View source for Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty

{{trope}}
{{quote|''When I was born, they looked at me and said, what a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.''
''And when you were born, they looked at you and said, what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.''
|'''[[Barenaked Ladies]]''', "What a Good Boy"}}

Certain ideals are expected to be embodied by male and female characters for them to be seen as attractive to the opposite sex. Sexy female characters are physically desirable; Sexy male characters are strong and proactive. This is a consequence of [[Men Act, Women Are]] as applied to sex appeal: A woman's attractiveness is mostly due to her passive physical attributes, while a man's attractiveness is mostly a result of his behavior.

For female characters, passivity does not detract from their attractiveness. In extreme cases, female characters who are ''very'' active will be seen as [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|undesirable]], or that they can only love a man [[All Amazons Want Hercules|stronger]] [[Best Her to Bed Her|than themselves]]. Furthermore, a physically unattractive woman will always be unattractive regardless of how proactive she is. Male characters are viewed as less attractive if they are passive. In fact a [[Magnificent Bastard|dynamic]] [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|evil man]] is more likely to be viewed as [[Draco in Leather Pants|attractive]] than a [[Non-Action Guy|decent but weak man]]. A physically unattractive man's dynamic qualities can also make him more attractive.

Some male characters who are physically attractive — particularly in a "[[Pretty Boy]]" kind of way — will be seen as [[Non-Action Guy|weak]], less than a man, or [[Mistaken for Gay|suspected of being gay]]. This holds doubly true if they spend time [[The Dandy|cultivating their attractiveness]] (in fact, many male characters with [[Mr. Fanservice|a large female following]] tend to be disliked by some male audience members — possibly because [[Stupid Sexy Flanders|he's a threat to their sense of masculinity]]).

In summary, physical attractiveness only ever adds to a woman's sex appeal while being active [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|may]] or [[Hot Amazon|may not]] detract. Whereas for men being proactive only ever adds to a man's sex appeal while being physically attractive may or may not add to his desirability.

These differing standards lead to the genders being held to equally damaging but different standards of attractiveness and have numerous [[Unfortunate Implications]].

For women the implication is that your actions are irrelevant to your attractiveness to the opposite sex. As long as you're beautiful, even if you're 105&nbsp;lbs of [[The Load|useless deadweight]] or [[Woman Scorned|utterly psychotic]] you're still desirable.

The [[Unfortunate Implications]] for men is that men are shallow and [[All Men Are Perverts|only after one thing]], thus they don't care if a woman is a dynamic, active character. Also, male characters will end up pulling more than their own weight, [[Hysterical Woman|emotionally]] and [[Men Are the Expendable Gender|physically]], in works where this trope is in effect.

And, just like the beauty ideal puts incredible pressure on women to be beautiful, the strength ideal puts incredible pressure on men to judge themselves against an impossible standard of [[The Stoic|stoicism]], [[The Determinator|willpower]] and [[Charles Atlas Superpower|physical strength]]. These pressures have not received as much press or attention on their effects on men and boys, partially due to the idea that men aren't as [[Men Don't Cry|emotionally fragile as women]], that things that [[Men Are the Expendable Gender|affect women are worse than things that affect men]]. This in turn enforces another [[Double Standard]]: That women must be [[Damsel in Distress|defended]] from the evil media, while men [[Acceptable Targets|should be able to just shrug it off]].

In the last few decades there has been more of a push to create [[Action Girl|attractive, dynamic female characters]]. Unfortunately this often seems to come at the expense of the male characters they are paired with who are portrayed as incompetent and emasculated. It is a hard balance to strike, and difficult to imagine a [[Inverted Trope|work]] in which a [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished|beautiful]], [[Virgin Power|virgin]] [[Bishonen|male character]] is saved from peril by a [[Beauty to Beast|grizzled]] [[Action Girl|female]] [[Anti-Hero]] who is [[Love Redeems|changed for the better]] by his [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|pure heart]], without the man seeming like a useless [[A Real Man Is a Killer|wussy-pants]] whose wuss-ness disqualifies him from being a man and, more importantly, from [[Men Are the Expendable Gender|being saved]]. See [[Action Girlfriend]] for the few couples who approach such a dynamic, like Zoe and Wash from ''[[Firefly]]''. On the side of prettiness, [[Fanservice]] has also seen some controversy due to certain groups (mostly in the sex-negative feminist space) having particularly radical stances about the alleged objectification of sexualized women, though many women explicitly reject the concept of sexiness being objectification, and what's more, those same women actually ''embrace'' being the [[Ms. Fanservice]] that draws looks from guys ([[Even the Girls Want Her|and girls]]). Much the same applies to Bishonen fanservice for the girls, though guys generally tend to not really think much of it. Either way, the rigid dichotomy of strong men and pretty women is gone, as most modern media acknowledge that people of one sex can be ''both'' (as emphasized by [[Workout Fanservice]] of sportswomen who are strong ''and'' beautiful) or ''neither'' (like the more realistic depictions of female obesity being female [[Gonk]] incarnate).

This is the supertrope for [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]], [[Beast and Beauty]], [[Hollywood Homely]], [[Non-Action Guy]]. See also [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]], and the unequal application of [[Dirt Forcefield]].

