Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality: Difference between revisions

This scale examines how the relationships between men and women (or lack thereof) are portrayed in fiction. The common positions on the scale vary by culture in time, distance, and medium.

True equality, which is near the center of the scale, is rare. The edges are taken by positions where the opposite sex doesn't exist, or exists in only a contemptible form. Note that Level 1 is not the exact reverse of Level 9, as there are far fewer works in which the writer simply fails to include male characters, or in which a setting is intentionally created as a female-free paradise. <ref> The ''[[Lexx]]'' episode "Nook" features a "monastic paradise" of male-only clones who believed that they could only have true harmony in a world without women. There are a few other all-male groups in other works as well.</ref>

{{See also: [[Useful Notes/The Bechdel Test|The Bechdel Test]].}}

=== Level[[Anime]] 1and Examples[[Manga]] ===

** Used in ''[[Ai no Kusabi (Light Novel)|Ai no Kusabi]]'' to justify its [[Cast Full of Gay]].

* Likewise, the satirical manga and anime series ''[[Sakigake Cromartie Koukou (Manga)|Sakigake CromartieHigh KoukouSchool]]''. The mother of one character is seen in at least one episode... And "she" looks ''exactly'' like her son but with a skirt and longer hair.

* ''[[Kaiji (Manga)|Kaiji]]''. There is one woman on the show, but she only appears in a single scene in one episode and says no more than two lines.

* ''[[Akagi (Manga)|Akagi]]'' has zero women onscreen in the entire show.

=== [[ComicsComic Books]] ===

=== [[Film]] ===

* Likewise, in ''[[Master and Commander (Filmfilm)|Master and Commander]]'', the only women that appear in the film are part of a party of native traders that resupply HMS Surprise.

* [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[The Thing (Filmfilm)|The Thing]]''. No women among the main cast, and the only female presences are the voice of a chess computer ({{spoiler|which short circuits less than a minute after it is introduced}}) and a few women visible in a pre-recorded game show that one of the scientists briefly watch. This may be [[Truth in Television]], however; there aren't many women stationed in Antarctica. The commentary for the movie reveals there weren't really any females on the production crew either.

** The prequel goes up a few levels, seeing as the base had [[Two Girls to Aa Team|two women]] - one a professional French scientist and the other an American student of paleontology.

** This is also true in the original story ''[[Who Goes There (Literature)|Who Goes There?]]'', which was written in 1938. While woman's rights movements had been going on as early as [[World War OneI]], there were still only a few jobs available by that point that were considered acceptable for women, and being sent to do scientific research in Antarctica was not one of them.

* ''[[The Good, the Bad Andand Thethe Ugly (Film)|The Good the Bad And The Ugly]]'': A prostitute appearing in a single scene is the most important female character and the only one given a name. ''Every last'' woman in the film besides her is someone's wife, and all their appearances are within the first hour of the nearly 3-hour film. Rape, incidentally, is on Tuco's [[Long List]] of prior offenses, which is entirely [[Played for Laughs]].

** This happened with a lot of [[Sergio Leone]]'s films. Out of his main body of work (which consisted of two trilogies), only three had women in a notable role. The first one (''[[A FistfulofFistful of Dollars]]'') had two women in supporting roles - except neither got much screentime. One was running the gang whom the story puts less focus on, and the other is just a [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] whose only purpose is to give [[Clint Eastwood]] a [[Pet the Dog]] moment towards the end. The only two films of his that actually had strong women in significant roles were ''[[Once Upon a Time Inin Thethe West]]'', which had the nerve to include a female protagonist, and ''[[Once Upon a Time Inin America]]'', where the love story plays a major part in a much larger epic. As for the others, [[For a Few Dollars More]] has one credited women who only appears in two brief scenes, and one girl who only appears in a flashback and has no lines, and [[Duck You Sucker]] again has one women who appears in flashback with no lines, and the only other woman is an annoying racist who is out of the picture in the first 15 minutes.

** Actually, just about any war movie tends to fall under this, especially when it focuses exclusively on the battlefield. Somewhat justified with any story set in a war before the 1970s (i.e. [[World War OneI]], [[World War II]], [[The Vietnam War]]), as women wouldn't have been allowed to serve on the battlefield. However it does seem a bit odd that there are very few films dealing with modern wars that show women in uniform.

*** ''[[Enemy At the Gates (Film)|Enemy Atat the Gates]]'' inverts this, not only portraying women soldiers in the Red Army, but in a higher proportion than there actually were.

* ''[[Reservoir Dogs (Film)|Reservoir Dogs]]''. There are three women in the movie: the waitress who doesn't meet Pink's tipping standards (who is never seen), the girl that Mr. Pink pulls out of the car while running from the cops, and the driver of the hijacked car that shoots (and is immediately killed by) Orange.

* ''[[Dr. Strangelove (Film)|Dr. Strangelove]]'' has precisely one female in the movie, a secretary, who is also a [[Playboy]] centrefold.

* ''[[Twelve Angry Men (Film)|Twelve12 Angry Men]]''. The only characters are the members of an all-male jury.

=== [[Literature]] ===

* ''[[The Hobbit (Literaturenovel)|The Hobbit]]''.

* [[Terry Brooks]]' ''The Sword of [[Shannara]]'', probably because it was just a ripoff of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]''; it should be noted the next book has the world saved by a girl and in the third one of the trilogy, one of the protagonists is a girl.

* The stories of [[HPH.P. Lovecraft]]: there are virtually no female characters across such a vast body of work. Only one of his seventy-plus stories has a female protagonist.

* ''[[Lord of the Flies (Literature)|Lord of the Flies]]'', chronicling the adventures of the students from an all-boys school.

* The ''[[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'' (since it's about a church that doesn't allow female priests)

* In ''[[World War Z (Literature)|World War Z]]'' by Max Brooks there are 37 men yet only 5 women in what is presented as a UN report.

=== [[Live -Action TV]] ===

* ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine (Animation)|Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' used to be like this until characters like Daisy, Mavis, and Emily came along. Apparently, as the show goes on, it goes up a few levels in the scale.

* ''[[Deadliest Warrior]]'' - Being a show about historical warriors battling to the death that's [[Rated "M" for Manly]], it's to be expected. Briefly became a type 4 in one episode of Season 2 (CIA vs. KGB), where both sides had one female operative, and one of them ({{spoiler|The KGB}}) kicked quite a bit of ass.

* ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'''s plot hinged entirely on three guys (four once Kryten joined the cast) getting stuck on a spaceship in the middle of deep space 3 million years from Earth (though for a little while they did have a female computer). There were even a few episodes where the guys tried to get women on board, only for something strange to be revealed. The series finally gained a female lead half-way through Season 7, but even then Season 8 largely took place in the ship's prison, and her role was greatly overshadowed by the other male characters.

