Guys Are Slobs/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Men are messy, and women are tidy.

  • Played Straight: Bob leaves his clothes on the floor and never makes his side of the bed, and Alice picks up her clothes and always makes the bed every morning.
  • Exaggerated: Bob is The Pig Pen who lives in Trash of the Titans conditions, and Alice is always clean and shows signs of Super OCD
  • Inverted: Alice is messy, and Bob is a Neat Freak.
  • Justified:
    • Some people are neater than others, and (let's be honest) men aren't always conditioned to care about tidying up, housework, etc. the way women generally are.
    • Alice and Bob come from a time and place with very traditional gender roles; keeping the house clean is Alice's job.
    • Bob has organizational issues, and keeping things neat and clean has always been a challenge for him.
  • Subverted:
    • Bob house is messy, but then he cleans it
    • Alice is actually hiding a major mess.
  • Double Subverted: But he was expecting company, the house becames messy soon after.
  • Deconstructed: Neatness issues are a major source of conflict, which can take a toll on Alice and Bob's relationship.
  • Reconstructed: Alice and Bob learn to compromise; Bob learns to pick up after himself, and Alice learns to let minor messes (such as Bob's cluttered desk) go. Their relationship improves.
  • Parodied: Bob literally lives Down in the Dumps, and Alice lives in a house that literally sparkles.
  • Lampshaded: "Bob, pick up your underwear off the floor!"
  • Averted: Bob and Alice keep there house relatively clean.
  • Enforced: Women Are Wiser, Men Are Uncultured, etc.
  • Invoked: Bob wants to break up with Alice, but doesn't have the guts to tell Alice, so he starts being sloppy so she'll want to leave.
  • Defied: Bob likes to be clean and tidy, so he always picks up after himself and keeps his dwelling clean.
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
  • Played For Drama: Alice and Bob are always fighting about cleanliness or lack thereof.
  • Discussed: "How come men are always so messy?"
  • Conversed: "Why does Alice stay with him if his sloppiness drives her up the wall?"

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