Female stereotypes  

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-[[Image:Birth Venus Botticelli.jpg|left|thumb|200px|This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of the ''[[woman]]'' series+[[Image:Birth Venus Botticelli.jpg|right|thumb|200px|This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of the ''[[woman]]'' series
<br> <br>
Illustration: ''[[The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)|The Birth of Venus]]'' (detail), a 1486 painting by [[Sandro Botticelli]]]] Illustration: ''[[The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)|The Birth of Venus]]'' (detail), a 1486 painting by [[Sandro Botticelli]]]]
 +[[Image:Madame X by Sargeant.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|''[[Portrait of Madame X]]'' by [[John Singer Sargent]]]]
 +{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
 +| style="text-align: left;" |
 +"[[Woman|Femaleness]] [...] is primitive and archaic, while [[femininity]] is social and aesthetic."--"Speed and space: Byron" in ''[[Sexual Personae]]'' (1990) by Camille Paglia
 +<hr>
 +"One very interesting generalization is that in most societies the [[Beautiful woman |physical beauty of the female]] receives more explicit consideration than does the [[handsomeness of the male]]. The attractiveness of the man usually depends predominantly upon his skills and prowess rather than upon his physical appearance." ([[Ford, 1951]], p. 86)
 +<HR>
 +"In spite therefore of certain ideals of chastity presented by the Christian hagiographies, in spite of the incense burnt at the altar of Woman in [[romances]], at tourneys and in the Courts of Love, there was never a time in the world's history in which [[women]] were more grossly [[insulted]], more shamefully [[reviled]], or more basely [[defamed]] than they were in the [[middle ages]], by men of every class, beginning with the most serious writers of theology and going down to the [[mountebank]]s of the [[street-play]]s. The number of anecdotes, trivial or obscene, that drag women in the dirt is simply infinite…"--''[[Vergil in the Middle Ages (Domenico Comparetti)|Vergil in the Middle Ages]]'' (1872) by Domenico Comparetti
 +|}
[[Image:Bouguereau Innocence.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Innocence (Bouguereau)|Innocence]]'' ([[1893]]) by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]: Both young [[children]] and [[lamb]]s are [[symbol]]s of [[innocence]]]] [[Image:Bouguereau Innocence.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Innocence (Bouguereau)|Innocence]]'' ([[1893]]) by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]: Both young [[children]] and [[lamb]]s are [[symbol]]s of [[innocence]]]]
[[Image:Salome, c. 1530 - Cranach.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Salome (Lucas Cranach the Elder)|Salome]]'' (c. 1530) by Lucas Cranach the Elder]] [[Image:Salome, c. 1530 - Cranach.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Salome (Lucas Cranach the Elder)|Salome]]'' (c. 1530) by Lucas Cranach the Elder]]
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-'''[[Stereotype]]s of [[women]]''' vary from [[bad women]] to [[good women]].+Just as [[stereotypes of men]], [[stereotype]]s of [[women]] vary from [[bad women]] to [[good women]], from [[Strong female character|strong women]] to [[Damsel in distress|weak women]], from [[promiscuous woman|promiscuous]] to [[Chaste woman|chaste]], from [[ugly woman|ugly]] to [[beautiful woman|beautiful]], from smart to [[dumb blonde|unintelligent]].
==Femininity== ==Femininity==
