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
- 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) - correlated with the amount of cleavage/leg shown.
- alien women of ANY species will inevitably be irresistably 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, forhead 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.").
- "The Clichés from Outer Space" (1984), by Joanna Russ.
See also Clichés, Archetypes, Stereotypes of Female Characters in SF