=== [[Toys]] ===

* ''[[Transformers (Franchise)|Transformers]]''. [[Captain Obvious|Even though they're robots]]. Compared to how many male characters there are, females only exist due to [[The Smurfette Principle]].

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* In ''[[Punch Out (Video Game)|Punch -Out!!]]'', the only women ever seen are [[Surfer Dude|Super Macho Man]]'s fangirls in still pictures, and Aran Ryan's sister who is mentioned and nothing else. Justified though - it ''is'' a male boxing circle, after all.

* ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Maverick Hunter X]]'' - the only female character in the game is a navigator who helps X in coordinating the robot masters but plays no significant part in the story.

* The original [[Sonic the Hedgehog (Franchise)|Sonic the Hedgehog]] games bar ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Video Game)|Sonic CD]]'' and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball (Video Game)|Sonic Spinball]]'', which fall on Level 3.

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* The warcamp in ''[[Goblins (Webcomic)|Goblins]]'' is males-only by mandate of the goblins' deity, with female spellcasters the only exception. Justified in that the "warcamp" is an [[Men Are the Expendable Gender|expendable decoy settlement]], which diverts adventurers' attention away from the hidden village where the noncombatant women and children can live in safety.

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* ''[[Metalocalypse (Animation)|Metalocalypse]]''. Only a small handful of episodes give female characters any lines; mostly they're just nude or semi-nude groupies.

In this kind of fiction, all female characters are either complete sluts who will screw around with anything that moves or helpless and disposable sex slaves whose sole purpose of existence is being raped or taken advantage of by male characters. [[Its"It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It"|Of course, they ought to enjoy the rape]] and thank men for it. Needless to say, in such fictions, women are also commanded to grovel at men's feet, [[Stay in Thethe Kitchen]], Etet Ceteracetera... or else.

=== Level 2 Examples[[Advertising]] ===

=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===

* The infamous ''[[Mad Bull 34 (Manga)|Mad Bull 34]]''.

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

=== [[Fan FictionWorks]] ===

* ''[[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons (Fanfic)|Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]]'' is among the most extreme examples of Type 2, to the point of being openly misogynist. It is stated at several points that Sakura is nothing without Ronan, and while everyone from canon suffers [[Badass Decay]] [[Overshadowed Byby Awesome|compared to]] [[God Mode Sue|Ronan]], Sakura is completely unable to even try to fight after losing the first battle against Orochimaru, addicted to sex and dependent on Ronan. Mei, the Mizukage, is defeated in one attack, with Ronan [[Politically Incorrect Hero|stating that it's no surprise she can't defeat him because she's a girl]]. Among the original characters, while Taliana has special powers as an antagonist, she's unable to defeat Ronan, and ''even gets beaten up by Sakura'' when the author was going through a breakup with the girlfriend he based her on. Two out of five (later retconned to four) of the [[Big Bad|Council]] [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|members]] are female and somewhat more vocal than the males, their being feminists is portrayed as evil.

=== [[Film]] ===

=== [[Literature]] ===

* ''[[Gor (Literature)|Gor]]!''

* ''[[A Clockwork Orange (Literaturenovel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' portrays women this way, with the exception of Alex's mother and a couple of female doctors. Of course, the book and film are told from the perspective of a psychopath.

* Overwhelmingly the case in the works of the [[Marquis Dede Sade]]. Women are capable of cruelty, as characters like Eugenie and Juliette prove beyond doubt, but [[Character Filibuster|Character Filibusters]]s about male superiority and the pleasures of torturing women abound in the Sadean canon.

* The ''[[Paladin of Shadows (Literature)|Paladin of Shadows]]'' series by [[John Ringo]], which even he considers a [[Guilty Pleasures|"wanker piece"]]. The protagonist is said by the fandom to "collect hookers like cats", and it's the origin of the "OH JOHN RINGO NO!" [[Memetic Mutation]].

* [[So Good We Mentioned It Twice|Because it bears repeating]], ''[[Gor (Literature)|Gor]]''.

=== [[Live Action TV]] ===

* The Dothraki women in [[HBO]]'s ''[[Game of Thrones (TV)|Game of Thrones]]'' are only ever seen being active, gleeful recipients of the men's lustiness. This is played with when Daenerys succeeds her husband as Khal (it seems subverted at first but then again, most of his Khalasar abandons her).

=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===

* ''[[FATAL (Tabletop Game)|FATAL]]'' is here, among its many other flaws (including the very fact that it exists).

=== [[Video Games]] ===

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* ''[[Warmage]]''.

Women are useless and most of the time don't contribute anything. If they are in trouble, they can only wait to be rescued. Also, they are never in control of anything - males are always patriarchal leaders and their actions can be questioned only by other males. Most of the purest and straightest (which means those that will never change) examples of [[The Chick]] and [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] are here.

=== Level[[Anime]] 3and Examples[[Manga]] ===

=== [[Literature]] ===

* [[Robert E. Howard]]'s ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' stories generally alternate between this and Level 2 above, though there are notable exceptions in Belit and Valeria, who are treated as Conan's equals, and superior to the average man. Same with Zula from Conan The Destroyer. Although she needed rescuing toward the beginning she more than manages to hold her own in combat with and against men. Female monarchs are about Level 4: they have the same level of power and influence as their male counterparts, but story considerations often cast them in the role of damsel-in-distress. It goes with the time period (both when it's supposed to have happened and when it was written).

* Most of the stories in the 1920s-era [[Pulp Magazine|Pulp Magazines]]s were at this level; the only role female characters ever had was [[Damsel Scrappy]].

=== [[Live -Action TV]] ===

* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series (TV)|Star Trek the Original SeriesSeriess]]'' straddles the line between this and Level 4 below.

=== [[Oral Tradition]] ===

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* Most ''[[Super Mario Bros (Franchise).|Super Mario Bros]]'' games, with Peach as a perfect [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]. However, ''[[Super Princess Peach (Video Game)|Super Princess Peach]]'' is an inversion.

** Never forget though that the same 1980s and even the same company ([[Nintendo (Creator)|Nintendo]]) [[Metroid (Video Game)|brought us]] [[Samus Is a Girl|Samus is a Girl]].

* ''[[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Final Fantasy I]]'', though considering [[Featureless Protagonist|the party members aren't defined as male other than (limited) visual clues]], you could cast them as females. The game still only features two named female characters, one is a [[Damsel in Distress]], the other a blind witch.

* ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]'' balances further between Level 3 and 4 with one protagonist being female, and also including Princess Hilda as a major NPC and [[Pirate Girl|temporary party member Leila]]. It's still up the mostly male party and their almost all-male support to take on the Emperor though.

