Annoying Plot Conventions, Devices, Contrivances

Plot Devices that Make You Roll Your Eyes

• a woman character is raped or is in danger of being raped -- the eternal rapability of female characters

• a female character dies in childbirth

• "convenient" circumstances prevent a female character from going through with her decision to have an abortion (cf. Robin in V, whose alien hybrid fetus's invasive vascularisation made it impossible to remove without killing her; spontaneous miscarriages and so forth) -- therefore rendering women's reproductive choices inconsequent when that oh-so-controversial subject is broached

• using female characters to voice misogynistic and/or patriarchal ideas because it would be "too obvious" to use male characters — victim-blaming, in short

• using evolutionary biology or the selfish gene theory as the primary reason a male and female character are drawn together sexually (Darwin's Radio by Bear), or why a female character cannot possibly resist the man's man that will make the best sire of her children (Lucifer's Hammer by Niven)

• the competent female needs rescuing by the man
• damsel in distress / perils of Pauline - women set up merely to be rescued
• Women in refrigerators (see http://violetcorona.blogspot.com/2006/10/women-in-refrigerators.html ) — female characters of whatever level of characterization depicted as more apt to be rescued, more in need of rescuing, more often in physical danger, deaths or physical assaults more horrible or graphically described

• innocent and universally loveable female characters that do not develop a sex drive or sex appeal until they turn evil (Doppleganger Willow from earlier in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fred from Angel (TV series)) — where the sex drive is correlated with the amount of cleavage/leg shown.

• alien women of ANY species will inevitably be irresistibly attracted to the only mid-30s male on a particular starship (Star Trek, I'm looking at YOU) — even if it causes an interstellar incident

• • related: females of alien species always have extremely large breasts, located in the exact same location as those of human females (i.e. they look exactly like human women except for a charming set of pointy ears, forehead ridges or swirly haircut that serves only to make them more exotic to the male characters)

• a man's casual slap (or threatened slap) of a woman that is scarcely worth mentioning again in the story and apparently does not actually bother the woman; or maybe she likes it because he has now shown himself to be a real man. Seen in Frank Miller's "Sin City" (she liked it); Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride" (He raises the back of his hand threateningly; she flinches. "That was a warning, Highness. The next time, my hand flies on its own, for where I come from, there are penalties when a woman lies."). This is entirely distinguishable from a man and a woman involved in a physical fight, as in Joss Whedon's "Firefly" between Mal and Saffron, or Buffy and Spike, or any slayer and various villains. "The Slap" is often stated plainly as a representation of patriarchy, as when the woman has crossed a boundary; the man may say he doesn't like to hit women but he'll make an exception, or she's crossed a line, etc. An obvious use of gendered violence to police patriarchal rules, present in both representations of the protagonists and villains.

• The female member of the team whose skill or superpower is (by comparison) passive, defensive, weak, or underutilized; her real role is as token or love interest to the leading male characters. (See TvTropes' Faux Action Girl)

• The trade-in granddaughter or descendant: A long-lived or immortal male starts a relationship with the hot young descendant of his former lover (or occasionally his own hot young descendant)

• Simply grabbing the upper arm or shoulder of a superheroine or female fighter renders her helpless. (See TvTropes' Standard Female Grab Area)

Contiguous lists and related rants

• "The Clichés from Outer Space" (1984), by Joanna Russ.

• See also Clichés, Archetypes, Stereotypes of Female Characters in SF
• See also Gendered plot devices