Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

Female-on-male violence is viewed as more acceptable in life than male-on-female violence. Often, a woman using physical violence on a man will be [[Played for Laughs]]; sometimes it will be [[Disproportionate Retribution]]. The key is that in most works where this trope is in effect, it would be completely impossible to imagine the same violent situation play out with the participants' genders reversed without a large dose of drama getting added into the mix. The basic [[Double Standard]] at work in this trope is sexist on both sides: no woman is strong enough to harm a man, so any man weak enough to be harmed by a woman [[No True Scotsman|isn't a real man, and that's funny.]]; that way, also, you get [[Amusing Injuries]] instead of broken bones and cuts.

 

Due to the very nature of this trope '''''no [[Take That]] edits and no social [[Natter]] or personal opinions'''''.

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{{noreallife|tell the police, not us.}}

** The manga's a bit better about this, where Naru especially is actually called on her behavior at least once, Keitaro eventually learns to avoid these attacks, and the girls stop doing them eventually.

** Ken Akamatsu seems to have largely outgrown this trope during the course of his [[Long Runner]] ''[[Negima]].'' Mind you, considering Negi's only about 10 years old and the girls are fifteen, he probably thought it would look like child abuse, though in one storyarc where Negi was aged up to 15 or so, he suffered a few Keitaro-esque smacks in the face himself. Later, when Anya, Negi's best friend from home, comes to visit him, she's able to beat him up as much as she wants (with flaming punches and kicks, no less) since they're the same age.

** Manabe even lampshades it at one point, when he comments "I'm risking my life playing the stooge here." It was said in regards to Yuki, but he seems to have the same goal for Machi (getting them both out of their shells).

** Kagura's abuse of Kyo is played for laughs in the series, even though it's ridiculously over the top.

* Averted in ''[[Sensitive Pornograph]]'' with Mari. Ten days after his wife's accidental death, he's still badly bruised. His childhood friend Gouzou is worried and somewhat shocked when he hears of the domestic abuse. Also [[Played for Drama]] and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|heartwarming]] as Mari's little twin sons ask Gouzou to not hurt Papa.

 

* ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' : No one felt sympathy for Conrad Heyer, the abused husband of the domineering and ruthless [[Manipulative Bitch|Helen Heyer]] but everyone felt sorry for the equally abused Rosemary Almond whose horrible husband would neglect and batter her at the drop of a hat. The characters in-universe likely didn't care about either case due to it being a [[Crapsack World]]. The reader, however, is meant to feel just as sorry for Conrad as Rosemary. Whether or not they actually do is obviously up to the reader.

* ''[[The Flash|Impulse]]'': This in a one-issue story where Impulse noticed one of his male classmates turning up with suspicious injuries. It actually did get remembered for a (little) while, as in a later issue {{spoiler|the boy's mother gets visited in the mental hospital she was put in.}}

** [[Cool Big Sis|Sheyla]]'s violence on her brother Razzia was slightly played for laught in a flashback, though it was justified; she had just rescued him from bullies, and was mad he didn't defend himself. {{spoiler|Ironically enough, he eventually learnt how to fight and became stronger than her, only to end up killing her by mistake when they ended up on opposite sides.}}

** Tenebris has moments hitting Razzia during Book 13 when [[Clingy Jealous Girl|he start displaying peeping moments when seeing Jadina in underwears]]. This is gradually deconstructed as the book goes however, with her becoming more and more aggressive as the story goes, in a less and less funny way (she ends up treathening him to cut his other arm off when he [[What the Hell, Hero?|call her out for trying to kill Kasino's assassins and taking pleasure to it]]). {{spoiler|It's eventually revealed to be justified, due to Abyss [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashing her]] with his [[Puppeteer Parasite]] abilities}}.

* The "free comic day" [[Scott Pilgrim]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|comic]] surprisingly confronts this; Scott is attacked by female ninjas and, much to the chagrin of Ramona and Wallace, ''refuses to defend himself because he doesn't want to hit a girl''. Despite its somewhat important message, '''''it should be noted it's [[Played for Laughs]].'''''

{{quote|'''[[An Aesop|Scott Pilgrim says...]]'''