* ''[[Final Fantasy III (Video Game)|Final Fantasy III]]'' sits squarely here, with once again only three female NPCs, two of them [[Heroic Sacrifice|give their lives]] to make sure the (presumed all male) heroes can continue on towards beating the bad guy.

* ''[[Dragon Quest I (Video Game)|Dragon Quest I]]'' had only one named female character, who was a [[Damsel in Distress]].

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* ''[[TUGS (Animation)|TUGS]]'' kinda falls between this level and Level 4.

* ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar (Animation)|The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' - there are very few females and they only show up when the plot of the episode revolves around their character, which isn't that often. It's no surprise to know that the lead male Skipper can be a sexist jerk.

* [[Transformers (Franchise)|Transformers]] has about 300 male characters and 3 female characters. The few females are VERY gender-stereotyped as either the [[Damsel in Distress]] or [[The Vamp]].

At this level it looks like both sexes are equal. Then why do only males have all the cool and most offensive powers and equipment, while their female teammates do things like providing first aid, being [[Mission Control]], working in the laboratory and you would be damned if you will ever see any of them in an actual fight? And even if they go into a fight, they end up either defeated easily, insignificant in the overall victory, [[Designated Girl Fight|or end up fighting another girl]]. Every unlucky [[Action Girl]] that lives in a world set at this level will suffer from [[Chickification]] and eventually turn into or be revealed as a [[Faux Action Girl]]. At this level, men and women are equal, but [[Stay in Thethe Kitchen|some things are still a man's job]].

=== Level[[Anime]] 4and Examples[[Manga]] ===

** Similarly in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Animeanime)|Yu-Gi-OhGX]]'', -where MostAsuka ofis considered among the timeseven abest girl winsduelists in Duel MonstersAcademy, it's[[Informed an unimportant duel thatAbility|but we see onlyher inhaving a cut-scene,victory andin those on which thea plot-important isduel focusedonly and have been won by girls can be counted on one handtwice]].

* ''[[DragonStreet Ball (Manga)|Dragon BallFighter]]'' fallsbelongs underto either this level asor Level well5. TheThough the female characters are howeveras competentequally and mostcapable of them are great fighters, but become less significantfighting as the series goes on and make room for the male main characters. Unfortunately, allthey ofare thestill charactersa asidelot fromfewer [[Proudcompared Warriorto Race Guy|the saiyans]] got [[Can't Catch Up|less significant]] asmale wellcast.

* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' barely makes Level 4. A few of the female characters, such as Misa and Rem, are okay, but the vast majority pale in comparison to the men, or come across as almost [[Too Dumb to Live]]. We're looking at you, [[Idiot Ball|Naomi Misora]].

* ''[[Texhnolyze (Anime)|Texhnolyze]]'' may belong here. There are only two female characters in major plot roles, Doc and Ran. And while they are perfectly good at the jobs they perform (and Doc is a [[Mad Scientist]], which is an unusual role for a woman), both of them answer to men. There are also no women with any combat ability worth speaking of, like there are with men.

* ''[[Muhyo and Roji's (Manga)|MuhyoBureau andof RojiSupernatural Investigation]]''. There are skilled females of various trades in the Magical Law Society (Biko, whose skill at making tools is crucial on several occasions, her teacher Rio and Imai, a skilled Judge) and Ark (Ivy, {{spoiler|Rio, again}} and Panza), but the majority of the most influential and powerful heroes and villains are male.

=== [[Film]] ===

* Ever since ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (Film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'', most [[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]] movies have fallen under this level. The older ones are entirely Level 3.

* Many mally action movies such as ''[[Con Air (Film)|Con Air]]'', which had two women with supporting roles, they were the protagonist's wife and the female prison guard.

* In ''[[Star Wars (Franchise)|Star Wars]]'' (the original trilogy, anyway) Princess Leia had a less active role than the major male characters and only played a major combat role in [[Return of the Jedi]] (which, of all the movies, comes closest to Level 5, though it loses points for the blatant fanservice). Even there, Han rather than her led the Endor strike force even though she'd been with the Rebellion a lot longer and was among its top leadership. All the fighter pilots in all three movies were male, and the only other female character, Mon Mothma, was in a leadership but non-combat role.

=== [[Literature]] ===

* ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' may fit here: although most of the characters are men, the few female characters that exist are very strong personalities and in Galadriel's case, quite powerful. This probably explains why Arwen is written to be significantly more [[Badass]] in the first film, although she suffers from Chickification later on.

=== [[Live -Action TV]] ===

* ''[[The West Wing (TV)|The West Wing]]'' is here. The vast majority of the important characters are male, and one of the select prominent female ones is sometimes known as a "sex kitten". Others include the first lady's Chief of Staff who's then director of legislative affairs, the president's executive secretary, the [[The Chick|deputy chief of staff]] who's Josh's love interest, and a prominent one as press secretary who manages to pull it out of Level 3. But at the end of the day it's the men who are the leaders who most of the action is around.

=== [[Toys]] ===

* ''[[Bionicle (Franchise)|Bionicle]]'' goes here, primarily as a result of being a boys' toyline that is heavily affected by [[The Smurfette Principle]]. Women ''can'' be powerful warriors, but the focus is always on the male characters. Female Toa also seem to be given the least interesting [[Mask of Power|mask powers]], ranging from the [[Boring but Practical]] Underwater Breathing, to the [[Blessed Withwith Suck]] Mask of Detection (which gives its wearer headaches as she gets closer to the [[MacGuffin]]). [[Useful Notes/The Bechdel Test|The Bechdel Test]] is rarely passed. In the early years in particular, the females were portrayed as the calm, gentle ones, while the males displayed much more diversity, although in recent years this has improved. It's unlikely that the franchise will ever make it to Level 5, however, even with the story now being independent of toy sales.

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', this seems to be [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|more story based rather than gameplay]], which is more even.

* ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' had mostly male characters, there were a handful of prominent female characters, including 3 female plyable characters and a handful of female villains. The kingdom of Troia had an all-female army and was ruled by a group of women. The sequel added several more playable female characters.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' falls squarely here, with the few female characters being strong but mostly used for plot devices. Most important NPCs are male even then.

* ''[[Dragon Quest II (Video Game)|Dragon Quest II]]'' had three playable characters, two males and a female, which was a step up from the previous game.

* Most installments of ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' go here. Zelda is more capable than the average [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]], but at the end of the day, it's always Link saving her from the male [[Big Bad]]. Side quests and subplots involve every combination of genders imaginable, but again, it's always Link, a man, who ultimately saves the day - and even there, women are noticeably more likely to be [[Distressed Damsel in Distress|Distressed Damsels]] than quest givers or troublemakers.

