History Main / HarpOfFemininity

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Subverted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYCOAFPPVc&feature=related this]] Youtube video, a good rendition of the Star Wars Cantina music ever... played by a teen boy.
[[/folder]]

* Haydee from ''Anime/Gankutsuou'' plays the harp (most notably in the opening), which emphasizes her graceful and feminine demeanor.

* The most notable aversion is [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Harpo Marx]]. Hell, he's even ''named'' after it!

* Averted in Literature/MiddleEarth, where badasses like [[Literature/TheHobbit Thorin]] and [[Literature/TheSilmarillion several High Elven princes]] are capable harpists.

* Yuria in the ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' anime, who has come into possession of a harp and nothing else while in Shin's captivity and is playing it in nearly every scene where she makes an appearance. The harp sound plays any time Kenshiro thinks about her.

* Conis from ''Manga/OnePiece'' likes to play a harp in her spare time and is even known as "the beautiful lady who plays the harp" among the boys of her village.

* Played with in ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. Sailor Mercury uses a lyre as a [[InstrumentOfMurder weapon]], but it's still rather [[GirlyBruiser feminine]].
* [[{{Uke}} Shin]] in ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'' went to the extent of crafting his own harp to play.

* Lyra Belacqua's first name in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' is, according to this trope, the single most feminine thing about her.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* Totally subverted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYCOAFPPVc&feature=related this]] Youtube vid, possibly the [[IncrediblyLamePun heavenliest]] rendition of the Star Wars Cantina music ever... played by a teen boy.

* Background character Lyra Heartstrings of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has a lyre cutie mark.[[note]]A pony's cutie mark signifies his/her special talent and/or skill.[[/note]] It's assumed she can play one rather well, though she's [[InformedAbility never shown playing a lyre or harp]]. Being who she is, it is not known if she plays this trope straight or not. What's sure is that she doesn't avert it.

* Music/AngelaJuly took the continent by storm in 2018 with her unique act of singing and graciously playing the harp simultaneously as she landed the second place in Asia's Got Talent.

* Duchess in ''Disney/TheAristocats''. Made more impressive by the fact that she's a ''cat''.
* ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Kronk's (male) shoulder angel carries a harp, prompting his shoulder devil to mock the "sissy, stringy thing."

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', Orpheus uses a harp as his instrument of choice. Somewhat coincidentally, he also has an extremely soft voice that sounds very feminine.

* In ''Literature/TheBeastPlayer'', Elin uses a harp to tame the Ouju.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the anime because she got it from Ia-lu who is a badass Elite Soldier for the Shin-Oh, and he's first introduced playing said harp (which has his name carved into it) and even repairs and then helps Erin alter it. It probably helped show his status as one of the good guys and [[spoiler:the end reveals he retires and becomes a harp maker like he originally planned when a kid, settling down with Elin.]]

* The world of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' has a StereotypeFlip for nearly every gender role, as "masculine" in that world codes very close to what "feminine" is in this world, and vice versa. All the same, it's specifically noted in one scene that dulcimers, harplike instruments, are being played by women.

Compare FeminineWomenCanCook, for a much less refined way to show femininity.

* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' TCG has Spirit of the Harp, a delicate woman playing…[[CaptainObvious well…]]

* ''Literature/KemonoNoSoujaErin'' has Erin with a harp and using it to tame the Ouju. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that she got it from Ia-lu who is a badass Elite Soldier for the Shin-Oh, and he's first introduced playing said harp (which has his name carved into it) and even repairs and then helps Erin alter it. It probably helped show his status as one of the good guys and [[spoiler: the end reveals he retires and becomes a harp maker like he originally planned when a kid, settling down with Erin.]]

* The EvilMatriarch of the girls' boarding school in ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'' is shown playing a harp at moments when she's not actively working to make Sarah's life miserable. Her musical ability is arguably the only likeable trait the character has.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' plays with this somewhat: Amy Farrah Fowler plays the harp in spite of being the least feminine of the female characters, but she sees her non-femininity as a result of social exclusion and has a strong desire to become more feminine, making her harp playing possibly represent wish fulfillment or escapism.

* The Comet Observatory theme from ''SuperMarioGalaxy''.

