History Analysis / MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial

* Male characters being the default, far more female cosplayers dress up as male characters than the reverse.

* Male-to-female {{Gender Bender}}s are seen as far more common than female-to-males, and are portrayed as being far more difficult to adjust to because of all the [[ThirdLawOfGenderBending "special" behaviours they now have to adopt]], whereas it is assumed that a female becoming a male would have little trouble adjusting - there's no "special" behaviours to adjust to [[SarcasmMode because being male is "normal"]]! This seems to be a false assumption on the idea of male as default:

** Female mooks do appear in fighting games like ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'', but they're far more likely to sport distinctive [[MsFanservice outfits]] and weapons (such as [[WhipItGood whips]]) rather than just trying to punch or kick you. They're also more likely to be [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad mini-bosses]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the educational/propaganda film "Meat and You: Partners in Freedom" Troy [=McClure=] refers to a cow as a he. "If a cow ever got the chance, he'd [[AscendedToCarnivorism eat you]] and everyone you care about!"

* Averted, Inverted, or played with in Poland where animal gender is assumed based on gender of that animal name. For example MickeyMouse (in Polish: Myszka Miki) is often mistaken to female and mosquitoes (in Polish: komar) are always asumed to be male even if female are one who suck blood.

* One of the most obvious consequences of this trope is the role of TheChick in the FiveManBand. Males tend to have more diverse personality traits (TheBigGuy, TheSmartGuy) that may or may not fit the traditional defintion of "masculinity", whereas TheChick is often defined solely by her femininity/typically feminine character type.

* [[EverythingsBetterWithCows "Cow," the word used to refer to female cattle]], is very commonly used as a gender neutral singular term for cattle, but "bull," the word used to refer to (unneutered) male cattle, is not.

* [[EverythingsBetterWithCows "Cow," the word used to refer to female cattle]], is very commonly used as a gender neutral singular term for cattle, but [[ALoadOfBull "bull," the word used to refer to (unneutered) male cattle]], is not.

* A philosophy adopted by some male writers and directors, such as Creator/JamesCameron, is that the secret to writing a strong female character is to write her as a male [[GenderFlip and then change the pronouns]]. (Yes, the UnfortunateImplications of that could be discussed until the cows come home, but the ends justify the means.) What it means with regard to this trope is that it takes a lot of effort to write a female character that is free from all of these "special" characteristics associated with femininity.

* An unmet character turning out to be female can be TheReveal, but discovering that an unmet character is actually male can't. See SamusIsAGirl, FemaleMonsterSurprise. TheReveal of a male character's gender is only a surprise when he has been [[UnsettlingGenderReveal previously implied to be female]] or if the character is in a role heavily associated with being female, such a cheerleader.

** There are many female-to-male trans people who will point out that to expect strangers to immediately recognise you as male, it involves changes to your voice, walk, the way you stand, your clothes...

* The stereotypical MarySue may be female for this reason, although the fact that MostFanficWritersAreFemale could lead to females being more common as an AuthorAvatar.

** For example, the blogpost lists Literature/TheCatInTheHat, who is actually supposed to be androgynous, but readers and viewers see him/her as male. First, it takes a little more effort to imagine a female Cat In the Hat wreaking havoc in someone’s living room than a male one because girls being destructive seems more wrong than boys being destructive. We subconsciously rely on girls to be the steady ones and stabilizers and if they reject that role, we think that society will be toast. Second, he/she doesn't look overtly feminine or have overtly feminine facial features. In fact, he/she has big jowls, which are a typical tomcat facial feature.

** In Dutch, the archaic word for "doctor" is "geneesheer", which approximately translates to "healing man". There is a gender-neutral word for it, "geneeskundige" ("healer"), but it's hardly ever used since people use the words "arts" or "dokter" instead... which are both masculine nouns.

* In ''Priest-Kings of Literature/{{Gor}}'' Tarl meets the Priest-Kings, the PhysicalGods of the planet, which are basically 20 foot tall locusts. Misk the Priest-King, his friend, shows him the last male Priest-King, which Misk had hidden away from those which don't want another generation of Priest-Kings to replace the current generation. Until he sees that male, Tarl assumed that Misk and most of the other Priest-Kings he met were male. Since this is the only male, he now assumes that they're female. But no, they're not female either, they're neuter. The Mother of the Nest is the only female, and the male is the only male. There is one female egg hidden away; finding it beomes Tarl's {{Quest}} in the following book.

* A routine by Dan Rowan & Dick Martin (later of ''RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'') involves a discussion about bees, during which Rowan (the straight man) says of the drone "he is neuter. He is neither male nor female." In real life, it's the workers bees, who are all female, who are sterile and neuter. The drones in a beehive are reproductive males.

** The indie video game ''{{Slender}}'' features a female protagonist - though you don't find out until you run out of stamina and start to hear her strained female-sounding breathing. This tends to startle players, since they assume the character is male.

** Female mooks do appear in fighting games like ''StreetsOfRage'', but they're far more likely to sport distinctive [[MsFanservice outfits]] and weapons (such as [[WhipItGood whips]]) rather than just trying to punch or kick you. They're also more likely to be [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad mini-bosses]].