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{{trope}}
[
▲[-{{quote box|The Master Chief action figure, with 26 moving parts!<br />The Cortana action figure with...zero.}}-]
{{quote|''Girls can never do anything. Men can ride about the countryside and do things. Girls have sit and wait for things to happen.''|'''Margaret Dashwood''', ''[[Sense and Sensibility (
In media, male characters are defined more by what they do rather than who they are. Female characters, on the other hand, are defined more by their attributes, the most primary of which is their [[Men Are Generic, Women Are Special|femininity.]]
This trope is about the female/male = passive/active dichotomy. Essentially, it's the idea men are required to be active and doing things in order for them to deserve a role in the story, but women can just [[Neutral Female|sit there,]] [[Ms. Fanservice|looking pretty,]] [[Screaming Woman|emotionally reacting to events]] and that's perfectly acceptable.
Like many [[Double Standard
[[Never a Self
Another [[Unfortunate Implication]] for women is quite subtle. Research suggests that we divide people into moral actors and moral objects. Moral actors do things; moral objects have things done to them. In other words the difference between a villain and a hero is far smaller than the difference between either and a [[Damsel in Distress]]. When audiences or authors fail to view the evil choices of female characters in the same way as the evil choices of male characters, this trope is in effect. They are removing the agency of female characters and recasting them as moral objects rather than moral actors. This has the unintended effect of lessening the heroism of heroic female characters as well: after all, if it's not a female character's fault if she fails to be heroic or is actively villainous, then no one can really say that it's her choice to be heroic either. The absence of this moral peril in female characters tends to make them very, very, VERY flat when compared to their male counterparts. It also, as a side-effect, tends to produce a lot of 'daughter of the old master' action girls; they're heroes, but only because daddy was one.
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A final characterization effect for female characters is [[MacGuffin Girl]]. The girl who is mostly noteworthy because she literally is a plot-important object.
For men, the [[Unfortunate Implication]] of this trope is that males are judged harshly by their lack of [[Non
Male characters also suffer from a lack of focus on their interior world or emotional reactions to events. This lack of focus on the interior world of male
Finally, men and women are limited in the emotions they express. Men, in particular, are limited to emotions that inspire dynamic, forceful
Part of this trope refers to how characters function to advance the plot. While male characters will be directly involved in the action, or [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulating]] [[Guile Hero|the action]] [[The Chessmaster|behind the scenes]] in a [[Magnificent Bastard|comprehensive way]], female characters, when they do take action, often take it in the form of inspiring, motivating or nagging a male character to do something. See [[Lady Macbeth]], [[Henpecked Husband]].
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And, yes, it also applies to ''that'' meaning of "action" as well. Traditionally, women were considered virtuous by their chastity or, their ''lack of action''. Whereas, of course, a "lack of action" for a man [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|generally has negative connotations]].
This trope is a possible consequence of [[Men Are Generic, Women Are Special]]. Since men are generic, any individual male character has to do something special to stand out. But because women are special, a female character just has to be, well, female.
----
== General examples ==
* Dr. Roy F. Baumeister, a Psychology Professor, tries to argue that this trope is innate in our species instead of a cultural motif in his book ''[http://www.amazon.com/There-Anything-Good-About-Men/dp/019537410X Is There Anything Good About Men?]'' He writes: "Perhaps nature designed women to ''seek to be lovable,'' whereas men were designed to ''strive, mostly unsuccessfully, for greatness.''"
* This trope is why [[House Husband
* It's also why [[Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male)|Abuse Is Okay When
** Also, because women are objects and not actors, female violence necessarily lacks potency.
*** Or maybe because men are the actors any abuse must have come from the man's moral choices.
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** Also, female celebrities will often be criticized/scrutinized for how they look or dress, whereas male celebs only make it into the gossip magazines when they actually do something interesting.
