Smurfette principle
The Smurfette principle is the practice in fiction, such as film and television series, to include only one woman in an otherwise entirely male ensemble.[1] It establishes a male-dominated narrative, where the woman is the exception and exists only in reference to the men.[2][3] As a consequence, works employing this trope often fail the Bechdel test, an indicator of gender bias in fiction.
The term was coined by Katha Pollitt in 1991 in The New York Times:[4]
- "Contemporary shows are either essentially all-male, like "Garfield," or are organized on what I call the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined... The message is clear. Boys are the norm, girls the variation; boys are central, girls peripheral; boys are individuals, girls types. Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls exist only in relation to boys."
Examples
Named after Smurfette, the only female among the Smurfs (a group of comic book creatures), the principle has been observed in the following works among others:
- Miss Piggy in The Muppets and her equivalent in Muppet Babies[4][5]
- Princess Leia in Star Wars[5]
- Penny in The Big Bang Theory[5] (in seasons 1–3)
- Elaine Benes in Seinfeld[6]
- Kanga in Winnie-the-Pooh[4]
- April in The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[4][3]
- Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy[7]
- Black Widow in The Avengers[7]
The user-edited TV Tropes website collects further uses of the trope.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ Lori Day; Charlotte Kugler (1 May 2014). Her Next Chapter: How Mother-Daughter Book Clubs Can Help Girls Navigate Malicious Media, Risky Relationships, Girl Gossip, and So Much More. Chicago Review Press. pp. 203–. ISBN 978-1-61374-859-6.
- ↑ What the Smurfette Principle Teaches Your Kids About Girls. The Huffington Post
- 1 2 Sharon Gmelch; Marcie Heffernan Stoffer; Jody Lynn Yetzer (1998). Gender on Campus: Issues for College Women. Rutgers University Press. pp. 224–. ISBN 978-0-8135-2522-8.
- 1 2 3 4 Hers; The Smurfette Principle. New York Times, 7 April 1991
- 1 2 3 "Tropes vs. Women: #3 The Smurfette Principle". Feminist Frequency. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ Cultural Hegemony in the United States. SAGE Publications. 2000. ISBN 9781452221960.
- 1 2 "Marvel To Include More Female Representation In Upcoming Films.". Odysseyonline.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ "The Smurfette Principle". tvtropes.org. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
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