-:''[[femininity]]''+'''[[Femininity]]''' refers to qualities and behaviors judged by a particular culture to be ideally associated with or especially appropriate to [[woman|women]] and [[girl]]s. Distinct from [[female]]ness, which is a biological and physiological classification concerned with the [[reproductive system]], femininity principally refers to [[socialization|socially acquired]] traits and [[secondary sex characteristics]]. In [[Western culture]] femininity has traditionally included features such as [[gentleness]], [[patience]] and [[kindness]].
-'''Femininity''' refers to qualities and behaviors judged by a particular culture to be ideally associated with or especially appropriate to [[woman|women]] and [[girl]]s. Distinct from [[female]]ness, which is a biological and physiological classification concerned with the [[reproductive system]], femininity principally refers to [[socialization|socially acquired]] traits and [[secondary sex characteristics]]. In [[Western culture]] femininity has traditionally included features such as [[gentleness]], [[patience]] and [[kindness]].+
 +==Examples==
 +===Madonna–whore complex===
 +The term [[Madonna–whore complex]] refers to a [[Complex (psychology)|psychological complex]] in [[Sigmund Freud|Freudian]] [[psychoanalysis]] that is said to develop in the [[male sexuality|human male]]. The term is also used popularly, often with subtly different meanings.
-==Madonna–whore complex==+According to Freudian psychology, this complex often develops when the sufferer is raised by a [[cold and distant mother]]. Such a man will often court [[women]] with qualities of his mother, hoping to fulfill a need for [[intimacy]] unmet in [[childhood]]. Often, the [[wife]] begins to be seen as mother to the [[husband]] — a [[Madonna (art)|Madonna]] figure — and thus not a possible object of [[sexual attraction]]. For this reason, in the mind of the sufferer [[love]] and [[sex]] cannot be mixed, and the [[man]] is reluctant to have sexual relations with his wife, for that, he thinks unconsciously, would be as [[incest]]. He will reserve sexuality for "[[bad woman|bad]]" or "[[dirty]]" women, and will not develop "normal" feelings of love in these sexual relationships.
-:''[[Madonna–whore complex]]''+===Strong and independent women===
 +:''[[gynecocracy]], [[feminism]]''
 +'''Strong and independent women''' is a [[trope]] connected to [[third-wave feminism]]. If you think about strong and independent women in history you arrive at [[Lilith]], [[Joan of Arc]], [[Catherine the Great]], [[courtesan]]s and [[George Sand]]. To encompass it all are [[women's rights]] throughout history and in the [[20th century]]: [[feminism]]. In the late 20th century there are [[Riot Grrrl]]s and [[Girl Power]].
-The term '''Madonna-whore complex''' refers to a [[Complex (psychology)|psychological complex]] in [[Sigmund Freud|Freudian]] [[psychoanalysis]] that is said to develop in the [[male sexuality|human male]]. The term is also used popularly, often with subtly different meanings.+Strong and independent women are in the first place financially independent, they can provide in their own means of [[subsistence]].
- +
-According to Freudian psychology, this complex often develops when the sufferer is raised by a [[cold and distant mother]]. Such a man will often court [[women]] with qualities of his mother, hoping to fulfill a need for [[intimacy]] unmet in [[childhood]]. Often, the [[wife]] begins to be seen as mother to the [[husband]] — a [[Madonna (art)|Madonna]] figure — and thus not a possible object of [[sexual attraction]]. For this reason, in the mind of the sufferer [[love]] and [[sex]] cannot be mixed, and the [[man]] is reluctant to have sexual relations with his wife, for that, he thinks unconsciously, would be as [[incest]]. He will reserve sexuality for "[[bad woman|bad]]" or "[[dirty]]" women, and will not develop "normal" feelings of love in these sexual relationships.+
