Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,897
edits
The Smurfette Principle/Analysis: Difference between revisions
The Smurfette Principle/Analysis (view source)
Revision as of 16:28, 12 November 2023
, 6 months agoDEFAULTSORT
m (remove bogus category) |
(DEFAULTSORT) |
||
| (10 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Analysis}}{{trope}}
== Smurfette Principle for Animals (a.k.a. Most Animal Characters Are Male) ==
A natural consequence of the way that [[The Chick]] and other female-specific trope characterizations are presumed to be gender-specific, sometimes an author will write their animal-based characters as if most animals were male even though the vast majority of species '''are actually predominantly female'''. Humans and other primates are mostly balanced between male and female, but species such as ants and eusocial bees and wasps, are virtually all female. Nevermind that many species such as the [[wikipedia:Brahminy Blind Snake|brahminy blind snake]] and [[wikipedia:Cnemidophorus|some whiptail lizards]] are '''[[One-Gender Race|all-female]]'''. Indeed, (when birds and mammals are excluded) being either completely female or hermaphroditic is the norm for living things on Earth. In real-world life forms pretty much everything less "evolved" than a duck is either considered "female" based on the reproductive zygote they produce, is a hermaphrodite, or doesn't even have an intersex status because they use a method of reproduction that doesn't include zygotes at all.
In fiction in general there may be [[Men Are Generic, Women Are Special|far fewer female characters than male ones]], but this trope is about the related-but-different issue of overwhelming prevalence of male animal characters and glaring shortage of female animal characters. The gender imbalance for human characters in children's books came close to disappearing by [[The Nineties]], but the significant gender disparity remains for animal characters in the same genres. This trope is egregious when species in which the characters are scientifically supposed to be overwhelmingly female (or lack males entirely) are portrayed as predominantly male. This trope is related to the issue of gender-based character tropes such as [[The Chick]], [[Love Interest]], or [[
In the case of animal characters this trope arises from the way that humans perceive animals. On one hand humans do not see the [[Secondary Sexual Characteristics|secondary characteristics]] that are used for gender identification when they look at an animal. Additionally, English (unlike other languages) does not weight most nouns with an inherent gender. While a European might use different words for male or female horses and know that a female and male of a species are not the same word, an urban English speaker may not know they're talking about a male vs. a female instead of just using synonyms. When dealing with a species with sexes that are extremely different in appearance, an English speaker may even think that they're talking about two different species. [[Viewer Gender Confusion|English-speakers don't usually fuss with specific terms]] unless the speaker handles the animal regularly or is looking for a synonym. Also, [[Most Writers Are Male|most animators and writers were male]] early on and even in modern times.
Line 14:
[[Sub-Trope]] of [[Men Are Generic, Women Are Special]]. Results from [[Most Writers Are Male]] and causes [[Viewer Gender Confusion]]. See also [[Female Feline, Male Mutt]], [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]]. See [[Animal Gender Bender]] and its [[Sub-Trope]], [[Insect Gender Bender]].
=== Causes for This Trope
In the case of animal characters this trope arises from the way that humans perceive animals. On one hand humans do not see the [[Secondary Sexual Characteristics|secondary characteristics]] that are used for gender identification when they look at an animal. A cat or dog doesn't have wide vs. narrow hips, wide vs. narrow shoulders, fatty mammary glands, nor applied traits such as hair length. This is what also leads to the [[Humanoid Female Animal]] trope when portraying [[Civilized Animal]], [[Funny Animal]], and [[Petting Zoo People]] characters.
Line 26:
=== How Female Animal Characters are Portrayed and How and Why They are Underrepresented in Media ===
One reason for the shortage of female animal characters was a [[Double Standard]] in [[Golden Age]] animation against [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl|hitting a female character]]. Because of this [[Double Standard]], this often meant that the characters "[[Dude, Not Funny|just couldn't be]]" girls. Because of this, the first few [[Golden Age]] female animal characters were usually introduced as [[MacGuffin|macguffins]] for the male counterparts to pursue or fight over or [[
Even these days, its far more common for female animal characters to be portrayed as either [[The Chick]], the [[Love Interest]], or the [[Faux Action Girl]] as opposed to as the main protagonist or a protagonist on equal footing with a male protagonist. More recently, more [[Action Girl]] and other strong female animal characters have cropped up, but they still usually played second fiddle to a male protagonist.