 

== Fan Works ==

{{quote|Your story is pretty good. The only thing is that the whole scene between Nagina and Kabir dropped the story down a couple notches in my opinion. I can understand a man having an argument with his wife, but for him to grab her wrist and attempt to intimidate her into submission was too much. Especially since the two of them had been acting very much in love at the beginning of the chapter. Two people in love to that extent could have a nasty fight but the love shared between the two would still be there. The dramatic shift from loving to hating was too abrupt and unnatural.}}

* The highly-controversial, flamewar-spawning ''[[Ranma ½]]'' [[Dark Fic]] ''[[The Bitter End]]'' portrayed an [[Alternative Character Interpretation]] of Akane which proposed that her violent outbursts, instead of comedy slapstick, were the result of deep-seated psychoses and possessiveness stemming from a massive inferiority complex. Not only that, but instead of taking the abuse like anyone else would take a light slap upside the head, Ranma was actually and seriously ''injured'' by Akane's abuse. And like many abuse victims, not only would he refuse to get away from Akane or even acknowledge that what she did was wrong, but his passivity would lead to progressively worse treatment. Eventually, {{spoiler|had Ranma go to a support group for battered spouses... which is entirely made up of women, most of whom can't understand why this strong-looking man is among them. Though Ukyo calls them on this, they stand firm on turning him away... until Ukyo reveals his curse, calling him the one guy who can truly ''understand'' what being a woman is like. After this, the group gradually warms up to him, especially as he teaches them self-defense and gives them another perspective on 'mens' minds'}}. "The Bitter End" is extremely well-written and [[Shown Their Work|well-researched]], and it is widely considered a classic must-read for being one of the first ''[[Ranma ½]]'' voices to speak openly about this delicate subject matter. (Though [[Fanon]] and character-bashing factions in the fandom, sadly, [[Misaimed Fandom|would take this interpretation and run with it as though it were canon]].)

* Inverted in the third chapter of ''[[The Last War]]''. [[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry and Ginny]] are presented as being [[Die for Our Ship|in an unfulfilling marriage]] in which she's unequivocally the bad guy, to the extent that Harry ''physically assaults her'' (and is still considered the hero).

* Both played straight and averted in ''[[Naruto]]'' fanfics. Played straight in that many authors regularly have Tsunade blasting off Jiraiya with [[Super Strength]] punches, normally sending him to the female onsen for even more of a beating, as a source of comedy. Sakura's treatment of Naruto, however, is often treated as abuse and she's called out by other characters or treated cruelly by the author for it, unless it's explicitly said that [[Justified Trope|Naruto allows her to do it as a stress relief, and he's too tough for it to be a cause of concern (as it's implied to be the case with Jiraiya)]].

* In the ''[[Death Note]]'' fic ''[[Fever Dreams]]'' many people just find it amusing when Misa stalks Light (or even consider him "lucky" to be stalked by a hot celebrity chick) and only when Misa gets really violent and crazy does anyone even ''consider'' calling the cops.

* Played straight in ''[[Troll 2]]'': Holly and Elliot's relationship would probably have been handled differently if the roles had been reversed.

* More or less played straight in ''[[Baby Boy]]''. Yvette (Taraji Henson's character), in a fit of rage, starts swinging her hands toward her boyfriend Jody (Tyrese's character). While one could certainly understand why Yvette's upset, what with Jody's constant cheating and lying, that does not excuse her violently wailing at him to the point of punching him in the ''eye'' really hard. So when Jody fought back after failing to restrain Yvette, he smacks her in self-defense, which anyone has the right to do. Of course, the movie unfairly paints Jody's actions as a [[Kick The Dog/Moral Event Horizon|Moral Event Horizon]] moment.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Tortall Universe|Terrier]]'' by [[Tamora Pierce]], protagonist Beka Cooper's first chase scene is with a woman who has doled out plenty of drunken violence against her timid husband and three children. The neighbors seem to believe this trope, wondering why her husband didn't just fight back, but Beka certainly seems to disagree, and when the woman is eventually put on trial, she doesn't get off especially lightly.

* In [[L. Frank Baum]]'s ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'', Jinjur tried to take over the country. She has a cameo in a later book, placidly explaining that she is content with her quiet life with her husband—and her husband is nursing a black eye because he had milked the cows in an order she did not approve of.

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: ''The Jury'' has the Vigilantes finding out that Paula Woodley has had every bone in her body broken by husband Karl Woodley, a [[Complete Monster]] who is the National Security Advisor, [[The Napoleon]], and had the President himself as his best man at their wedding! So the Vigilantes go to his home and break every bone in ''his'' body! ''Collateral Damage'' reveals that Paula has been non-physically abusive (for the most part) to Karl, making him eat baby food and watch her eat a fine Southern meal, confining him to a few rooms, and taunting him when they do interact. By this point, he is wheelchair-bound, and he has lost his ability to talk. Female characters take Paula's side, while male characters seem to be uncomfortable with the whole situation (possibly because they are wondering if their spouses or loved ones will do this to them next!). In short, the series does its best to justify Paula's treatment of her husband. However, this trope is ''not'' justified for Maggie Spritzer's treatment of Ted Robinson and Abner Tookus. Fortunately, Maggie finally wakes up to the realization that she's been unfair to both of them and attempts to make amends in ''Deja Vu''. ''Home Free'' has her hooking up with Augustus "Gus" Sullivan, and she realizes that she can't ''take advantage of him'' the way she did to Ted and Abner.

