"Tropes Vs. Women" Videoblog Series

I came across the videoblog Feminist Frequency this weekend, specifically their series of six short episodes named “Tropes Vs Women” which explores “the reoccurring themes and representations of women in Hollywood films and TV shows.” For those new to the term, a “trope” is:

“A common pattern in a story, or a recognizable attribute in a character that conveys information to the audience. A trope becomes a cliche when it’s overused.”

Each episodes focuses on one of the six (in parts NSFW) tropes regarding women, which are:

• The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a cute, bubbly, young (usually white) woman who has recently entered the life of our brooding hero to teach him how to loosen up and enjoy life. While that might sound all well and good for the man, this trope leaves women as simply there to support the star on his journey of self-discovery with no real life of her own.____
• Women in Refrigeratorsis a trope identified by comic book fan (and now comic book writer) Gail Simone because she was sick of seeing ”superheroines who have been either depowered, raped, or cut up and stuck in the refrigerator.”
• The Smurfette Principle was coined two decades ago by Katha Pollitt when she noticed that there were a disproportionate number of male characters in programming aimed at young people. Even in adult programming, when women do appear in the primary cast of a television show or movie, they are usually alone in a group of men.____
• The Evil Demon Seductress is a supernatural creature (usually a demon, alien, robot, vampire etc.) who is most often disguised as a sexy human female. She uses her sexuality and sexual wiles to manipulate, seduce, kill, and often eat poor, hapless men by luring them into her evil web.____
• The Mystical Pregnancy is a trope writers use to create drama and terror by invading, violating, and exploiting women’s reproductive capabilities. Often these female characters have their ovaries harvested by aliens or serve as human incubators for demon spawn. Sometimes they are carrying the Messiah, and other times Satan himself.____
• The Straw Feminist is a deliberately created, exaggerated caricature of a feminist that is used to undermine and ridicule feminist movements. The Straw Feminist trope has many more facets and MANY more examples but I hope I was able to provide a general overview.

Each episode is fascinating to consider and is followed up on the site by a list of related links and articles. You may not agree with every point, but these videos will certainly inspire debate.