* ''[[Tales of Graces (Video Game)|Tales of Graces]]'' only just fits in here. Okay, yes, Cheria is a [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]], but there's also [[Badass Adorable|Sophie]] and [[The Red Mage|Pascal]]; the former of which is actually {{spoiler|the only one who can destroy the [[Big Bad]]}}. Also, Asbel balances things out on the guy side of things due to a few scenes that take the "failure" part of his [[Failure Knight]] status a little too far (read: having his ass handed to him early on and {{spoiler|''completely'' failing to stop his childhood friend from falling victim to the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Demonic Possession]]}}. Similarly, there's a [[Climax Boss]] of each gender (the female one actually being ''[[Magnificent Bastard|directly]]'' responsible for causing the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Start of Darkness]], along with male and female knight instructors. What stops it from making the full jump into Level 5 territory is simply the fact that none of the major world leaders are female: men are still calling the shots as far as politics are concerned ({{spoiler|except Fodras, but that ''might'' reach into [[Unfortunate Implications]] territory when you consider how it's the only ruined land in the game and was run by a woman)}}.

* ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' seems to do this intentionally. In the beginning, [[The Ditz|Lloyd's personality]] is balanced with [[Cloudcuckoolander|Collette]]'s. We have Raine and Kratos, both portrayed as sensible and intelligent, and when Sheena joins up, she and Genis are considerably more idealistic than Raine and Kratos, but also considerably more pragmatic than Lloyd and Collette. When {{spoiler|Kratos leaves}}, his place is eventually taken by the equally respectable Regal. Overall, people of both genders are represented with a wide range of personalities, viewpoints and intelligence/skill levels.

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* ''[[Arthur (Animationanimation)|Arthur]]'' started at this level but has become close to Level 5 - 6 in later seasons.

Stories that portray both sexes as an equal or are at last trying to balance [[The Chick]] and [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] with [[Action Girl]] or subvert/justify them fit here. Both men and women may be protagonists. It's almost impossible to achieve a perfect balance of both sexes, especially in stories aimed for one specific audience (like [[ShonenShōnen Demographicmanga]] or [[Shoujo Demographic]]) - sometimes girls don't get full respect only because story is just too focused on boys and vice versa. That's why many of the examples here are works that, while it is still impossible to tell whether they portray both sexes as completely equal, are just more balanced than Level 4 or 6.

=== Level[[Anime]] 5and Examples[[Manga]] ===

* ''[[TengenSoul Toppa Gurren Lagann (Anime)|Tengen Toppa Gurren LagannEater]]'' fitshas here,a tentatively.pretty Therewell arerounded manycast moreof both male charactersand thanfemale. females, but theThe female characters you(both domeisters seeand inweapons) theare variousjust ensemblesas (especiallycapable Yokoas andtheir Nia,male and Adianecounterparts on the villains'battlefield. side)All arethe perfectlymain independentcharacters andhave capablehad --their with a fewown [[FauxCrowning ActionMoment Girlof Awesome]] exceptions.

* ''[[Soul Eater (Manga)|Soul EaterBaccano!]]'', hasdespite being a prettygangster wellanime roundedset castprimarily ofin boththe male1930's, andactually female.seems Theto treat its female characters (bothvery meisterswell- andfemale weapons)characters are justallowed in roles about as capablediverse as theirthe male counterpartscharacters, onand thesome battlefield.are Allvery thecapable mainfighters, characterswho havecan hadand theirdo ownstand [[Crowningup Momentto ofthe Awesome]]men.

*** And [[Four -Star Badass]] Olivier Armstrong can and has whupped her State Alchemist brother's ass, so it's not like non-alchemists (or women) [[Can't Catch Up]].

* Although his female characters occasionally stray into Level 4, the vast majority of [[Hayao Miyazaki|Hayao Miyazaki's]] works treat female characters as equal to their male counterparts, if not superior in one way or another. This is quite intentional on the part of Miyazaki, an avowed feminist. To Miyazaki's credit, when there ''is'' any clear superiority of female over male (for example, it's heavily implied that only females can perform magic in ''[[Kiki's Delivery Service (Anime)|Kiki's Delivery Service]]''), it's never treated as a failing on anyone's part; that's just the way it is.

* ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'' either falls here or Level 4 (Level 4 qualification because the franchise leans towards [[The Smurfette Principle]] in terms of how women are distributed), but 5 could be more appropriate because the women are generally competent and are represented at all levels of the power structures (women Celestial Dragons, a woman among the Four Emperors, a woman Supernova, a woman Warlord of the Sea). The series treats the attractiveness or unattractiveness of women similarly to men ([[Gonk]] women have their looks played for laughs, but that works the other way in many cases, and [[Bishonen]] men are fawned over in quite a few cases). The two female members of the main crew have both had whole arcs devoted to them being [[Distressed Damsel in Distress|distressed damsels]], but in Nami's case she was in trouble because the Pirate she had been stealing for had double-crossed her and was holding her village captive to keep her in perpetual slavery, and in Robin's case it's because she has been a dangerous fugitive for 20 years. The only time women really play up a "useless" angle is when they're [[Ojou]], like Kaya or Shirahoshi, but then Vivi averted that as well. Also, one of the most manly men of the series had an entire two arcs dedicated to rescuing him (granted [[Wham! Episode|that didn't end well...]]).

* ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (Anime)|Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'' fits this category, having quite a lot of female pilots, most of which can fight just as well as any male. If any woman is defeated in combat, it's more than likely due to having a less than powerful mobile suit. For bonus points, one of the greatest themes of Zeta is the dissonant and controlling relationships between men and women. [[The Casanova|Paptimus Scirocco]], for example, manages to manipulate so many women that [[Face Heel Turn|one actually defects from his opposition]]. Examples of misogyny in the series cause in-universe reactions that range from outrage to the women actually turning it around on the men. Summarized aptly by Reccoa Londe:

{{quote| ''"Men are perhaps born to fight each other. And women are perhaps fated to be their tools."''}}

* Though there are relatively fewer female characters in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia (Manga)|Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', the ones that ''do'' show prominently generally fall into either this or Level 4. [[Hot Amazon|Hungary]] is shown to be just as competent as, if not even ''manlier'' than the males while others such as [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Liechtenstein]] and [[Knife Nut|Belarus]] are by ''no'' means submissive pushovers. There's an overall even-handedness to how gender is treated, even on the side of the males (case in point: Finland, Poland, and Austria).

* [[Bakuman｡ (Manga)|Bakuman｡]] arguably falls into here. While the editorial department is entirely male, the female manga writers are not presented as inferior to their male counterparts, and are able to establish series in [[Shonen Jump]] and keep them running. While Mashiro and Takagi are once admonished for trying to take ideas from (mostly female) fan mail, it's pointed out that this is because the female readers are also looking for shonen manga. While Iwase is sometimes thought of as petty in-universe and among the fanbase for pursuing manga as an extension of her rivalry with Takagi, Takagi is ultimately forced to acknowledge her skill, particularly when his and Mashiro's manga Tanto gets outperformed by her and [[The Rival|Nizuma]]'s Natural+.