* Subverted in [[The Underland Chronicles]]. Fairly early in the first book, Luxa slaps Gregor across the face and is immediately reproved - first by [[Cheerful Child|Boots]], then by [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Vikus]].

* In ''Eclipse'' and some of ''Breaking Dawn'', Bella's attempts to force Edward to sleep with her are [[Played for Laughs]], even though the same situation with a gender reversal would seem horrific. Even amongst criticizers of the series, Edward's controlling behavior is primarily focused on, with the despicable things Bella does generally going unnoticed.

** Many iCarly fans have defended Sam's behavior by citing her terrible home life (which, admittedly, is pretty awful), by claiming that it's "slapstick" and not meant to be taken seriously, and by arguing that Sam is understandably angry because she's in love with Freddie and he only has eyes for her best friend, Carly. It seems highly unlikely that any of these justifications, especially the last one, would be accepted if it was a male character physically abusing a female character.

** At the beginning of the fifth season, Sam and Freddie actually became a couple for about four episodes. At one point, it was revealed that Sam was still hitting Freddie. Again, it was not viewed as abusive, and Carly thought it was sweet that Sam had stopped punching Freddie in the face.

** The episode when the kids find Lewbert's ex-girlfriend Marta, a woman who was so miserable to him that he faked his own death and changed his identity just to get away from her. When the kids witness her beating him and forcing attacking him with scissors (to give him a haircut) they at least seem appropriately horrified, admitting she's as much of a "monstress" as Lewbert said she was, but her abuse of Lewbert (especially considering he's an antagonist on the show) is still largely played for laughs.

** In "iFight Shelby Marx," Carly, Sam, and Shelby all gang up on Nevel, and it is implied that they beat him up. Some viewers have argued that it was justified because Nevel tried to manipulate Shelby into beating up Carly by falsely claiming that Carly had deliberately tried to injure Shelby's grandmother. Justified or not, the fact remains that it would never be considered acceptable for three male protagonists to beat up a female antagonist, no matter what she did.

* ''[[Peanuts]]'' could be considered a case of this. Lucy is always throwing her weight around and slugging the other kids (not just [[Butt Monkey|Charlie Brown]] - probably her most frequent target is her own little brother Linus), but the comic never really makes it seem like she's in the right or sympathetic - often calling her a "fussbudget". The other kids never really call her out on this or try to stand up to her though, and she rarely gets in trouble. Although in the case of the kids standing up to her, they might just not want to get on her bad side, and as for her getting in trouble, [[There Are No Adults]].

** Shulz also went on record in several interviews as saying that while a boy bullying a girl wouldn't be seen as funny, the gender reversal in a girl bullying a boy would be seen as funny.

* Likewise, in ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', Elly would sling coffee mugs and similar objects at her husband John from time to time, particularly in its declining years as he faded [[Out of Focus]] by [[Flanderization|spending all his free time playing with his trains]].

* Averted in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', where Calvin and Susie beat each other up in roughly equal amounts and are both portrayed as just typical vendetta-driven kids being kids.

** Played with even, [[Word of God]] indicates that this is their way of liking each other.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

 

== Video Games ==

* Contrast to the aversion in ''[[Double Dragon]]'', where the "Linda"-class enemies [[Whip It Good|show no mercy]], ''and'' expect none. Of course, Linda's usually depicted as a [[Brawn Hilda|mannish-muscular]] woman with a mohawk, which raises its own set of unfortunate implications.

** And averted in the [[Battletoads]]/Double Dragon crossovers. In this one, Linda's a buxom long-haired blonde in camo pants and a tight shirt - and the Toads and Dragons hold her up in the air by her hair and punch her in the stomach repeatedly.

* ''[[Catherine]]'' features a scene wherein {{spoiler|Catherine}} seriously beats up Vincent and all his friends laugh it off and ignore it. {{spoiler|It's actually subverted once it's revealed that they can't see Catherine and as far as they knew Vincent was alone and making weird noises.}}

* Played straight with Rita in [[Tales of Vesperia]], who will repeatedly hit Raven or Karol. This is usually just treated as a quirk of her personality, rather than a serious flaw. While Raven arguably deserves it for some of his more lecherous comments, sometimes she hits him/uses magic on him just because he's annoying her, and her abuse of Karol is almost completely unprovoked.