* Women are seen as virtuous due to their chastity; men are seen as virtuous due to their morality. In this circumstance, men who [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|haven't]] taken action aren't even seen as men at all. This leads to some [[Unfortunate Implications]] regarding characterization. Male virgins are often portrayed as creepy losers while female virgins are seen as [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|morally perfect]] in ways unrelated to their sex life. This gives the impression that a chaste woman is automatically a good woman with a strong corresponding implication that a non-chaste woman is [[My Girl Is Not a Slut|bad]] .
* This is likely why there is an [[Action Girl]] trope, but no [[Action Guy]] trope. A woman as an active character who can take care of herself is still considered noteworthy enough to be a trope in and of itself, whereas a man is an "action character" [[Omnipresent Tropes|by default]], and only the [[Non
** It may also be worth noting that [[Action Girl|female subversions]] are more common these days than [[Non
*** A large number of [[Non
** There is also no [[Spear Counterpart]] for [[Faux Action Girl]]. If a supposedly badass male character fails to live up to his reputation, he is usually called out on it in-universe, whereas female characters who fail to live up to expectations tend to go unnoticed often leading to the implication female badasses are automatically held to have inflated and therefore easily disbelieved reputations.
** During a past discussion on whether to split off the male examples of [[Mad
** [[Samus Is a Girl]] runs on the novelty of having a badass character reveal themselves to be an attractive woman. After [[The Reveal]], her status as an [[Action Girl]] is rarely questioned, even if she [[Chickification|degrades]] into a [[Faux Action Girl]] who [[
** The [[Final Girl]] has its roots in this, too. The [[Final Girl]], after watching everyone else around her get killed, eventually steels her courage and fights back. Part of the reason a "final guy" doesn't really work is that a male protagonist shouldn't be afraid (even if the killer is a six-foot-six maniac [[Dual
* The whole basis of the [[Smurfette Principle]] revolves around this trope. Male characters need to be distinguishable by character and concept, but a female character stands out just by virtue of being female. More recent media that has [[The Chick]] become the girly girl in a [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]] pair of females has to distinguish the two females by making one of them a girl, and the other one a girl who acts like a boy.
* A female character's competencies are more likely to be seen as innate rather than earned through action, thus undeserved. Thus female characters who ''are'' unusually competent are far more likely to be accused of being a [[Mary Sue]] than for "unusually competent" male characters to be accused of being a [[Marty Stu]]. This of course creates a vicious cycle, as authors may try to avoid Sue criticisms by making their female characters [[Anti
▲* A female character's competencies are more likely to be seen as innate rather than earned through action, thus undeserved. Thus female characters who ''are'' unusually competent are far more likely to be accused of being a [[Mary Sue]] than for "unusually competent" male characters to be accused of being a [[Marty Stu]]. This of course creates a vicious cycle, as authors may try to avoid Sue criticisms by making their female characters [[Anti Sue|less capable]] which in turn causes them to be criticized for being [[Unpleasable Fanbase|too imperfect]].
* Often used to justify personal interest in [[Slash Fic]] amongst, say, straight men or lesbians, with its authors saying that the male characters tend to be more interesting and better written as a result of this effect.
* The is a common criticism of [[The Chick]] archetype of the [[Five
** She may be expected to serve as [[The Heart]] or [[Team Mom]], but these are seen as mundane non-achievements unless [[Lampshade Hanging|the writer calls attention to them]].
* Sexualized imagery involving men is often called homoerotic. Mysteriously this holds true even if there is no actual touching between two men being depicted. One reason? Women are supposed to be [[Male Gaze|passive objects of desire]], [[All Women Are Prudes|not agents of desire]], so when men are presented as objects of desire they are obviously [[All Men Are Perverts|also objects of desire for other men]]. Conversely sexualized imagery involving women is rarely called homoerotic, [[Girl
* Might explain the high number of women who are [[Stuffed in The Fridge]] in comic books, as well as fiction in general- a superheroine who is brutally murdered is a tragic victim who warrants our outrage, while a male superhero who gets killed except in the most extreme circumstances runs the risk of being perceived as a failed superhero.