Line 34:
----
=== [[Film]] ===▼
== Comics ==▼
* In the not-a-sequelto-''[[Bloom County]]''-series, ''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]]?)▼
▲== Film ==
* This trope is what caused [[Viewer Gender Confusion|so many viewers to say]] (if they ever figured it out), [[Tarzan (Disney film)|"What?! Terk is a girl?!"]] Same case with Sabor the leopard.
* Kanga is the only female character in the 2011 ''[[Winnie the Pooh (Disney film)|Winnie the Pooh]]'', as she was in the original ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' books.
Line 46 ⟶ 41:
* Cleo the goldfish is the only female animal character in ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]''
=== [[Literature]] ===▼
* The only female animal in the original ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' cast is Kanga. It was ''meant'' to have all male characters, as the writer admired ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]''. He even [[Artistic License Biology|thought that the father kangaroo was the one with the pouch]].
===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150929015230/http://blog.sfgate.com/mmagowan/2011/05/16/new-study-reports-huge-gender-imbalance-in-kidlit/ Margot Magowan's blogpost, New Study Reports "Huge Gender Imbalance" in Kidlit].▼
▲* The only female animal in the original ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' cast is Kanga. It was ''meant'' to have all male characters, as the writer admired ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]''. He even [[Artistic License Biology|thought that the father kangaroo was the one with the pouch]].
▲* [http://blog.sfgate.com/mmagowan/2011/05/16/new-study-reports-huge-gender-imbalance-in-kidlit/ Margot Magowan's blogpost, New Study Reports "Huge Gender Imbalance" in Kidlit].
* [http://maxbarry.com/2011/07/08/news.html The Dogs and Smurfs blogpost by Max Barry].
* The Guardian.com's article, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/06/gender-imbalance-children-s-literature Study Finds Huge Gender Imbalance in Children's Literature]
Line 61 ⟶ 54:
* Daily Mail's article, [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383533/The-sexist-tales-Peter-Rabbit-Fantastic-Mr-Fox.html The 'sexist' tales of Peter Rabbit and Fantastic Mr Fox]
▲=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===
▲* In the not-a-
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* All of [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s [[Talking Animal]] characters were male until Cindy Bear was introduced.
----
=== Anime and Manga ===
* The titular protagonist of ''[[Chi's Sweet Home]]'' and ''[[Chis New Address]]'' is a female kitten.
=== Film ===▼
▲== Film ==
* ''[[Home on the Range]]'' features three female main protagonists, cows Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway.
* Inverted in that every elephant in ''[[Dumbo]]'' except the titular elephant calf is female, but played straight in that all the crows and most of the other animals are male. The inversion among the elephants is justified because elephant groups are matriarchal.
* ''[[Bambi (Disney film)|Bambi]]'' inverts this with the number of rabbits that appear as Thumper is the only male rabbit in both original movie and sequel but played straight with the other animals.
* The main protagonist of ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'' is a female fieldmouse named Mrs. Brisby.
* The two sequels to the live action ''[[Alvin and the Chipmunks|Alvinandthe Chipmunks]]'' movie feature three female chipmunks called The Chipettes along with the three male chipmunks, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, making the cast among the chipmunks gender-equal.
Line 86 ⟶ 79:
* Rita from ''[[Flushed Away]]'' is a female protagonist on equal footing with Roddy the male protagonist.
=== Literature ===
* Averted with ''[[Olivia]]''; the titular pig of the books and TV series is female an there are a fair number of other significant female pig characters (Olivia's mom, Francine, Ms. Hoggenmueler).
▲== Literature ==
▲* Averted with ''[[Olivia]]''; the titular pig of the books and TV series is female an there are a fair number of other significant female pig characters (Olivia's mom, Francine, Ms. Hoggenmueler).
* Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, the titular character of [[Beatrix Potter]]'s ''[[The Tale Of Mrs Tiggy Winkle]], is one of the few aversions among children's books.
* Also averted with Jemima Puddle-Duck, the titular character of [[Beatrix Potter]]'s ''[[The Tale Of Jemima Puddle Duck]]''
* Averted in ''[[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
* Averted with the ''[[Little Grey Rabbit]]'' series of books; there are two main female animal characters (Little Grey Rabbit and Squirrel) and one main male animal character (Hare).
=== [[Video Games]] ===▼
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' can probably be listed as an aversion since the addition of gender in its second generation: Most species (at least in [[Random Encounters]]) have a 50/50 male-female ratio. NPC trainers vary; they seem to use Pokemon that are the same gender as themselves.
=== Western Animation ===▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* Averted with the Pteranodon family and Buddy Tyrannosaurus in ''[[Dinosaur Train]]''; the family is split equally genderwise (three female, three male). Also, many other female characters appear in the show.