==Female stock characters== ==Female stock characters==
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The following is a list of [[stock character]]s, [[archetype]]s and [[stereotype]]s of [[women]]. These stereotypes are evident in [[media]], [[art]] and [[literature]]. The following is a list of [[stock character]]s, [[archetype]]s and [[stereotype]]s of [[women]]. These stereotypes are evident in [[media]], [[art]] and [[literature]].
-A short list of female stock characters includes ''[[bad girl]], [[black widow]], [[courtesan]], [[diva]], [[dominatrix]], [[Eve]], [[femme fatale]], [[Lilith]], [[Medusa]], [[mistress]], [[supermodel]], [[mother]], [[prostitute]], [[female reader]], [[goddess]], [[female nude|nude]], [[damsel in distress]], [[tomboy]], [[hooker with a heart of gold]], [[female warrior|warrior]], [[nymphomaniac]], [[beautiful woman]] and [[ugly woman]]''.+A short list of female stock characters includes ''[[bad girl]], [[black widow]], [[courtesan]], [[diva]], [[dominatrix]], [[Eve]], [[femme fatale]], [[Lilith]], [[maiden]], [[Medusa]], [[mistress]], [[supermodel]], [[mother]], [[prostitute]], [[female reader]], [[goddess]], [[female nude|nude]], [[damsel in distress]], [[tomboy]], [[hooker with a heart of gold]], [[female warrior|warrior]], [[nymphomaniac]], [[beautiful woman]] and [[ugly woman]]''.
===Long list=== ===Long list===
-An example of each instance is provided.+[[Angel]], [[Assassin]], [[Aunt]], [[Avenger]], [[Barmaid]], [[Bimbo]], [[Bitch]], [[Blue stocking]], [[Bond girl]], [[Bride]], [[Bunny boiler]], [[Catgirl]], [[Childhood sweetheart]], [[Cinderella]], [[Clown]], [[Lucy Ricardo]], [[Companion]], [[Cook]], [[Courtesan]], [[Crazy Cat Lady]], [[Damsel in Distress]], [[Dancer]], [[Dark Lady]], [[Daughter]], [[Diva]], [[Dominatrix]], [[Dumb blonde]], [[Essex Girl]], [[Fairy]], [[Fairy godmother]], [[Feminist]], [[Femme Fatale]], [[Fishwife]], [[Gamine]], [[Geisha]], [[Girl next door]], [[Girlfriend]], [[Girls with guns]], [[Goddess]], [[Gold digger]], [[Good-time girl]], [[Gossip]], [[Goth girl]], [[Governess]], [[Grandmother]], [[Groupie]], [[Guardian angel]], [[Heroine]], [[Hooker with a heart of gold]], [[Housekeeper]], [[Housewife]], [[Ingénue]], [[It Girl]], [[Jewish-American Princess]], [[Jewish mother]], [[Lady]], [[Latin Lover]], [[Land girl]], [[Lesbian]], [[Love interest]], [[Madam]], [[Madonna]], [[Magical girl]], [[Jeannie]], [[Maid]], [[Matron]], [[Mermaid]], [[Mistress]], [[Model]], [[Mother]], [[Mother-in-law]], [[Mouse]], [[Movie star]], [[Musician]], [[Nag]], [[Nanny]], [[Nerd girl]], [[Newly-wed]], [[Nun]], [[Nurse]], [[Nymphette]], [[Orphan]], [[Party girl]], [[Pantomime dame]], [[Peasant]], [[Personal assistant]], [[Pilot]], [[Princess]], [[Prostitute]], [[Protective mother]], [[Queen]], [[Saint]], [[School diva]], [[Schoolgirl]], [[Schoolmarm]], [[Scientist]], [[Scold]], [[Secretary]], [[Servant]], [[Shrew]], [[Singer]], [[Single mother]], [[Sister]], [[Slut]], [[Soothsayer]], [[Spinster]], [[Spoiled brat]], [[Stewardess]], [[Stripper]], [[Suffragette]], [[Switchboard operator]], [[Teenager]], [[Three Fates]], [[Tomboy]], [[Trophy wife]], [[Tsundere]], [[Typist]], [[Ugly duckling]], [[Urchin]], [[Valley Girl]], [[Virgin]], [[Waitress]], [[Weird Sisters]], [[Wicked stepmother]], [[Widow]], [[Witch]]