* May explain the extreme [[Damsel Scrappy|antipathy]] many female fans have for some types of [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses|female characters]]. [[Men Are Generic, Women Are Special|Because men are seen as 'generic', they have to distinguish themselves through action, whereas women who are 'special' can coast on their femaleness.]] This coasting is annoying for audience members who share the same attribute(femaleness) because while men see femaleness as interesting and remarkable in and of itself, women often do not.
* “An Answer to Readers (About a Woman President), [[Ayn Rand|The Objectivist]], Dec. 1968, 1:
{{quote|
* The basic concept of a wizard as opposed to a witch. Wizards are usually portrayed as having gained their power through scholarly effort and [[Magitek|studying magic much as if it was a science]], but witches usually are presented as having gained their power through sex with [[Satan|the Devil]], or through having their power inborn. Men work to ''gain'' magical power; women either ''just are'' magic or gain it through the power of a male demon. Let's not go into the fact that wizards are usually good guys, and witches evil.
** Vikings considered magic an inherently feminine trait, to the point that a man who pursued magic was considered to be inherently feminine himself.
=== [[Film]] ===
* The reality tv show ''[[Survivor]]'' generally has this during the course of a season, with women often just laying around in bikinis looking pretty while the men of the tribe are often shown chopping wood or helping out around camp. There are of course exceptions to this too. ▼
* A common criticism of the movie ''[[
** Played straight and subverted with Russell's "Dumb Girl Alliance" - Russell used the women purely to pad out his numbers, assuming they would see him as a protecter and let him do all the strategizing. Of course, [[Lady Macbeth|Parvati]] eventually took advantage of that and outwitted him. ▼
* ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' is an inversion of this, but by the time ''[[Star Wars]]'' gets to ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' it's all about how Anakin turns into Darth Vader while Padme is merely his pregnant wife who dies of a broken heart.▼
** It's worth noting that he used this exact same strategy to get to the final Tribal Council. ''Twice.'' And that most of the women in his alliance (and his tribe in general) were [[Too Dumb to Live]].▼
* At the end of of the movie, ''[[Hancock]]'' is saving the world while {{spoiler|his superhero wife Mary is content to live as a mortal with a mortal husband.}}▼
* ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' has Prince Phillip who faces a fire breathing dragon to save Princess Aurora while she lies asleep looking beautiful. A number of other [[Disney]] movies have the genders reversed but this is the one with most [[Fairy Tale Motifs]], knight, princess, castle, dragon, and king.▼
** Also interestingly inverted in that Prince Phillip is technically the hero, but the fairies do most of the work.▼
=== [[Literature]] ===
* A common criticism of ''[[The Railway Series]]'' was that most of the female characters were coaches, while all of the male characters were engines (meaning that the females were incapable of doing anything unless they were being towed along by a male.)
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
▲* The reality tv show ''[[Survivor]]'' generally has this during the course of a season, with women often just laying around in bikinis looking pretty while the men of the tribe are often shown chopping wood or helping out around camp. There are of course exceptions to this too.
▲** Played straight and subverted with Russell's "Dumb Girl Alliance" - Russell used the women purely to pad out his numbers, assuming they would see him as a
▲** It's worth noting that he used this exact same strategy to get to the final Tribal Council. ''Twice.'' And that most of the women in his alliance (and his tribe in general) were [[Too Dumb to Live]].
* River Tam from ''[[Firefly]]'' is is the prime example of a [[MacGuffin Girl]], while her older, slightly less genius brother is charged with [[Big Brother Instinct|protecting]], [[The Caretaker|care taking]], and [[Butt Monkey|enduring most of Mal's flack]]. River is said to be a super genius with infinite potential, but because of some rather unsavory experiments performed [[Mind Rape|against her will]], she's more sought after as a weapon than an outlaw.▼
* In ''[[Law
=== Toys ===
* An interesting example is the latest{{when}} release of ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' action figures. The Master Chief figure has twenty-six points of articulation. The Cortana action figure released in the same wave? ''Zero''. She's got that cocked-hip thing going on, though (see the page pic).▼
** This is fairly common with action figures, because the articulation messes up the lines of the body. Frequently, the non-sexy characters ([[Male Gaze|read - male characters]]) in a figure line have plenty of articulation, but the sexy characters ([[Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty|read - female characters]]) will have significantly fewer points of articulation, often only having a few arm joints and nothing else, or outright being a statue.▼
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* In-universe example in ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]''. Rocko, Filbert, and Heiffer put together an animated cartoon called "Wacky Delly", and each one makes a character. Rocko's contribution is Betty Baloney, whose character concept is "She's a girl!"