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam Wing]]'' actually has a one-to-one gender parity among the principle cast; even the women who aren't pilots are still important to the plot, and in fact it could easily be argued that female lead Relena is more critical to the story than male lead Heero. One character does come off as a [[He -Man Woman Hater]], but it's due to a combination of [[Values Dissonance]] and [[Freudian Excuse]], and he eventually gets over this attitude. And though the Gundams are only ever operated by men,<ref> Barring a single [[Taking the Bullet]] scene at the end of the series</ref>, [[Team Mom]] Lucrezia Noin manages to keep up with all five Gundam Pilots while using a mass production machine -- formachine—for that matter, at one point [[The Rival]] Zechs implies that she's a better pilot than him, saying that she always held back to make him look better.

* ''[[Pokémon Special (Manga)|Pokémon Special]]''. Even with the main characters for each generation having a [[Two Guys and Aa Girl]] ratio, the girls are shown to be just as well-developed and strong as the guys and the secondary cast also has a healthy amount of females in various roles. Yellow and Platinum, both girls, even get to star in their own arcs.

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

** [[Wonder Woman]] is an interesting case. Originally created precisely as an empowerment example, she is considered today to be one of [[DC Comics (Creator)|DC Comics]]' "Trinity" of main heroes, the equal of [[Superman (Franchise)|Superman]] and [[Batman (Franchise)|Batman]]. Her supporting cast also features many strong (and some funny) female characters. ''However'', in recent times, her main background element, The Amazons, have, [[Depending Onon the Writer|over the years]], lost their scientific and philosophical achievements, and been in fact reinvented as man-haters. See ''[[Amazons Attack]]'' for a particularly gross example.

=== [[Fan Works]] ===

* ''[[Ultimate Spider Woman (Fanfic)|Ultimate Spider-WomanSpiderWoman: Change With Thethe Light]]'' stars a full-fledged [[Action Girl]] who gets into fights with supervillains on a regular basis and always gives as good as she gets. Most of her [[Rogues Gallery]] is male, although every single one of them [[Would Hit a Girl]] and have no problems going after Spider-Woman with everything they have. In her civilian identity, Mary Jane Watson also has to deal with the same kind of bad luck, money problems, and bad grades that frequently plague male [[Triple Shifter|Triple Shifters]]s.

** ''[[Ultimate Sleepwalker (Fanfic)|Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'' doesn't apply quite as much, given that the protagonist is male, but several of his enemies are [[Dark Action Girl|Dark Action Girls]]s and Sleepwalker has no compunctions about hitting them just as hard as he would any of his male enemies. The female characters in Rick Sheridan's and Sleepwalker's supporting casts also get a considerable amount of development in their own right.

=== [[Film]] ===

* ''[[Star Wars: the Clone Wars (Animation)|Star Wars theThe Clone Wars]]'': Do I have to explain?! Look at the characters!

* ''[[Starship Troopers (Filmfilm)|Starship Troopers]]'' shows men and women as being perfectly equal, to the point of showering together and sharing sleeping quarters.

=== [[Literature]] ===

* In ''[[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|Harry Potter]]'', the wizarding world seems to be more gender-equal than ours; there have been female Ministers for Magic, headmistresses of Hogwarts, and female Quidditch players for centuries. In fact two of the four Hogwarts founders were women.

** Like ''Star Wars'', most of the important characters are still men, although there are several strong female characters (and two villains we love to hate -- Doloreshate—Dolores Umbridge and Bellatrix Lestrange).

* ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'': The Clan society is set up for almost perfect gender equality with both toms and she-cats receiving equal training and equal opportunity to become medicine cat, deputy, or Clan leader. Not to mention that there has never been a point in the series where there were no female leaders, all the [[Action Girl|Action Girls]]s throughout the series, and how more recently most deputies have been female. The only difference between toms and she-cats is that she-cats have to nurse their kits for six months, which is more a biological necessity than discrimination. On top of that, there has been an almost equal number of male and female protagonists. The only real difference between the genders is that female deputies and leaders are not allowed to have kits, because it is believed that it will leave them unable to perform their duties. {{spoiler|1=Leafstar challenges this idea in ''SkyClan's Destiny'', citing the warrior code rule "The word of the Clan leader is the warrior code" as the reason: she's the leader, so she gets to say what's okay and not, and she says that it's okay for female leaders to have kits.}}

* The ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'' series mostly falls in this category. The Star Kingdom of Manticore, the (People's) Republic of Haven and most other Honorverse societies are more or less perfectly gender-equal; even the [[Space Marine|Space Marines]]s have many female members

* ''[[The Wheel of Time (Literature)|The Wheel of Time]]'' is all over the shop on this. It could be regarded as Level 5 because both sexes are equally stupid. The women ''are'' [[Closer to Earth]], but also tend to be nagging shrews, misandrists, [[Fetish Fuel|end up in chains with some man lording it over them]], or all three. Men, on the other hand, are all <s> woolheaded lummoxes</s> idiots and deserve to be abused. Witness {{spoiler|Mat}} being raped at knifepoint, [[Double Standard Rape (Female Onon Male)|which is apparently considered hilarious]].

** A key note for non-readers: in ''The Wheel Of Time'', all male members of the [[Witch Species]] are doomed ''by'' their powers to [[Comes Great Insanity|go violently insane]], and so have to be "[[De -Power|gentled]]" before they can do (much) harm. As a result, the balance of power is shifted way over towards the female side, and many women are convinced of their inherent superiority (in fact, most men are inherently stronger in magic as well as physicality); [[Straw Feminist]] characters espouse the Level 8 philosophy seen further down, while [[Values Dissonance|relatively sane]] ones subscribe to Level 7. Conversely, a lot of ''men'' subscribe to Levels 3 or 4. So, as the above troper noted, it arrives here not because of gender parity, but because both sexes are equally sexist. Two Wrongs Make A Balance.

* ''[[The Millennium Trilogy (Literature)|The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo]]'' depicts a lot of evil men, but Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist share time as co-protagonists and are both skilled.

=== [[Live -Action TV]] ===

* The crew of Serenity in ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'' appears this way. Zoe, the first mate, is just as respected as Captain Mal, and perfectly capable of leading if he is indisposed.

** Also, no bones are made at all in the show that she's an [[Action Girl]], nor is her [[Non -Action Guy]] husband treated as being any less of a man just because his wife could kick his ass.

