Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,480
edits
The Smurfette Principle: Difference between revisions
split "comics" into "comic books" and "newspaper comics"
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (split "comics" into "comic books" and "newspaper comics") |
|||
Line 104:
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' inverts this, Tuxedo Mask and Artemis being the only male (non-villain) primary character.
==
* [[Trope Namers|Named for]] Smurfette, the only female [[The Smurfs|Smurf]] for years out of a population of 100.
** Ironically, ''The Smurfs'' [[The Smurfs (animation)|cartoon]] actually toned this ''down'', a little. While you could argue Smurfette is as much a stereotype as any other specific smurf, Peyo (their creator) caught some flak by admitting she was not intended to be a real heroic character at all, describing her in mostly childish ways. The [[Hanna-Barbera]] show only played this up in her origin, where she was created by Gargamel to disrupt the lives of the Smurfs. Otherwise, Smurfette is typically a strong-willed type who is often ready to take charge when necessary in Papa Smurf's absence.
Line 110:
** Although, as noted in ''[[Donnie Darko]]'', as a creation of Gargamel Smufette wasn't a true Smurf. Originally, the Smurfs were all male (or possibly asexual).
** This was later spoofed in ''[[Fables]]'' the founders of Smalltown were members of an [[Gulliver's Travels|Lilliput]] army (i.e. all men) until [[Thumbelina]] showed up so had to go find more magic barley seed that was used to made her because of mass riots fighting over her.
* ''[[Bloom County]]'''s cast had a series of strips dealing with the necessity of introducing a female character after the Supreme Court declared male-only clubs unconstitutional. ("Nothing's more 'male-only' than Bloom County! We've GOT to introduce a WOMAN!") Before, the comic strip had several notable reoccurring female characters including the feminist schoolteacher Ms. Harlow, who actually ''did'' [[Does Not Like Men|like men]]. Eventually, Ronald-Ann was created as a regular, who subverted the trope by ''not'' being [[The Chick]]. {{spoiler|Rosebud the Basselope}} was also revealed to be female, much to the surprise of the cast. Unfortunately, it looks like this was [[retcon]]ned to oblivion.▼
** Even more directly addressed in the not-a-sequel-series-I-swear, ''Outland''. In the strip, a woman asked why all the well-known animal characters in comics and animation are all male; any female animal characters were just [[Distaff Counterpart|The Girlfriend]]. Opus announced that the strip was just about to hire the first major female animal character star to join the main cast, Hazel the Hedgehog. In a brilliant sequence that ran for ''weeks'', she lampshaded ''why'' most animal characters are male. (Are we asking girls to identify with a "little pig-rodent"? Can she participate in a slapstick pie fight if depicting violence against females is taboo? Is she still her own distinct character if we ''have'' to [[Put a Bow On Her Head]]?)▼
* 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]].
Line 134 ⟶ 132:
*** Actually, there wasn't even ''one''. They were looking for a [[Token Minority|token girl]] and they saw that a character called "Wonder Girl" had already been published, so they decided to use her. Somehow they (not to mention their editors!) missed the fact that "Wonder Girl" was actually just Diana as a teenager for something like ''four or five years'' real time. She was finally given the first of way too many origin stories in an attempt to fix this mistake. [[Continuity Snarl|And thus began a grand and glorious tradition of no one having any idea who she is or where she came from.]]
* ''The [[Doom Patrol]]'' started with one woman, Elasti-Girl.
* Inverted in ''[[Y: The
* Silk Spectre II from ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' is the only female super-hero of the second generation. Furthermore, her central importance to the plot is that of her role as a woman, being a kept-girlfriend to Dr. Manhattan and then the love interest of Nite Owl II. However, this is a [[Deconstruction]], so it may be intentional to demonstrate the usual roles female characters play in the comic book genre.