-{| class="wikitable"+ 
-|-+
-!Stereotype+
-!Example+
-|-+
-|[[Angel]]+
-|[[Angela (comics)|Angela]]+
-|-+
-|[[Assassin]]+
-|[[Nikita]]+
-|-+
-|[[Aunt]]+
-|[[Aunt Agatha]]+
-|-+
-|[[Avenger]]+
-|[[Beatrix Kiddo|The Bride]]+
-|-+
-|[[Barmaid]]+
-|[[Carla Tortelli]]+
-|-+
-|[[Bimbo]]+
-|[[Kelly Bundy]]+
-|-+
-|[[Bitch]]+
-|[[Alexis Colby]]+
-|-+
-|[[Blue stocking]]+
-|[[Pride and Prejudice|Mary Bennet]]+
-|-+
-|[[Bond girl]]+
-|[[Pussy Galore]]+
-|-+
-|[[Bride]]+
-|[[The Princess Bride|Buttercup]]+
-|-+
-|[[Bunny boiler]]+
-|[[Play Misty for Me|Evelyn Draper]]+
-|-+
-|[[Catgirl]]+
-|[[Catwoman]]+
-|-+
-|[[Childhood sweetheart]]+
-|[[The Wonder Years|Winnie Cooper]]+
-|-+
-|[[Cinderella]]+
-|[[Cinderella]]+
-|-+
-|[[Clown]]+
-|[[Columbina]]+
-[[I Love Lucy|Lucy Ricardo]]+
-|-+
-|[[Companion]]+
-|[[Sarah-Jane Smith]]+
-|-+
-|[[Cook (servant)|Cook]]+
-|[[Upstairs, Downstairs|Mrs. Bridges]]+
-|-+
-|[[Courtesan]]+
-|[[Inara Serra]]+
-|-+
-|Crazy Cat Lady+
-|[[Crazy Cat Lady|Eleanor Abernathy]]+
-|-+
-|[[Damsel in Distress]]+
-|[[Rapunzel]]+
-|-+
-|[[Dancer]]+
-|[[The Red Shoes (film)|Vicky Page]]+
-|-+
-|[[Dark Lady (character)|Dark Lady]]+
-|[[Josie Packard]]+
-|-+
-|[[Daughter]]+
-|[[Becky Conner]]+
-|-+
-|[[Diva]]+
-|[[Norma Desmond]]+
-|-+
-|[[Dominatrix]]+
-|[[Isabella Valentine]]+
-|-+
-|[[Dumb blonde]]+
-|[[Marilyn Monroe|Sugar Kane]]+
-|-+
-|[[Essex Girl]]+
-|[[Birds of a Feather|Sharon and Tracey]]+
-|-+
-|[[Fairy]]+
-|[[Tinkerbell]]+
-|-+
-|[[Fairy godmother]]+
-|[[Fairy Godmother]]+
-|-+
-|[[Feminist]]+
-|[[Helen Morgendorffer]]+
-|-+
-|[[Femme Fatale]]+
-|[[Theda Bara|The Vampire (Theda Bara)]]+
-|-+
-|[[Fishwife]]+
-|[[Roseanne Conner]]+
-|-+
-|[[Gamine]]+
-|[[Léon (film)|Mathilda]]+
-|-+
-|[[Geisha]]+
-|[[Memoirs of a Geisha|Chiyo Sakamoto]]+
-|-+
-|[[Girl next door]]+
-|[[Mary Jane Watson]]+
-|-+
-|[[Girlfriend]]+
-|[[Manhattan_(film)#Plot|Tracy]]+
-|-+
-|[[Girls with guns]]+
-|[[Trinity (The Matrix)|Trinity]]+
-|-+
-|[[Goddess]]+
-|[[Ororo Munroe]]+
-|-+
-|[[Gold digger]]+
-|[[Vanity Fair (novel)#Becky Sharp|Becky Sharp]]+
-|-+
-|[[Good-time girl]]+
-|[[Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella)|Holly Golightly]]+
-|-+
-|[[Gossip]]+
-|[[Mean Girls|Gretchen Wieners]]+
-|-+
-|[[Goth girl]]+
-|[[Nemi (comic strip)|Nemi]]+
-|-+
-|[[Governess]]+
-|[[Jane Eyre (character)|Jane Eyre]]+
-|-+
-|[[Grandmother]]+
-|[[The Beverly Hillbillies|Granny Moses]]+
-|-+
-|[[Groupie]]+
-|[[Almost Famous|Penny Lane]]+
-|-+
-|[[Guardian angel]]+
-|[[Touched By An Angel|Monica]]+
-|-+
-|[[Heroine]]+
-|[[Buffy Summers]]+
-|-+
-|[[Hooker with a heart of gold]]+
-|[[Elsie Tanner]]+
-|-+
-|[[Housekeeper (servant)|Housekeeper]]+
-|[[Mrs. Hudson]]+
-|-+
-|[[Housewife]]+
-|[[Marge Simpson]]+
-|-+
-|[[Ingenue (stock character)|Ingénue]]+
-|[[Christine Daae]]+
-|-+
-|[[It Girl]]+
-|[[Clara Bow]]+
-|-+
-|[[Jewish-American Princess]]+
-|[[Gretchen Wieners]]+
-|-+
-|[[Jewish mother stereotype|Jewish Mother]]+
- +
-|[[Beatrice Bellman]]+
-|-+
-|[[Lady]]+
-|[[Lady Bracknell]]+
-|-+
-|[[Latin Lover]]+
-|[[Cha Cha DeGregario]]+
-|-+
-|[[Women's Land Army|Land girl]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Lesbian]]+
-|[[Joanne (Rent)]]+
-|-+
-|[[Love interest]]+
-|[[Lois Lane]]+
-|-+
-|[[Madam]]+
-|[[Miss Scarlett]]+
-|-+
-|[[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Madonna]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Magical girl]]+
-|[[Sailor Moon]]+
-[[I Dream Of Jeannie|Jeannie]]+
-|-+
-|[[Maid]]+
-|[[Upstairs, Downstairs|Rose Buck]]+
-|-+
-|[[Matron]]+
-|[[Carry On Matron|Matron]]+
