The Smurfette Principle: Difference between revisions

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The name of this trope was first coined by [http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/magazine/hers-the-smurfette-principle.html an article in the New York Times printed April 7, 1991, called "The Smurfette Principle"]. The article discussed the negative message which this trope gave its young audience: that males are individuals who have adventures, while females are a type of deviation [[Never a Self-Made Woman|who exist only in relation to males]].

Contrast [[Two Girls to a Team]], [[~~Useful Notes/The Bechdel Test|~~The Bechdel Test]], [[Girl Show Ghetto]]. This is also [[Distaff Counterpart]] to [[The One Guy]]. See also [[Smurfette Breakout]] when the character becomes popular on her own, and [[Territorial Smurfette]] when another female is added to the show and the character reacts negatively.

Contrast [[Two Girls to a Team]], [[The Bechdel Test]], [[Girl Show Ghetto]]. This is also [[Distaff Counterpart]] to [[The One Guy]]. See also [[Smurfette Breakout]] when the character becomes popular on her own, and [[Territorial Smurfette]] when another female is added to the show and the character reacts negatively.

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* In Hergé's ''[[Tintin]]'' comics, just about the only recurring female character is Bianca Castafiore, who's an impossible diva. Oh, and her maid.

** [[Word of God]] says that Hergé had a lot of trouble drawing adult characters that weren't ugly or ridiculous (Tintin doesn't count, as the character design is almost childish and very simple anyway) - something that didn't bother Hergé when it came to men, but annoyed him greatly when drawing women. He actually started to get better at it in the latter albums, and a cute female character with a major role was introduced in "Tintin et l'Alph-Art", but this effort suffered [[Author Existence Failure]].

* Alison Bechdel's ''[[Dykes to Watch Out For]]'' initially inverted this, with scarcely any male characters, partly as a response to the Smurfette principle (as discussed in ''The Indelible Alison Bechdel'') and partly to force male readers to identify with the female characters, as women often have to identify with male characters. Over the last several years, more male characters have appeared; one of the main characters, Sparrow, had a long-term relationship and a child with a man named Stuart. This may have also been her accommodating what has become to be known as [[~~Useful Notes/The Bechdel Test|~~The Bechdel Test]] in her own work.

* Alison Bechdel's ''[[Dykes to Watch Out For]]'' initially inverted this, with scarcely any male characters, partly as a response to the Smurfette principle (as discussed in ''The Indelible Alison Bechdel'') and partly to force male readers to identify with the female characters, as women often have to identify with male characters. Over the last several years, more male characters have appeared; one of the main characters, Sparrow, had a long-term relationship and a child with a man named Stuart. This may have also been her accommodating what has become to be known as [[The Bechdel Test]] in her own work.

* When the ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'' started in 1961, the Invisible Girl was the only female member, and she was the weakest of the four (her force fields weren't invented till later).

* When the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' started in 1963, Jean Grey was the only female member, and the weakest (it was a decade before she got Phoenix powers).

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** Starcraft: Ghost's main character was to be a female Ghost, not unlike Kerrigan. In its cinematic, she sits in the shadows of a Dropship on the way to the battle area. A macho Marine makes a sexist comment, and is silently stared down as she leans out of the shadows and is revealed to [[Samus Is a Girl|be a woman]].

* Many early computer games would let the players choose their gender (as well as, often, other attributes like name, race and age) at the start of the game (unless you were a [[Featureless Protagonist]], of course). As the amount of assets (graphics, voice acting, and sometimes even onscreen actors) needed to portray player characters increased, many studios discreetly dumped this feature. Modern games that let you choose a gender offer varying amounts of plot and gameplay branching as a result of the choice.

* ''[[Fallout]]'' allowed you to choose your character's gender, but of the four recruitable NPCs only one was female. In ''[[Fallout 2]]'' it got worse, with eight recruitable males, four dogs, a robot...and one female human, who was literally worse than useless (useless in a fight, can't gain levels, takes up a party slot and ''won't leave unless you kill her or sell her to slavers''. The being said, [[Femme Fatale|some quests in the game were more easily completed if you were a woman]]. It is debatable whether this helps, but it certainly won't pass [[~~Useful Notes/The Bechdel Test|~~The Bechdel Test]].

* ''[[Fallout]]'' allowed you to choose your character's gender, but of the four recruitable NPCs only one was female. In ''[[Fallout 2]]'' it got worse, with eight recruitable males, four dogs, a robot... and one female human, who was literally worse than useless (useless in a fight, can't gain levels, takes up a party slot and ''won't leave unless you kill her or sell her to slavers''. The being said, [[Femme Fatale|some quests in the game were more easily completed if you were a woman]]. It is debatable whether this helps, but it certainly won't pass [[The Bechdel Test]].