* [[Rupert Bear]] had few female characters - Ottoline Otter (introduced about a couple of decades ago) and Tiger Lilly, not counting the mothers of the characters - and the main cast was mostly male. The CGI adaptation saw it fit to [[Gender Flip]] Ping Pong and Freida Fox.
* With the occasional exception of Xavin, ''[[Runaways]]'' inverts this by having, at most, 2 male characters in any team roster. Of those characters, only Victor has had superpowers constantly.
* ''[[100
* According to Norwegian Scholar Jon Gisle, the population of [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe|Duckburg]] is about 80% male.
* In ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'', one of Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends {{spoiler|is actually a girl.}}
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Youngblood: Judgment Day]]'', where Glory is keen to the idea of re-forming the Allies of Justice because she enjoys being the only woman in a team of men—it's implied that it makes her feel like she's the one in charge.
* Platnium was the only female member of the [[Metal Men]]. Tin later created Nameless, who didn't really do much other than act as his girlfriend. Right before the [[Cerebus Syndrome]] [[Retool]], [[Team Dad|Doc Magnus]] created [[Distaff Counterpart]]s of the team, but they were one-off characters. In recent years, the team finally gained a bona-fide second female member, [[Deadpan Snarker|Copper]].
* The newspaper comic ''Tumbleweeds'' had two Smurfettes—Hildegarde Hamhocker among the townsfolk of Grimy Gulch, and Little Flower among the Poohawks. Aside from Hildegarde's little niece Echo, other female characters are extremely rare (if not non-existent) in the strip.▼
== Film ==
Line 325 ⟶ 322:
* ''[[Mission: Impossible (TV series)||Mission Impossible]]'' (both the original and revival) never had more than one female regular at a time (though missions could and did have more than one female agent involved) - the original had Cinnamon in the first three seasons, then a revolving door of replacements in season four, Dana in season five, and then Casey for the final two seasons; in the revival Casey came first, and she was replaced by Shannon.
* Two episodes of the original ''[[Outer Limits]]'', "The Chameleon" and "The Invisible Enemy", have all-male casts.
== Music ==
Line 331 ⟶ 327:
* In [[The Protomen]]'s ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' [[Rock Opera]] (also known as ''The Protomen''), Dr. Light's girlfriend Emily is the only female character to have lines.
== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* ''[[Bloom County]]'''s cast had a series of strips dealing with the necessity of introducing a female character after the Supreme Court declared male-only clubs unconstitutional. ("Nothing's more 'male-only' than Bloom County! We've GOT to introduce a WOMAN!") Before, the comic strip had several notable reoccurring female characters including the feminist schoolteacher Ms. Harlow, who actually ''did'' [[Does Not Like Men|like men]]. Eventually, Ronald-Ann was created as a regular, who subverted the trope by ''not'' being [[The Chick]]. {{spoiler|Rosebud the Basselope}} was also revealed to be female, much to the surprise of the cast. Unfortunately, it looks like this was [[retcon]]ned to oblivion.
▲** Even more directly addressed in the not-a-sequel-series-I-swear, ''Outland''. In the strip, a woman asked why all the well-known animal characters in comics and animation are all male; any female animal characters were just [[Distaff Counterpart|The Girlfriend]]. Opus announced that the strip was just about to hire the first major female animal character star to join the main cast, Hazel the Hedgehog. In a brilliant sequence that ran for ''weeks'', she lampshaded ''why'' most animal characters are male. (Are we asking girls to identify with a "little pig-rodent"? Can she participate in a slapstick pie fight if depicting violence against females is taboo? Is she still her own distinct character if we ''have'' to [[Put a Bow On Her Head]]?)
▲* The newspaper comic ''Tumbleweeds'' had two Smurfettes—Hildegarde Hamhocker among the townsfolk of Grimy Gulch, and Little Flower among the Poohawks. Aside from Hildegarde's little niece Echo, other female characters are extremely rare (if not non-existent) in the strip.
== Professional Wrestling ==
| |||