-|-+
-|[[Mermaid]]+
-|[[Little Mermaid|Ariel]]+
-|-+
-|[[Mistress (lover)|Mistress]]+
-|[[The Women (play)|Crystal Allen]]+
-|-+
-|[[Model (person)|Model]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Mother]]+
-|[[Leave it to Beaver|June Cleaver]]+
-|-+
-|[[Mother-in-law]]+
-|[[Bewitched|Endora]]+
-|-+
-|[[Timidity|Mouse]]+
-|[[Sister Act|Sister Mary Patrick]]+
-|-+
-|[[Movie star]]+
-|[[Ginger Grant]]+
-|-+
-|[[Musician]]+
-|Haley James Scott+
-|-+
-|[[Nag]]+
-|[[Estelle Costanza]]+
-|-+
-|[[Nanny]]+
-|[[Mary Poppins]]+
-|-+
-|[[Nerd girl]]+
-|[[Willow Rosenberg]]+
-|-+
-|[[Marriage|Newly-wed]]+
-|[[Betty Spencer]]+
-|-+
-|[[Nun]]+
-|[[Flying Nun|Sister Bertrille]]+
-|-+
-|[[Nurse]]+
-|[[Margaret Houlihan|Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan]]+
-|-+
-|[[Lolita|Nymphette]]+
-|[[Lolita]]+
-|-+
-|[[Orphan]]+
-|[[Young Cosette]]+
-|-+
-|[[Party girl]]+
-|[[Party Girl (1995 film)|Mary (Party Girl)]]+
-|-+
-|[[Pantomime dame]]+
-|[[Widow Twanky]]+
-|-+
-|[[Peasant]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Personal assistant]]+
-|[[Pepper Potts|Virginia "Pepper" Potts]]+
-|-+
-|[[Aviator|Pilot]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Princess]]+
-|[[Princess Peach]]+
-|-+
-|[[Prostitute]]+
-|[[Fanny Hill]]+
-|-+
-|[[Mother|Protective Mother]]+
-|-[[Mrs. Mae Peterson]]+
-|[[Queen regent|Queen]]+
-|[[Daenerys Targaryen]]+
-|-+
-|[[Saint]]+
-|[[Joan of Arc]]+
-|-+
-|[[School diva]]+
-|[[Cordelia Chase]]+
-|-+
-|[[Schoolgirl]]+
-|[[Kagome Higurashi]]+
-|-+
-|[[Teacher|Schoolmarm]]+
-|[[Clara Clayton]]+
-|-+
-|[[Scientist]]+
-|[[Susan Calvin]]+
-|-+
-|[[Scold]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Secretary]]+
-|[[Miss Moneypenny]]+
-|-+
-|[[Servant]]+
-|[[Gone With the Wind (film)|Mammy]]+
-|-+
-|[[Shrew#Metaphorical usage|Shrew]]+
-|[[The Taming of the Shrew|Katherine]]+
-|-+
-|[[Singer]]+
-|[[Miley Stewart|Hannah Montana]]+
-|-+
-|[[Single mother]]+
-|[[Lorelai Gilmore]]+
-|-+
-|[[Sister]]+
-|[[Lizzie Phagan]]+
-|-+
-|[[Slut]]+
-|[[List of South Park families|Liane Cartman]]+
-|-+
-|[[Soothsayer]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Spinster]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Spoiled brat]]+
-|[[Veruca Salt]]+
-|-+
-|[[Stewardess]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Stripper]]+
-|[[Striptease (film)|Erin Grant]]+
-|-+
-|[[Suffragette]]+
-|[[Mary Poppins|Mrs. Banks]]+
-|-+
-|[[Switchboard operator]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Teenager]]+
-|[[Meg Griffin]]+
-|-+
-|[[Three Fates]]+
-|[[Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronette]]+
-|-+
-|[[Tomboy]]+
-|[[George Kirrin]]+
-|-+
-|[[Trophy wife]]+
-|[[Stepford Wife]]+
-|-+
-|[[Tsundere]]+
-|[[Sayaka Yumi]]+
-|-+
-|[[Typist]]+
-|&nbsp;+
-|-+
-|[[Ugly duckling]]+
-|[[Betty Suarez]]+
-|-+
-|[[Urchin]]+
-|[[Eliza Doolittle]]+
-|-+
-|[[Valley Girl]]+
-|[[Clueless (film)|Cher Horowitz]]+
-|-+
-|[[Virgin]]+
-|[[Joanna (Sweeney Todd)]]+
-|-+
-|[[Waitress]]+
-|[[Alice Hyatt]]+
-|-+
-|[[Weird Sisters]]+
-|+
-|-+
-|[[Wicked stepmother]]+
-|[[Hellraiser|Julia Cotton]]+
-|-+
-|[[Widow]]+
-|[[Driving Miss Daisy|Miss Daisy Werthan]]+
-|-+
-|[[Witch]]+
-|[[Wicked Witch of the West]]+
-|}+
==See also== ==See also==
*[[Gender essentialism]] *[[Gender essentialism]]
Line 412: Line 45:
*[[stereotype]] *[[stereotype]]
*[[Portrayal of women in comics]] *[[Portrayal of women in comics]]
- +*[[Strong female character ]]
- +*[[Ugly woman ]]
 +*[[Women's work]]
 +*[[Women-are-wonderful effect]]
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Current revision

