahoshi. It's not because they are women, it's a part of their character. Like how Boa is shichibukai and is overpowered as fuck. In general though how many female fighters have you actually seen in real life?, uh uh uh uh no don't you google some, be honest. Men get pissed at each other all the time and it gets physical, girls usually play with emotions instead, that's not a slight on them, it's how they work. In general you will see more men in any kind of physical event too so it's not unnatural to consider them in such a way, every rugby game, weight lifting comp, (most) MMA comps, soccer, whatever, every player is a guy, except when they specially make teams just for girls. DO NOT GET OFFENDED I am not claiming any sort of hierarchy, but it is the public image, and it's just the way it is.
"Another issue to ponder would be the significance female characters have in the overall world of One Piece. As of right now, there are only two confirmed women who carry the Will of D – Portgas D Rouge and Trafalgar D Water Lami, both of whom are dead and only exist to aid the back stories of male characters. The three of the most powerful groups in One Piece–The Seven Warlords, Four Emperors, and Eleven Supernovas –have only one female member apiece. At times, I get the feeling that these girls were begrudgingly included as tokens of female representation, a thought I wish had never occurred to me."
Firstly mark this thread for spoilers, secondly, her name is just Lami, not Water Lami(we can't even confirm her and Law are blood relatives), and she has not been confirmed to be a D. As for the little amount of women claiming a D, theres very little men claiming it too, sub 10 characters total.
"both of whom are dead to aid male characters stories" true because Oda hates introducing hundreds of characters this way. also notice how characters in this story NEVER die unless they are really important? apart from these two the only ones I can think of are Whitebeard, Ace and Roger, 3 of the biggest characters in the entire story.
"all groups meeting quota blah" or Oda could have just wanted them to be female because he thought it would suit their powers more, possibly having more importance in the future in terms of relationships, to add variation, just happened to be female for no reason(same reason he made male characters), ...
would you prefer there were no women? or a perfect split to satisfy your own personal quota? what is the perfect number that doesn't get the artist in trouble? how many is too many and make the artist obsessed or obviously shoving a point down the audiences throat? what is the perfect breast size that doesn't neglect all real world sizes(yes girls can have large boobs) both painting them with subtlety but also emphasizing their femininity before the artist is a pervert? how much clothing do the girls need to cover up with before it's perfectly acceptable standing next to the sea of shirtless men with rippling muscles? how many girls with a D initial do we need before they are seen as significant? how many more plot development only male characters do we need to make for the amount of female ones? how strong do female characters have to be before you consider them worthy? and what makes this very specific story different to any other manga, anime, book, cartoon, film, or other forms of narrative in relation to gender issues(apart from you know, dealing with transgender/transexual like its nothing, having very feminine males, masculine females, avoiding extreme fan service, having an entire island full of very strong female warriors, having an asexual protagonist, being almost completely void of romantic/sexual relationships, having a mix of very conservative and promiscuous male and female characters, having a mix of ages of each, having females be some of the first to showcase haki as a testament to their equality or even superioroity, recognizing gender issues and confronting them such as Kuina and Tashigi, and parodying the extremes of them like Kalifa)?
Can't we just enjoy the fucking story?