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* In the 2008 US presidential election, Hilary Clinton's clothing and appearance got a ''lot'' more attention than that of the male candidates.
** Conversely [[A Real Man Is a Killer|a male politician's military service record receives a great deal more attention than a female politician's]].
*** Now{{when}} that disabled veteran Tammy Duckworth is running against famously handsome incumbent Joe Walsh in the Illinois 8th, it should be fun to see how this works out.
** [[Sarah Palin]] also had some controversy surrounding her wardrobe, but people were actually worried she looked ''too'' good and some said she was spending too much money on her clothes.
▲* River Tam from ''[[Firefly]]'' is is the prime example of a [[MacGuffin Girl]], while her older, slightly less genius brother is charged with [[Big Brother Instinct|protecting]], [[The Caretaker|care taking]], and [[Butt Monkey|enduring most of Mal's flack]]. River is said to be a super genius with infinite potential, but because of some rather unsavory experiments performed [[Mind Rape|against her will]], she's more sought after as a weapon than an outlaw.
▲* A common criticism of the movie ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Film)|Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'' is Ramona's blandness, especially compared to other female characters in the story. Incredibly, she can ''rollerblade through dreams'', but plot-wise this is only significant as the way Scott [[Boy Meets Girl|first sees her]]. For the rest of the movie, her most impressive powers are her [[Action Girl|fighting skills]] (which [[World of Badass|aren't unique]] by any means) and her [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|frequent hair-dyeing]]. The audience is simply supposed to accept that she is worthy of [[Engagement Challenge|all the trouble Scott goes through to date her]]. This [[Deconstructed Trope|could be a commentary]] on how both [[Not So Different|Scott]] ''[[Not So Different|and]]'' [[Not So Different|Ramona]] [[Casanova|treat the opposite sex as objects]].
▲* An interesting example is the latest release of ''[[Halo Combat Evolved]]'' action figures. The Master Chief figure has twenty-six points of articulation. The Cortana action figure released in the same wave? ''Zero''. She's got that cocked-hip thing going on, though (see the page pic).
▲** This is fairly common with action figures, because the articulation messes up the lines of the body. Frequently, the non-sexy characters ([[Male Gaze|read - male characters]]) in a figure line have plenty of articulation, but the sexy characters ([[Men Are Strong Women Are Pretty|read - female characters]]) will have significantly fewer points of articulation, often only having a few arm joints and nothing else, or outright being a statue.
▲* In ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'', Det. Elliot Stabler is a devoted father of four and his partner Det. Olivia Benson is the product of rape. On the job he has rage for the perp and she has empathy for the victims.
▲* ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' is an inversion of this, but by the time ''[[Star Wars]]'' gets to ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' it's all about how Anakin turns into Darth Vader while Padme is merely his pregnant wife who dies of a broken heart.
▲* At the end of of the movie, ''[[Hancock]]'' is saving the world while {{spoiler|his superhero wife Mary is content to live as a mortal with a mortal husband.}}
▲* In-universe example in ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]''. Rocko, Filbert, and Heiffer put together an animated cartoon called Wacky Delly, and each one makes a character. Rocko's contribution is Betty Baloney, whose character concept is "She's a girl!".
▲* ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' has Prince Phillip who faces a fire breathing dragon to save Princess Aurora while she lies asleep looking beautiful. A number of other [[Disney]] movies have the genders reversed but this is the one with most [[Fairy Tale Motifs]], knight, princess, castle, dragon, and king.
▲** Also interestingly inverted in that Prince Phillip is technically the hero, but the fairies do most of the work.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]
[[Category:Double Standard]]
[[Category:
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