{{examples}}

== General Examples  ==
* In [[Romantic Comedy|romantic comedies]], an undesirable woman can easily remedy her faults with a makeover, and, surprise, surprise, discover that [[She Cleans Up Nicely]]. An undesirable male's transformation is less of a physical one, and more about [[Coming of Age Story|growing up]] and accepting responsibility for his actions.
* The tropes [[Cute Monster Girl]] and [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Even non-human creatures must be conventionally attractive to human males.
* [[Beast and Beauty]] and [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Men want women who are more attractive than they are. If they choose women based on qualities other than looks, then they are suspected of [[Mistaken for Gay|being gay]] and the women they're with is obviously [[The Beard|an attempt to deflect from their gayness]]. In this dynamic, women are ''forbidden'' to want physical attractiveness in their mate. Often because they are [[Closer to Earth|above being selfish and petty]].
* [[No Guy Wants to Be Chased]], [[No Guy Wants an Amazon]], [[All Amazons Want Hercules]], [[Best Her to Bed Her]]: Women want men who are stronger than they are. Some women are seen as [[Weakness Turns Her On|attracted to weak men]] however the assumption is that they are attracted to [[The Woobie|these men]] in order to [[Dominatrix|dominate]] and [[Chew Toy|abuse them]]. Or, in lighter versions where the man is [[Hurting Hero|justifiably]] [[Iron Woobie|weak]], [[Florence Nightingale Effect|she is attracted to him]] because of his need for [[Intimate Healing|healing]]. The man in these more acceptable scenarios is still a [[Badass]] or a former [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|badass]].
* Compare [[Heroic Build|male superheroes]] with [[Most Common Superpower|their female counterparts]]... yeah.
* The fact that [[Faux Action Girl]]s can exist. It's not really necessary to establish them as strong as long as they're hot. A male character who is supposed to be [[Badass]] needs to live up to his reputation through acts of strength and manliness, while a female character does not.
* Our so-called modern attitudes regarding sexuality betray this trope. Men are seen to give women pleasure through their actions; while men get pleasure from women's bodies in a way that women don't from men's. Thus the emphasis is on men's technique, or their agency, and women's bodies, or their passive attributes, in sex.
* Pretty much every group of [[True Companions]] in [[Shonen]]. In good shonen [[Manga]], every character in the group is useful in their own way. Meaning [[The Smurfette Principle|the majority (the men)]] can be [[gonk]]s as long at they're also [[badass]]es. Women however, no matter how competent, must ALSO be (at the very least) cute. And of course, in poor shonen manga, the females tends to be regulated to being [[Ms. Fanservice|eye candy]], her looks being [[Flat Character|her only interesting point]].
* [[Abhorrent Admirer]], [[Fat Girl]], [[Hollywood Homely]], [[Hollywood Pudgy]]: Women are basically not allowed to look "plain", let alone be ugly. In the off-chance an ugly woman makes an appearance on screen, chances are she's a [[Foil]] to a [[Unkempt Beauty|frumpy]] yet [[Beautiful All Along|eventually attractive]] woman; or she's a [[Beauty Equals Goodness|villain]]. Additionally, women are ''forbidden'' to look for physical attractiveness in men as it makes them pass off as shallow bitches.
* [[Bury Your Disabled]], [[Inspirationally Disabled]]: Disabled men are always seen as sexually undesirable and forcibly chaste. Being unable to take physical action to advance the plot, they can only hope to be [[Mission Control|supportive characters]], or brainy ones, but romance is definitely off the table, ''unless'' the story wants to [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped|drop an anvil]] about accepting people for who they are.

== Specific Examples ==
{{Needs More Examples}}
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
* Invoked in ''[[Who Wants to Be a Superhero?]]'', where the comic covers for the potential contestants had the men with bigger muscles than the real ones, and the women are likewise depicted with [[Most Common Superpower|bigger breasts]].

== Inversions ==
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* ''[[Y: The Last Man]]'': The central cast is a badass secret agent and bodyguard, an [[Insufferable Genius]] cloning expert and the crucially important survivor. The first two are both women, the last is a [[Non-Action Guy]].

=== Film ===
* In [[WALL-E]], while pretty much every robot featured is ''adorable'', EVE is the one who does a whole lot more for the sake of her boyfriend and her directive/career, while WALL-E himself is pretty much thrust into situations he shouldn't be in for the sake of a romantic partner.

=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
* The eponymous protagonist of ''[[Chuck]]'' is a sensitive, [[Hollywood Homely]] [[Nerd]] who helps his [[Action Girl]] bodyguard deal with her inner demons.
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] tends to kick much more ass than any of her boyfriends (master vampires included).
* ''[[Firefly]]'' has tough soldier Zoe married to sensitive pilot Wash.

=== [[Radio]] ===
* ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'': In Lake Wobegon, all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', it is Elan (the man) that is constantly being referred to as physically attractive; his female love interest, Haley, is more skilled at battle and never mentioned as being especially good-looking. (Since this is a [[Stick Figure Comic]], looks are strictly an [[Informed Attribute]].)

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]
[[Category:Stereotype]]
[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]