List of stereotypes of female characters

2007-09-18T23:53:00Z

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Common portrayals of women in SF/fantasy that rely on stereotypes of gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality.

"The ''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)'' defines 'stereotype' as a simplified conception or idea that gets invested with special meaning by a certain group of people. An archetype is slightly different: It's a model or an ideal from which duplicates are made. Think of it this way: A stereotype is a box, usually too small, that a girl gets jammed into. An archetype is a pedestal, usually too high, that she gets lifted up onto. ... Stereotype or archetype, it's rarely a girl's own choice: It's a lable someone else gives you to make you less or more than you really are."<ref>The Guerrilla Girls, ''Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers'' (2003), pp. 7-8.</ref>

* woman as nurturing partner / sex object ([[Deanna Troi]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''; Josella in John Wyndham's ''The Day of The Triffids'')
* woman as nurturing mother ([[Dr. Beverly Crusher]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'')
* woman as encapsulating Otherness; often monstrous evil, but also sometimes just the feared or inferior Other ([[Borg Queen]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''; hive-like matriarchies a la [[Frank Herbert]]'s ''[[Hellstrom's Hive]]'') <i>see also [[Matriarchal Hives]]</i>
* woman as cold, powerful, threatening, dangerous (the [[Ice Queen]] myth, [[C.S. Lewis]]' ''[[White Witch]]'')
* woman as Pandora: curious, lacking self-control, leading to trouble ([[Eve]] in [[Genesis]], [[Pandora]] in Greek [[:category:Mythology|mythology]])
* woman as victim, needing rescue (the princess St. George rescues from the dragon)
* woman as controlling bitch
* woman as sex fantasy object
* woman as sex fantasy made real - Pygmalion, My Fair Lady, and a hundred other similar adaptations
* wicked stepmother (stepmother in [[Snow White]] and [[Cinderella]])
* hapless ingenue, innocent but sexually available to the Right Man
* the [[black warrior woman stereotype]] - too powerful to touch; must be feared; may be sexually unattainable
* the [[dragon lady stereotype]] (or Asian w
1000
arrior woman) - "exotic", alluring, and dangerous Asian woman with martial arts skills, undercover jobs, and frequent large dragon tattoos on their bodies: deadly but beautiful, with mad sex skills, but not attainable; may be good or evil. (Miho in "Sin City")
* the fat, mothering cook - she's never a major character but is often a foil to the young protagonists, who are wealthy, in the military, or somehow in a castle or wealthy establishment. She might load you down with food or smack your hand if you get into the lord's banquet.
* professional old maid scientist (e.g., Asimov's [[Susan Calvin]])
* spunky teenage girl ([[Podkayne]])
* the mother of the Chosen Boy ([[Jessica Atreides]] from ''[[Dune]]''; the Virgin Mary; [[Sarah Connor]] in [[The Terminator]])
* loyal female subordinate, such as a secretary (Duffy in [[Alfred Bester]]'s ''The Demolished Man''; Tildy in Pohl and Kornbluth's ''The Space Merchants''; Eunice Branca in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[I Will Fear No Evil]]'')
* perky secretaries that are more competent than any of the male authority figures but who are happy to remain assistants, though it's the year 2500 and in space...
* bitter and/or suffocatingly small-minded, petty wife (see most wives as portrayed by [[Philip K. Dick]])
* wise grandmother or nanny; especially in people of color, see the [[Magical Negro]] (http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20041025/kinga.shtml)
* the team member whose power or skill is actually fairly weak or ineffectual, or just never used to its full strength; her main purpose is as a token, or to reinforce the heterosexuality of male characters by acting as a love interest for them.

''See also [[Annoying Plot Conventions, Devices, Contrivances]]''

==References==
* ''Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls' Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes'' by the [[Guerrilla Girls]] (2003) ISBN 0-14-200101-5. ISBN-13 978-0-14-200101-1.

===Notes===
<references />

[[Category:Characterization]]
[[Category:Characters by gender]]
[[category:Lists of female characters]]
[[Category:Lists]]

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List of stereotypes of female characters