* Colonial society in the rebooted ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (2004 TV series)|the rebooted ''Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'']] appears to be this, more or less. Men and women participate essentially equally in both government and the military (the President is a woman for most of the series, and the head of the Fleet is a man, but the Quorum of Twelve is mixed and there are high-ranking officers of both sexes).

** The original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic (1978 TV series)|The original ''Battlestar Galactica Classic]]'']] hovers between this and Type 4. While most women are relegated to support roles; several get to [[Took a Level Inin Badass|upgrade to full kickass Viper pilots]]. One of the best pilots in the fleet, Sheba, is female, and she easily holds her own against her male counterparts, even commanding an elite squadron. Females are the minority on the Council, but they are easily as formidable as the men, in some cases even more so. One, Siress Belloby, even manages to cow Adama of all people.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]],'' which has a female protagonist and competent male and female characters, though Slayers are always female. The Scoobies are typically fairly gender-balanced.

=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and& Dragons]]'', in statistical terms anyway. It can differ according to the setting, with allowances for the fact that it's mostly medieval-level societies. ''[[Planescape (Tabletop Game)|Planescape]]'', ''[[Eberron (Tabletop Game)|Eberron]]'', and ''[[Forgotten Realms (Tabletop Game)|Forgotten Realms]]'' are probably the most egalitarian, with plenty of powerful, competent women who hold the same roles men do.

** D&D has an interesting relationship with this trope. As explained in the v3.5 ''Dungeon Master's Guide II'', the makers of the game have gone out of their way to ensure gender equality, both mechanically and within the (generally assumed) game universe--evenuniverse—even when this clashes with players' initial expectations of a medieval-ish society. There is a simple and compelling reason for this: they don't want barriers for female player characters. However, since D&D is possibly the biggest [[Trope Codifier]] of the fantasy genre, a lot of other fantasy works that didn't have the same practical need for egalitarianism picked it up anyway. The result is that today, completely gender-blind fantasy worlds are the norm, unless this trope is actually discussed in the work. This applies even if the world is otherwise based on a medieval or otherwise non-gender-equal real-world culture.

* Played painfully straight in ''{[[Paranoia (Tabletop Gamegame)|Paranoia]]'', where hormone-supressing drugs and Computer-directed education means that most clones see no distinction between the genders other than a different set of superficial attributes. Characters in Secret Societies that study the mangled relics of the past ''might'' get some glimpses of gender inequality, but it's [[Future Imperfect|always filtered by misguided understanding of those relics]] and [[Rule of Funny|played for laughs]].

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* In ''[[Disgaea (Video Game)|Disgaea]]'' men and women of various classes have the same base stats and aptitudes in the key stats, but vary in weapon proficiency, other stats, and evil acts. The cast is usually relatively equal in terms of gender ratio and there are just as many badass women as there are badass men.

* ''[[Fire Emblem (Video Game)|Fire Emblem]]'' fits right in here. The main protagonist is male more often than not, but there are quite a few women who take that role as well. Story-wise, there are as many females in positions of power as males, and functionally, the genders are equal in combat. For every uber-powered male character you run into, there's an uber-powered female somewhere (e.g., Ike and Hector are regarded as powerhouses, but so are Titania and Tanith).

* ''[[Dragon Age (Video Game)|Dragon Age]]'' actually mentions that men and women are pretty much equal in Ferelden. Nobody seems to find anything odd about a woman leading the grey wardens, Queen Anora is a great political ally, and in the dwarven kingdom of Orzrammar, the female dwarf warden is named heir to the throne along with her older brother (And ''because'' she and her brother are removed, that's why the [[Succession Crisis]] happens). And it's not just authority, Fereldan women excel at ass-kicking, too: e.g. in human noble origin, the PC's supposedly [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask|frail defenseless mother]] dons [[Action Mom|combat gear and proceeds to tear her way through the besieged castle alongside the PC]].

* ''[[Pokémon (Franchise)|Pokémon]]'' may have leaned towards Level 4 to start with, but more recent installments are more at this level, with the option to play as a male or female. The gym leaders tend to have an even split between genders, and Diamond/Pearl has been the first to introduce a female champion the player must beat at the end of the main storyline. Furthermore, ''[[Pokémon Black and White (Video Game)|Pokémon Black and White]]'' is the first to introduce a female Pokemon professor.

* In the ''[[Fallout (Video Game)|Fallout]]'' world it´s pretty common to see women as soldiers, carrying weapons (and knowing well how to use them), in charge of units and fighting like their male counterparts, you can even see female raiders and bandits, and female ''ghouls''. Looks like that, when you live in a [[Crapsack World]] full of mutant animals, merciless criminal gangs, radiation, enormous and scary super mutants and extremely deadly creatures like the deathclaws, sexism is a stupid and pointless thing and every human able to use a weapon must do the work.

** ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout: New Vegas]]'' does have as one of its main factions CeasarCaesar's Legion, who are quite enthusiastic about wanting to push back the setting to Level 3 or even 2... But then, [[Captain Obvious|they're kinda bad guys]], so it's not really surprising.

* ''[[World of Warcraft (Video Game)|World of Warcraft]]'' is somewhere between here and Level 4, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, player characters are of [[Purely Aesthetic Gender]], having all the same abilities and playing the same roles. On the other hand, most faction leaders and important NPCs are male; although there are some major female characters as well, like Jaina Proudmoore and Lady Sylvanas. Basically, [[WoW]] tries their best to be Level 5, but opinions vary on whether they succeeded.

* ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'' falls here with not only the main playable cast being 3 out of 5 females, all 3 are figures of authority and just as capable as the male cast.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'' has a debate going over which female party member is the main character, said two female characters are the only ones who learn magic naturally, one of them used to be a general, and the plot focuses just as much on the female characters as the male ones in total... due to there being that many more male characters.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' uses the same trick as ''[[The Wheel of Time (Literature)|The Wheel of Time]]'', not in both genders being stupid, but with giving the females the cool magic powers. Other than that, the various roles are split very well among the cast, with both genders shown to be equally emotionally weak. This is also the first game in the series where the main playable party is split 50/50 between the genders (disregarding temporary party members), a tradition that's been (mostly) carried on since.

* ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]'' hands super powers of mass destruction and [[Heroic BSOD|Heroic BSODs]]s to both genders equally (if you take Kuja into the consideration, if not then the girls win on the superpowerful magic side of things). With several competent females in positions of power, and an [[Amazon Brigade|amazon army]] for Alexandria.

* While the universe of ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' may be less equalized, the story itself is definitively gender-balanced. With the focus of the story being on Yuna's journey instead of Tidus's achievements, and the only insignificant party member being a male one (Kimahri). And the stretch through the ruins of Zanarkand shows that the setting's past has been strewn with strong female figures just as much as males.

* ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' gender-balances well with princess Ashe being more recognized as the main character than [[The Ishmael|viewpoint character Vaan]] (though Basch was originally designed as the main character, until [[Executive Meddling|it was decided that the game's demographic wouldn't go for a middle-aged male lead]]). The focal point of the story is not centered so much on the characters as it is on the political climate of Ivalice as a result of the Archadian Empire's control over Ashe's rightful territory of Dalmasca (and, in the background, their struggle with the neighbouring Rozzarian Empire). The only real gender issue that is ever brought up within the game is the apparent segregation between male and female [[Petting Zoo People|Viera]] (of which only the females are even seen ingame); outside of this, gender roles appear to be more of less balanced. With that said, Judge Drace, [[The Smurfette Principle|the sole woman]] within the ranks of the Archadian Judge Magisters, was the only one to directly call out Vayne for killing his father, Emperor Gramis, and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLBGbUGryRE was executed for it.] The fact that she was the only major female character outside of the protagonists' team in the game doesn't really help.

* ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]'' continues on the by now-tradition of having just as many well-fleshed out female characters as male characters. It's the second in the series with a female main character and gives the females both of the more iconic recurring summons (Bahamut and Odin). The males, as a balance, get the cooler Synthesist roles.

* ''[[Star Wars: theThe Old Republic (Video Game)|Star Wars the Old Republic]]'' has both men and women serving in combat roles in both the [[The Federation|Galactic Republic]] and the [[The Empire|Sith Empire]]. The Jedi Grandmaster Satale Shan is female and so was her predecessor. By end game, the Republic's Supreme Chancellor is a female Twi'lek. The Sith Empire drafts any non-Force user of age into the Imperial Military for both combat and non-combat roles. Also the Sith more concerned with [[Fantastic Racism]] to non-humans and non-sith purebloods than gender inequality.

* ''[[Rift]]'''s resident [[Badass|badassesbadass]]es are about evenly divided between genders.

* Starting from ''[[Dragon Quest III (Video Game)|Dragon Quest III]]', female characters are much more prominent. All of the playable characters can be male or female.

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

=== [[Web Original]] ===

* ''[[Darwins Soldiers (Roleplay)|DarwinsDarwin's Soldiers]]'' has several [[Action Girl|female combatants]] and [[Distressed Dude in Distress|men in distress]]. In general, a combatant has an even chance of being male or female.

* In ''[[The Guild (Web Video)|The Guild]]'' there are three women players and three men players in the main cast, as they wanted to point out the high number of girl gamers in online games. The girls are shown to be just as powerful and skilled as any of the guys they face in the game. Even if they're all equally idiotic.

* [[That Guy With the Glasses (Website)|That Guy With theThe Glasses]]. While still a bit of a sausagefest, everyone loves [[Slapstick Knows No Gender|fighting]], everyone has varying levels of intelligence, and everyone's a lunatic.

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', the genders are represented fairly equally.

** It's also a bit odd to note that the villainous Fire Nation seemed to have a more gender equal military (or at least police) than the good guy Earth Kingdom (we only ever saw male Earth Kingdom soldiers or police/city-guards, while the Fire Nation even had mixed gender prisons and prison guards). The Water Tribes turned out to be even more sexist; Sokka was something of a [[He -Man Woman Hater]], [[Character Development|at first]], and the waterbenders at the North Pole turned out to be a societally enforced Level 4--much to Katara's chagrin. This resulted in a [[Jackie Robinson Story]], which ultimately worked out for Katara. <ref> As a general rule, every society (that gets depicted) tends to have virtues and failings and heroes and villains. Opposite element societies tend to have opposite problems: Expansionist, Egalitarian Fire versus Traditional Water, Robust but Bureaucratic Earth versus Hippie Air...</ref>

*** The ''[[The Legend of Korra (Animation)|The Legend of Korra]]'' brings us another female Avatar, series lead Korra. Her main crew are two male benders, and her Air Bender master is male as well. However, joining the female members are Pema, Ikki, Jinora and especially, Chief Bei Fong a kick ass earth bender who doesn't take crap from anybody, and Asami Sato, a rich girl who is perfectly capable of kicking asses without a bending ability.

* In ''[[Archer (Animation)|Archer]]'', male and female characters are generally portrayed at about the same level of (in)competence. Pretty much everyone is screwed up emotionally or mentally, with no overt correlation between level of competence or emotional state and gender.

=== Level 6 Examples[[Advertising]] ===

=== [[Anime]] &and [[Manga]] ===

* Most of the [[Magical Girl]] series fit here. Boys cannot be [[The Chosen One|the chosen ones]], or fight evil with magical powers (except if they get [[Gender Bender]]). However, they can still be helpful by being themselves and provide a source of "something to fight for" for heroines. Most Maho Shoujo is simply the girl version of [[Superhero]] stories, since most girls are either not human (which explains why they are special ala ''[[Superman (Franchise)|Superman]]'', or simply the circumstances lead to only magical girls in the main cast a la ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha|Nanoha]]'', where there are magical boys, and most of the [[Red Shirt]] members of the TSAB appear to be men, but due to the circumstances we don't see them doing much).

** The most prominent example of this is ''[[Sailor Moon (Manga)|Sailor Moon]]'', with Mamoru helping by just encouraging Usagi to never give up (and actually being more of a liability to the Sailor Senshi by being [[Distressed Dude in Distress|repeatedly brainwashed or kidnapped]]), and three boys who help Sailor Senshi via turning into magical girls themselves. Later in the series, Mamoru becomes more of a [[Badass Normal]], but still lacks the sheer power of the Sailor Senshi.

** ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Anime)|Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' borders on Type 9, with only three named male characters- Madoka's father, Madoka's younger brother, and Sayaka and Hitomi's love interest Kyosuke Kamijou- and only Kyosuke has any impact on the plot.

* In the anime of ''[[Claymore (Manga)|Claymore]]'', only women can become the eponymous badasses, and the few men in the series are either evil, ineffectual, or both. The manga is Level 5.

* In ''[[Rozen Maiden (Manga)|Rozen Maiden]]'' the female dolls get in on all the action, and Jun, the sole main male character, [[Non -Action Guy|just takes care of them the entire time]].

* ''[[Kiki's Delivery Service (Anime)|Kiki's Delivery Service]]''.

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena (Anime)|Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' is commonly considered to belong here, since all of the male characters seem to be either evil or fairly ineffectual compared to Utena (or both). Then again, nobody in the show is without serious stains, and the gender dynamic is one of the points discussed.

=== [[Literature]] ===

* [[Sheri S. Tepper]] ranges from Level 6 to Level 9 in her work. A good Level 6 example is [[The Arbai Trilogy]], starting with ''Grass''. Men are consistently shown to be either too incompetent and ineffectual, or self-important and arrogant, to figure out what is really going on on the eponymous world. Most of the females are little better; but the few that the novels actually focus on, particularly the protagonist, are far and away more competent and effective than the men.