* Averted with ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. The [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Mane Six]], the [[Princesses Rule|two ruling Princesses]], and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are all female and there are lots of minor female pony characters as well.
* Inverted in some earlier incarnations of ''[[My Little Pony]]''; there were ''only'' female ponies.
* Averted with ''[[Martha Speaks]]''; the titular character is a female dog.
* Averted with ''[[Peppa Pig]]''; the titular character is a female pig.
* Averted with ''[[Angelina Ballerina]]''; the titular character is a female mouse.
* Averted with ''[[Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies]]''; the titular character is a female elephant and the main cast is gender-equal.
* Inverted with the main cast of ''[[Wonder Pets]]''; Tuck the turtle is the only male character on the team.
* Brandy Harrington the female dog from ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]'' is a main protagonist who is on equal footing with Mr. Whiskers the main male protagonist rabbit.
* ''[[Gaspard And Lisa]]'' are two main peotagonists, a male dog and female dog respectively, who are on equal footing with each other.
* Babs Bunny from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' is a main protagonist who is on equal footing with Buster Bunny, the main male protagonist.
* ''[[Animaniacs]]'' has a few aversions
Line 125 ⟶ 115:
** The [[Smurfette Principle]] is even lampshaded. In one episode, Francine and Muffy watched the [[Show Within a Show]], "Trucks: The Musical", but they didn't like that much because it had only three female characters. So Francine and Muffy created their own work, "Agent Double X", which features a main female protagonist.
* The [[Disney]] theatrical short shown before the 2011 ''[[Winnie the Pooh (Disney film)|Winnie the Pooh]]'' movie, "The Ballad of Nessie" features not only a female animal main protagonist, her name is featured in the title of the short as well!
----
=== Film ===
* In ''[[The Land Before Time]]'', the ratio of male to female was originally going to be 4:1, in other words, a straight example of [[Smurfette Principle]]. The character Cera was originally going to be male, thus being a basic rival for Littlefoot, while Ducky would have been the only female and a fairly stereotypical one at that. However [[George Lucas]] realised that Cera's gender had no real bearing on the plot and asked if Cera could be a female, but keep the character's personality exactly the same. The result was a memorably less clichéd female character and an unusual (for the time) male/female rivalry.
* Most of the [http://www.fanpop.com/spots/disney-princess/articles/149602/title/why-sexist-lack-female-characters-disney-princess-movies funny side characters and sidekicks in Disney movies who are animal characters are male]. One major exception to the male animal side character and sidekick rule is Dory from ''[[Finding Nemo]]''. The role of Dory was written as a male, but Ellen Degeneres was so funny that they cast her. They did not have to make any changes to the script though because it was a gender-neutral role.
** A few other exceptions include Cleo from ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]'' (a movie that has only one other female character), Dinah from ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Disney film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'', Nana from ''[[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Peter Pan]]'', Peg and Si and Am from ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'', Abigail and Amelia the geese and Frou Frou the horse from ''[[The Aristocats]]'', Lady Kluck from ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', Big Mama and Vixey (love interest, but also side character) from ''[[The Fox and the Hound (film)]]'', Rita and Georgette from ''[[Oliver and Company]]'', Joanna from ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|The Rescuers]] Down Under'', Shenzi from ''[[The Lion King]]'' and Timon's mom from the midquel, Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey from ''[[Chicken Little]]'', and Mittens from ''[[Bolt]]''.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* Most of the older [[Walt Disney]] cartoon canon are male, and the females are often just [[Distaff Counterpart|stereotypical female versions]] of existing male characters, such as Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. Minnie's [[The Chick]] alright, but Daisy is pretty cool for her time, kinda [[Tsundere]]-like.
** In the 1980s, Disney briefly tried to revive the classic Disney characters through such madness as [[We
** Minnie got revamped again for the [[House of Mouse]] series, and while Mickey was still the "boss", as the club's owner and emcee, more often than not Minnie was the one giving ''him'' orders, being the show producer and club accountant, and very competent at the job. Sadly, again, this didn't last, and once the next series came around, she was ''again'' [[The Chick]]. [[House of Mouse]] also resurrected Clarabelle Cow as a recurring character, and commonly featured female musical guests, though the ratio was still heavily in favor of the guys.
** [[Minnie Mouse]] finally has her own show, ''[[Minnies Bow Toons]]''. Her friends, Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow and her nieces Millie and Melody Mouse show up, as do quite a few other female characters.
{{tropesubpagefooter}}
| |||