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{{trope}}
{{quote|''I have heard that hysterical women say''
''They are sick of the palette and fiddle-bow.''
''Of poets that are always [[Have a Gay Old Time|gay]],''|'''William Butler Yeats''', ''"Lapis Lazuli"''}}
This trope characterizes women as less rational, disciplined, and emotionally stable than men, and thus more prone to mood swings, irrational overreactions, and mental illness.<ref>
A blatant [[Double Standard]], it was used and invoked quite freely in older works. These days it is [[Discredited Trope|rarely invoked]], as most people are aware of the obvious [[Unfortunate Implications]]. It's still far more common however to portray female characters becoming emotionally overwrought when under stress or behave far more irrationally than men, even when it would be out-of-character. Although [[Dirty Coward|unsympathetic]] or [[Lovable Coward|comedic]] male characters may also do so.
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== [[Film]] ==
* This trope is hilariously spoofed in ''[[Airplane!]]'', with a long line of passengers [[Right
** The gag is recycled in ''Airplane 2: The Sequel'' when the same woman testifies on [[The Hero|Ted Stryker's]] behalf in a [[Kangaroo Court]]
* Lambert(Veronica Cartwright) in ''[[Alien]]''.
* Mrs Peacock in ''[[Clue (
* In ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'' during the diner robbery, Honey Bunny is this when Jules points a gun at "Ringo".
== [[Literature]] ==
* The narrator of ''[[
* The wandering womb diagnosis gets direct mention as "a classic case of hysteria" by a doctor in one of the ''[[Marcus Didius Falco|Falco]]'' novels, which are set in 1st century Rome, along with Helena Justina's utter contempt for this particular brand of medical theory.
* In [[Murder
* Sue Bridehead in ''[[Jude the Obscure]]'' appears to be a walking bundle of neuroses who is nonetheless trying to live life as an enlightened, liberated woman. It doesn't end up working for her.
* In [[The Pale King]], Toni Ware [[We Need a Distraction|pretends to be one]] in her final scene, [[Inelegant Blubbering]] and all.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' had a mass hysteria case where the normally quite competent Dr. Cuddy was struck rather hard by this trope.
* Dr. Janice Lester, a villain-of-the-week from ''[[Star Trek:
** From "Wolf in the Fold":
{{quote|
'''Spock''': And I suspect preys on women because women are more easily and more deeply terrified, generating more sheer horror than the male of the species. }}
* Soolin gets to [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|slap]] a particularly annoying one of these in ''[[Blake's
{{quote|
'''Soolin''': There are two classic ways of dealing with a
** Not so much subverted but rather {{spoiler|leveraged because the
* Spoofed in ''[[
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Inverted in the third ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' game. Tarna, land of the [[Petting Zoo People|liontaur]] people, though a monarchy with a king, has a council of lawmakers made up entirely of women because men are seen as too emotional to make government decisions.
* [[Dead Space (
* [[Unfortunate Implications|Implied]] in [[Valkyria Chronicles]]. Alicia spends the second half of the game building up to an emotional meltdown, but main character Welkin (and the rest of Squad 7, really) brushes off her cries for help until she has a [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|literal meltdown]], at which point he calms her down with a hug and an engagement ring. Apparently she wasn't worth listening to before she {{spoiler|tried to kill herself in the most bombastic and destructive way possible}}, and afterward, all she really needed was a husband and a baby.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[Exactly What It Says
** In Hysterical Dame's case, getting hysterical is about much the same as [[Unstoppable Rage|going]] [[The Berserker|berserk.]]
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Always Female]]
[[Category:Discredited Trope]]
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