=== [[Live -Action TV]] ===

* ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'' has the most powerful witches in the world and the eponymous characters as women.

* Many [[Sit Com|sitcomssitcom]]s, particularly the family-based ones, run on the "dumb husband screws up, competent wife fixes it" trope, ie. ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]''.

=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===

* Among the Vistani of the [[Ravenloft (Tabletop Game)|Ravenloft]] game-setting, only women can be the spiritual/mystical leader of a tribe, as males with the Sight are killed at birth to avert their becoming that culture's version of [[The Antichrist]]. Men do direct the mundane day-to-day activities of a caravan, but only with the female ''raunie'''s approval. The overall setting probably averages at 4 or 5, though (quite a number of domains are socially backwards by D&D standards, or have darklords with varying degrees of sexism, among them [[The Bluebeard]] - yes, ''that'' one).

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* All the important characters in ''[[Touhou (Video Game)|Touhou Project]]'' who actually do anything are female. There are a few male characters but their roles are very limited.

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* In ''[[Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki (Webcomic)|Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki]]'' the main protagonist can become a Valkyrie, but it permanently [[Gender Bender|turns him into a girl]].

* ''[[Drowtales (Webcomic)|Drowtales]]'' in story (about 25% of the lead characters are male). Drow society is quite matriarchal.

=== [[Web Original]] ===

* Tex from ''[[Red vs. Blue (Machinima)|Red vs. Blue]]'': Oh my lord Tex, one of the only female characters is also one the [[Punctuated! forFor! Emphasis!|Most. Badass. Characters.]] EVER''Ever''; just take a look at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke9wtbzGjCI this] (she's the one in black armour).

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|The Powerpuff Girls]]'' epitomizes this level. Though one episode featured a villain who was a [[Straw Feminist]] trying to convince the girls that all men are dogs and that women are superior, as a lesson that this ''isn't'' the case.

* ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]''. The eponymous [[Extraordinarily Empowered Girl]] "can do anything" while her [[Sidekick]], Ron, is mainly used for [[Plucky Comic Relief]], although he does have a few [[All Up to You|heroic moments]]. Meanwhile, her main [[Arch Enemy|nemesis]], [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Drakken]], is far less competent than his [[Dark Action Girl|sidekick]], Shego.

* [[Executive Meddling]]-enforced version in ''[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''. Although it's not that females are explicitly ''better'' than males, it's that since the show's target audience is little girls there are barely any male characters at all, so it's up to the females to do everything whether they like it or not. Socially it's a type 5; on occasions when male characters do show up, it would appear that they're more or less on equal footing (hoofing?) with the females.

=== Level 7 Examples[[Film]] ===

=== [[Literature]] ===

=== Level 8 Examples[[Literature]] ===

=== [[Live -Action TV]] ===

** This is a favorite of Roddenberry's: he [[Recycled in Space|uses the exact same society setup]] in the Season 1 ''[[Star Trek: the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek theThe Next Generation]]'' episode "[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation (TV)/Recap/S1 /E13 Angel One|Angel One]]".

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* The government in ''[[Drowtales (Webcomic)|Drowtales]]'' runs under this principle seeing as women have a higher status than men (not to mention being physically larger than the men) and only a few men have fairly important positions. There is a growing male rights movement in the story, but it's mostly been implied and not focused on much.

=== [[Web Original]] ===

* Lovable Weirdos in ''[[Nation StatesNationStates]]'' falls into this.

=== Level[[Anime]] 9and Examples[[Manga]] ===

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

** Somewhat downgraded/averted in ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]''.

* Deconstructed in ''[[Y the Last Man (Comic Book)|Y: The Last Man]]''. Notably, in a setting that's practically asking for it, it avoids claiming that women need a man to fix things - the world is messed up to start with because half the human race has suddenly died, including most political, business, and religious leaders, transport infrastructure (pilots, sea captains, and truck drivers) and law enforcement, but things steadily improve over the next five years - or that women are better off without men messing things up - there's still no shortage of greed, lunatics, or violence among the women left behind.

=== [[Film]] ===

=== [[Literature]] ===

* The world of Whileaway in Joanne Russ' novel ''The Female Man'', is all female, with the men having been wiped out ages ago by a plague,<ref> though there's a hint or two that it might instead be a result of the women winning a global war of the sexes</ref>, and is unabashedly utopian.

* [[Sheri S. Tepper]], again. ''[[The Gate to WomensWomen's Country (Literature)|The Gate to Womens Country]]'' incorporates both Levels 8 and 9; but with more of the latter. Males and females are strictly separated, with the exception of a few quasi-eunuch servants. Women live in technologically advanced, walled city-states tending toward [[Crystal Spires and Togas]]; while men are relegated to primitive camps outside the city walls, restricted to a much lower technological level, in a caricature of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior culture]]. Men are used for reproduction; but only according to a strict breeding program intended to breed out any aggressive or otherwise stereotypically "masculine" traits. While this situation would normally be portrayed as a [[Crapsack World]] by most authors; in this example, it is clearly Tepper's idea of a [[Lady Land|feminist utopia]] in the making.

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* {{{[[Play StationPlayStation 2]] [[PSPlayStation 2]]}} RPG ''Nuga-Cel'' informs you outright at the start that absolutely no men will be appearing in the game, not even as NPCs. The (male) narrator who informs you of this is fired on the spot, never to be seen again. Although the player character is male, he is never seen or heard, unless {{spoiler|you get a particular ending where he becomes the final boss.}}

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

* [[Marvel Comics (Creator)|Marvel Comics]] character [http://marvel.wikia.com/Thundra_(Earth-715) Thundra] comes from a future where men and women are in a state of war and use artificial methods of procreation. Her daughter, Lyra, (born in vitro with use of [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Hulk's]] cells) gets a little [[Retcon]] of this: Her world is set [[After the End]], where women created an advanced society while men degenerated into a bunch of wild tribes who worship old superheroes as gods.

=== [[Literature]] ===

* One of the worlds featured in ''The Female Man'' by Joanna Russ is one where men and women are at war with one another. Near the end of the novel, the principle characters (four versions of the same woman from perpendicular dimensions) visit the men's side and one of the women tears a man limb from limb. Here, though, each gender ''does'' need the other to survive, so they develop a [[Squick|squickysquick]]y prisoner-exchange program of sorts.

* [[Vorkosigan Saga (Literature)|Ethan of Athos]]. Shortly after the invention of the uterine replicator, a religious group that believed women were the source of all sin established an all-male colony world.

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* [[Played for Laughs]] in an episode of ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents (Animation)|The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]''.

** Ditto one episode of ''[[Duckman (Animation)|Duckman]]''.