This page Female stereotypes is part of the woman series Illustration: The Birth of Venus (detail), a 1486 painting by Sandro Botticelli
Enlarge
This page Female stereotypes is part of the woman series
Illustration: The Birth of Venus (detail), a 1486 painting by Sandro Botticelli

"Femaleness [...] is primitive and archaic, while femininity is social and aesthetic."--"Speed and space: Byron" in Sexual Personae (1990) by Camille Paglia

"One very interesting generalization is that in most societies the physical beauty of the female receives more explicit consideration than does the handsomeness of the male. The attractiveness of the man usually depends predominantly upon his skills and prowess rather than upon his physical appearance." (Ford, 1951, p. 86)

"In spite therefore of certain ideals of chastity presented by the Christian hagiographies, in spite of the incense burnt at the altar of Woman in romances, at tourneys and in the Courts of Love, there was never a time in the world's history in which women were more grossly insulted, more shamefully reviled, or more basely defamed than they were in the middle ages, by men of every class, beginning with the most serious writers of theology and going down to the mountebanks of the street-plays. The number of anecdotes, trivial or obscene, that drag women in the dirt is simply infinite…"--Vergil in the Middle Ages (1872) by Domenico Comparetti

Salome (c. 1530) by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Enlarge
Salome (c. 1530) by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Related e

Wikipedia
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Featured:

Just as stereotypes of men, stereotypes of women vary from bad women to good women, from strong women to weak women, from promiscuous to chaste, from ugly to beautiful, from smart to unintelligent.