This trope is OlderThanRadio but not OlderThanSteam, and doesn't generally come in to play much in works from before the French Revolution. As such the WanderingMinstrel (a medieval trope) will often be male and play the harp, and playing the lyre also {{Gender Flip}}s this trope just as often as not (most of the 'inversions' listed below concern hand-held harps and lyres, rather than the sort of grand harp one would see in an orchestra). In the very, very rare occurrences where a man is shown playing the harp, he will be ''at least'' a particularly effeminate {{Bishonen}}.

This trope is TruthInTelevision, since harpists are mostly female.

* In ''[[AuntDimity Aunt Dimity and the Duke]]'', Grayson's grandmother played a harp, and its removal for sale prompted the crisis that opens the book. There's also a painting depicting the twelfth Duchess of Penford seated at the instrument, and it is among the items Grayson repurchased [[spoiler: after making a fortune portraying crass rock star Lex Rex]].

* Pictured above: Pandora in ''Anime/SaintSeiya''. To emphasize the "lady" in the LadyOfWar, she often play the harp in her free time.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. Jose's memories of his little sister Enrica (killed in a terrorist bombing) often have her playing the harp, as her brother remembers her as PurityPersonified (when we actually see Enrica in flashback chapters, she's more interested in playing soccer than her harp). Perhaps because of this Jose's ReplacementGoldfish for Enrica -- his cyborg Henrietta -- is not instructed in the harp but the violin (also the case is useful for [[SenselessViolins carrying her FN P90 submachine gun]]).

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', one of the celestial spirits that Lucy can summon is Lyra a songstress with a lyre.

* The most notable aversion is [[TheMarxBrothers Harpo Marx]]. Hell, he's even ''named'' after it!
* The evil matriarch of the girls' boarding school in ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'' is shown playing a harp at moments when she's not actively working to make Sarah's life miserable. Her musical ability is arguably the only likeable trait the character has.

* Aversion: Flewddur Fflam in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' was a consummate badass, a [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething king]], and a wandering bard. He played a ''magic'' harp, which could be more accurately said to play itself, but harping is not regarded as particularly feminine in Prydain.
* Creator/RudyardKipling talked about "When Homer smote his bloomin lyre(not his most inspired passage).

** Sheik in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', who plays the lyre. Of course, Sheik [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready turns out to be female]] even though she [[{{Bifauxnen}} looks male]] and [[SweetPollyOliver more or less is implied to be throughout the game]]. The harping here is important to the plot, as Sheik teaches Link [[MagicMusic songs which he needs to succeed]].

** Although she's never seen playing any instrument in her limited screentime, it's very possible that Zelda in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' is also a harpist; her royal gown includes a harp pattern embroidered on the skirt. (Then again, since the BlackCloak she wears over the gown for part of the game contains Sheikah emblems, it's possible that her entire outfit is supposed to be a CallBack to ''Ocarina''.)

* ''ThePhilHarrisAliceFayeShow'' had Barbara the harpist in a few episodes.

* Aversion: Flewddur Fflam in the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'' was a consummate badass, a [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething king]], and a wandering bard. He played a ''magic'' harp, which could be more accurately said to play itself, but harping is not regarded as particularly feminine in Prydain.

* ''Literature/KemonoNoSoujaErin'' has Erin with a harp and using it to tame the Ouju. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that she got it from Ia-lu who is a {{Badass}} Elite Soldier for the Shin-Oh, and he's first introduced playing said harp (which has his name carved into it) and even repairs and then helps Erin alter it. It probably helped show his status as one of the good guys and [[spoiler: the end reveals he retires and becomes a harp maker like he originally planned when a kid, settling down with Erin.]]

* Aversion: Flewddur Fflam in the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'' was a consummate {{badass}}, a [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething king]], and a wandering bard. He played a ''magic'' harp, which could be more accurately said to play itself, but harping is not regarded as particularly feminine in Prydain.

* Averted in Literature/MiddleEarth, where {{BadAss}}es like [[Literature/TheHobbit Thorin]] and [[Literature/TheSilmarillion several High Elven princes]] are capable harpists.

* Lyra Belacqua's first name in ''HisDarkMaterials'' is, according to this trope, the single most feminine thing about her.

* In [[FairyTail Fairy Tail]], one of the celestial spirits that Lucy can summon is Lyra a songstress with a lyre.
* In [[RGVeda RG Veda]] the beautiful and talented [[FourStarBadass Lady Kendappa]] is never seen without her harp.

* In ''LostOdyssey'', Jansen hears Ming playing her harp and guesses that the musician must be a beautiful woman: [[LampshadeHanging "No dude plays a harp."]]