 

* There is a strip in ''Sexy Losers'' where the author reverses the genders of Kenta and his horny mom (leaving them a teenage girl being sexually molested by her middle aged father). The audience he's presenting his gender-flipped version to beats the crap out of him. Making sure to [[Don't Explain the Joke|completely point out]] the [[Double Standard]] that people let him get away with it due to this trope, he even says in the final panel "It's the ''same damn joke''!"

* [[Tear Jerker|Heartbreakingly]] averted in ''[[Digger]]''. {{spoiler|The reason Ed--by leagues the gentlest character in the strip, mind--was exiled was because, after constant abuse from his wife, he found out she was also abusing their child, and killed her while she slept. Then being hyenas the females are stronger--and the one's with combat training--he wouldn't have stood a chance in a fair fight. Ed is a male but to hyenas gender roles are reversed, it's possibly more accurate to think of this as a male abusing a female. Regardless, the tribal elders were completely on Ed's side but failed to prevent his exile. They still feel guilty for that, and the main reason Ed was still exiled even though the elders thought he was in the right was that (much like British law) tribal law made no allowances for the situation; if anything like this had happened before, there were enough key details missing that the law was predicated on the notion that wives just plain don't provoke their husbands into killing them, and they certainly don't do so to a degree that makes their husband the good guy.}}

* ''[[Looking for Group]]'' has an extreme example in that when Pella cuts off Richard's hand some fans actually started ''shipping them''! Admittedly his hand got better, and all things considered, her doing that was about as significant to him as a slap on the wrist. Richard seems to find her methods of dealing with him amusing.

* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', Lucy's past habits of violence. {{spoiler|She got better}}. Also eventually deconstructed with how this affected Mike's opinion of her in the long run; he becomes ''very'' bitter, to the point where {{spoiler|his repeated rejections and denials of her feelings for him become emotionally abusive}}.

** You'd have trouble convincing a lot of the [[Fan Dumb|fans]] of Lucy's misbehavior though.

** Played a ''little'' straighter in chapter 24 than elsewhere, but only because the Kerpher Gang is made up of [[Paedo Hunt|child molesters]].

** The [[Continuity Reboot|book]] is also a bit straighter, as Candi discovers after Don's death that [[It Gets Easier]] when she snuffs a vampire. Granted, it was [[Shoot the Dog|self defense]] both times, and she still [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|despised having to kill]], but she is fully aware of the slippery slope she's on.

{{quote|"[[My God, What Have I Done?|Holy crap]]! I'm [[Future Me Scares Me|becoming]] [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]]!"}}

** The Mexican gangsters also. [[Black and Gray Morality|Granted]], [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|they were committing genocide against peaceful Navajos right before Candi assaulted them]].

* ''[[Wayward Sons]]'': [[Handsome Lech|Hermaz]] snarks one too many times, so Ethaynia uses her power to [[Groin Attack|castrate him]]. [[Good Thing You Can Heal|Fortunately]], he and most of the other characters have a [[Healing Factor]].

* Dan Of [[Footloose]] is quite often smacked about the head by his sister, at no point does he retaliate. None of the others seem to have a problem with this.

* In ''[[The Whiteboard]]'', the male characters are quite free to beat up other male character and the female characters are quite free to beat up male characters. [http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb1449.html This strip] and the one after it shows that Pirta hit Doc hard enough for him to have another near death experience.

* In ''[[Greg (webcomic)|Greg]]'' there are many instances where Greg gets abused by women. [http://gregcomic.com/2012/01/02/storyline-a-silver-lining-part-15/ Here] he is, taking it in the family jewels. [http://gregcomic.com/2011/08/08/guilt-by-association-part-13/ Here] he is getting his skull bashed in.

{{quote|'''Joe''': Pray for ''me?'' Maybe I'll pray for ''you'' to learn it's ''not cool'' to ''punch people in the face!''

'''Joyce''': But... but... guys can't ''actually'' get hurt by a girl. Guys are, like, ''strong.'' }}

 

 

 

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF6xNzMxUYY This YouTube video] shows how this trope is used in both TV and movies along with [[All Abusers Are Male]] and discusses how they affect people’s perception of them in the real world.

* Very common in [[Real Life]]. Men who are victims of domestic abuse often find getting help extremely difficult because the police and social services tend to follow this trope to a T. In some places there have even been rules that in the case of a domestic abuse call, the man is arrested even if ''he'' was the one who called for help. Abuse to men goes unreported far more often because men are less willing to ask for help, and the instances of abuse tend to be more dangerous because women more often use a weapon in the attack.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]

[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]

[[Category:Abuse Tropes]]