Contents

[edit]

Femininity

Femininity refers to qualities and behaviors judged by a particular culture to be ideally associated with or especially appropriate to women and girls. Distinct from femaleness, which is a biological and physiological classification concerned with the reproductive system, femininity principally refers to socially acquired traits and secondary sex characteristics. In Western culture femininity has traditionally included features such as gentleness, patience and kindness.

[edit]

Examples

[edit]

Madonna–whore complex

The term Madonna–whore complex refers to a psychological complex in Freudian psychoanalysis that is said to develop in the human male. The term is also used popularly, often with subtly different meanings.

According to Freudian psychology, this complex often develops when the sufferer is raised by a cold and distant mother. Such a man will often court women with qualities of his mother, hoping to fulfill a need for intimacy unmet in childhood. Often, the wife begins to be seen as mother to the husband — a Madonna figure — and thus not a possible object of sexual attraction. For this reason, in the mind of the sufferer love and sex cannot be mixed, and the man is reluctant to have sexual relations with his wife, for that, he thinks unconsciously, would be as incest. He will reserve sexuality for "bad" or "dirty" women, and will not develop "normal" feelings of love in these sexual relationships.

[edit]

Strong and independent women

gynecocracy, feminism

Strong and independent women is a trope connected to third-wave feminism. If you think about strong and independent women in history you arrive at Lilith, Joan of Arc, Catherine the Great, courtesans and George Sand. To encompass it all are women's rights throughout history and in the 20th century: feminism. In the late 20th century there are Riot Grrrls and Girl Power.

Strong and independent women are in the first place financially independent, they can provide in their own means of subsistence.

[edit]

Female stock characters

list of stock characters

The following is a list of stock characters, archetypes and stereotypes of women. These stereotypes are evident in media, art and literature.

A short list of female stock characters includes bad girl, black widow, courtesan, diva, dominatrix, Eve, femme fatale, Lilith, maiden, Medusa, mistress, supermodel, mother, prostitute, female reader, goddess, nude, damsel in distress, tomboy, hooker with a heart of gold, warrior, nymphomaniac, beautiful woman and ugly woman.

[edit]

Long list

Angel, Assassin, Aunt, Avenger, Barmaid, Bimbo, Bitch, Blue stocking, Bond girl, Bride, Bunny boiler, Catgirl, Childhood sweetheart, Cinderella, Clown, Lucy Ricardo, Companion, Cook, Courtesan, Crazy Cat Lady, Damsel in Distress, Dancer, Dark Lady, Daughter, Diva, Dominatrix, Dumb blonde, Essex Girl, Fairy, Fairy godmother, Feminist, Femme Fatale, Fishwife, Gamine, Geisha, Girl next door, Girlfriend, Girls with guns, Goddess, Gold digger, Good-time girl, Gossip, Goth girl, Governess, Grandmother, Groupie, Guardian angel, Heroine, Hooker with a heart of gold, Housekeeper, Housewife, Ingénue, It Girl, Jewish-American Princess, Jewish mother, Lady, Latin Lover, Land girl, Lesbian, Love interest, Madam, Madonna, Magical girl, Jeannie, Maid, Matron, Mermaid, Mistress, Model, Mother, Mother-in-law, Mouse, Movie star, Musician, Nag, Nanny, Nerd girl, Newly-wed, Nun, Nurse, Nymphette, Orphan, Party girl, Pantomime dame, Peasant, Personal assistant, Pilot, Princess, Prostitute, Protective mother, Queen, Saint, School diva, Schoolgirl, Schoolmarm, Scientist, Scold, Secretary, Servant, Shrew, Singer, Single mother, Sister, Slut, Soothsayer, Spinster, Spoiled brat, Stewardess, Stripper, Suffragette, Switchboard operator, Teenager, Three Fates, Tomboy, Trophy wife, Tsundere, Typist, Ugly duckling, Urchin, Valley Girl, Virgin, Waitress, Weird Sisters, Wicked stepmother, Widow, Witch

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See also


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