** ''[[Fallout 3]]'' is somewhat better in this regard, having two female recruitable NPCs who are relatively useful. However, they are still in the minority (there are three male companions, as well as a genderless (formerly male) super mutant, a male dog and a robot with a male voice).

*** Many fans believe Fawkes was a human female.

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** In the original book, the gender issue was dealt with as just the way rabbits ''think''. They're not human. They can't wrap their minds around a board that floats on the water. They pass countless dangers and finally locate the perfect new home, settle down to start a colony, and realize, "Oh, damn, we forget to bring any women." Which is the impetus for the second half of the story ("Shoot, we better find someone to bear our kits").

** It's also worth noting that in the sequel, ''Tales from Watership Down'', some females do get larger roles. A story about a doe-led warren is told, and the doe Hyzenthlay {{spoiler|becomes co-leader of the ''Watership Down'' rabbits}}. This was author Richard Adams' specific response to complaints that the first book was too testosterone-centric.

* For all their [[Emotional Torque|perfection]], one major complaint about [[Pixar]] is the lack of films that have passed ~~the~~ [[~~Useful Notes/~~The Bechdel Test~~|test~~]]:

* For all their [[Emotional Torque|perfection]], one major complaint about [[Pixar]] is the lack of films that have passed [[The Bechdel Test]]:

** ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'''s main cast includes a young boy's toy collection, with predictably male-oriented rather than girls' toys. Bo Peep was the only female in the cast, a domestic woman and [[Shallow Love Interest]] with no part in the main action. The second and third films even out the gender inequality, though not by much.

** ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]''{{'}}s main cast includes a young boy's toy collection, with predictably male-oriented rather than girls' toys. Bo Peep was the only female in the cast, a domestic woman and [[Shallow Love Interest]] with no part in the main action. The second and third films even out the gender inequality, though not by much.

*** Even though Toy Story 3 had many more female characters than the other two, I think it should be worth mentioning that {{spoiler|Andy got rid of Bo Peep}}.

** ''[[A Bug's ~~Life|A Bugs~~ Life]]'', despite having a few female royalties, is guilty of the [[Insect Gender Bender]]; biology dictates its protagonist should have been female. The Seven Samurai-esque troupe has a 3:1 (6:2) male-to-female ratio.

** ''[[A Bug's Life]]'', despite having a few female royalties, is guilty of the [[Insect Gender Bender]]; biology dictates its protagonist should have been female. The Seven Samurai-esque troupe has a 3:1 (6:2) male-to-female ratio.

** The only major female characters in ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'' are a little girl with limited dialogue, the forgettable love interest Celia, and {{spoiler|Roz the undercover CDA agent}}, who has little screen time. The ratio is 4:2.

** ''[[Finding Nemo]]'' has 9:3.

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* The 80s cartoon series ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|He Man and The Masters of The Universe]]'' followed this trope, having only two females (Teela and the Sorceress) in the main cast of heroes (the villains had one too: Evil-Lynn). They were also the only inhabitants of the planet immune to the steroids in the water supply.

** Heck, in the original comics that came with the toys, before the cartoon series, Teela WAS the Sorceress.

** Its spinoff series ''[[She-Ra: ~~Princess of Power|She Ra~~ Princess of Power]]'' was basically the same show [[Distaff Counterpart|with the gender ratio reversed]] to appeal to female viewers. Oddly enough, the one male (Bow) was dramatically less muscular than the weakest character in ''He-Man.'' Apparently an all-female planet had no need for steroids.

** Its spinoff series ''[[She-Ra: Princess of Power]]'' was basically the same show [[Distaff Counterpart|with the gender ratio reversed]] to appeal to female viewers. Oddly enough, the one male (Bow) was dramatically less muscular than the weakest character in ''He-Man.'' Apparently an all-female planet had no need for steroids.

* On ''[[Dragon Booster]]'', the main cast is made up of three males (Artha, Parm, and Lance), and one female (Kitt). Though initially a rival to Artha (and with potential to grow as a character), Kitt eventually devolved into a cheerleader for Artha who was consistently beaten in any kind of race (despite the fact that she had more experience at racing than Artha, who ''didn't want to race at all'' at the start of the series) and only ever did anything plot-wise by getting mind-controlled or kidnapped. There were other female characters, including a few crew leaders, but, like Kitt, they took a back seat to the males.

** The "Kitt can never win" issue might have some strange connection to the advertising trope where you can't show a girl winning a board game, for fear that it'll be less appealing to boys.