History Main / MotherNatureFatherScience

Nowadays, many see this trope as outdated due to potential UnfortunateImplications most portrayals often have. Many focus on CharacterDevelopment emphasizing unique interdependent strengths, chemistry, agency and general character before trope, allowing both to take on unique roles regardless of the traditional trope. Sometimes it only goes too far the other way, [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy by inverting, but still using, negative stereotypes with a whiny, weaker man and a dominant, loner woman.]] This ends up only avoiding the taboo portrayals rather than emphasizing their strengths and making positive characters that audiences can empathize with and be inspired by.

Nowadays, many see this trope as outdated due to potential UnfortunateImplications most portrayals often have. Many focus on CharacterDevelopment emphasizing unique interdependent strengths, chemistry, agency and general character before trope, allowing both to take on unique roles regardless of the traditional trope. Sometimes it only goes too far the other way, [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy by inverting, but still using, negative stereotypes with a whiny, weaker man and a dominant, loner woman.]] Only avoiding the taboo portrayals rather than emphasizing their strengths and making positive characters that audiences can empathize with and be inspired by. Male or female versions of any trope can work, but only with meaning. If authenticity is not there, then the trope falls flat. In some cases the trope works very well when it's deconstructed and discards the negatives. TheProfessor might be trying to cure a disease because his child is dying from it. The JunglePrincess might have an infinity for living out in the beautiful HungryJungle, but she has to rely more on her brains than her brawn, especially if she is physically weaker.

Nowadays, many see this trope as outdated due to potential UnfortunateImplications most portrayals often have. Many focus on CharacterDevelopment emphasizing unique interdependent strengths, chemistry, agency and general character before trope, allowing both to take on unique roles regardless of the traditional trope. Sometimes it only goes too far the other way, [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy by inverting, but still using, negative stereotypes with a whiny, weaker man and a dominant, loner woman.]] Only avoiding the taboo portrayals rather than emphasizing their strengths and making positive characters that audiences can empathize with and be inspired by. Male or female versions of any trope can work, but only with meaning. If authenticity is not there, then the trope falls flat.

Nowadays, many see this trope as outdated and focus on {{Inverted Trope}}s and CharacterDevelopment emphasizing unique interdependent strength, chemistry, agency and general character before gender allowing both to take on unique roles regardless of the traditional trope. Sometimes it only goes too far the other way, [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy by inverting stereotypes with a whiny, weaker man and a dominant, loner woman,]] only by aiming to subvert the negative stereotypes of both genders rather than emphasize their strengths and making positive role models. Male or female versions of any trope can work, but only with meaning. If authenticity is not there, then the trope falls flat.

Nowadays, many see this trope as outdated and focus on InvertedTropesions and CharacterDevelopement emphasizing unique interdependent strength, chemistry, agency and general character before gender allowing both to take on unique roles regardless of the traditional trope. Sometimes it only goes too far the other way, [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy by inverting stereotypes with a whiny, weaker man and a dominant, loner woman,]] only by aiming to subvert the negative stereotypes of both genders rather than emphasize their strengths and making positive role models. Male or female versions of any trope can work, but only with meaning. If authenticity is not there, then the trope falls flat.

You may have wondered why TheProfessor is always a man, or why the JunglePrincess outnumbers the TarzanBoy, despite the male inspirations of the trope. In a great deal of media, science and technology are portrayed as inherently masculine. Men, according to this trope, approach life as a puzzle [[TheSpock to be solved by logic and reason]]. Nature, on the other hand, is portrayed as inherently feminine and the women [[TheMcCoy approach problem-solving by relying on their feelings and intuition]].

In a great deal of media, science and technology are portrayed as inherently masculine. Men, according to this trope, approach life as a puzzle [[TheSpock to be solved by logic and reason]]. Nature, on the other hand, is portrayed as inherently feminine and the women [[TheMcCoy approach problem-solving by relying on their feelings and intuition]].

Nowadays, due to widespread awareness of this trope and its UnfortunateImplications, it's increasingly common to see {{inver|tedTrope}}sions, with [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy a sensitive, expressive man and a logical, stoic woman]]. Again, which one is portrayed as right will still vary, although works like this are perhaps slightly more likely to go with the "both sides are necessary for balance" approach.

* This is pretty exactly much how the Architect describes himself and the Oracle in ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded''. The Architect was a cold, logical perfectionist, while the Oracle was more focused on understanding human emotion and psychology.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' [[Characters/GravityFallsDipperPines Dipper Pines]] and [[Characters/GravityFallsMabelPines Mabel Pines]]. Dipper is easily the smarter of the Pines twins and is highly intelligent and resourceful. Mabel, on the other hand, is far more goofy, energetic, and emotional.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': While Weslie's parents are both kind and caring, they have contrasting jobs. His father, Smarc, makes a living by building machines, contrasting with his mother, Lily, who used to work as a singer.

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': As explained in the [[Animation/MoonCastleTheSpaceAdventure third film]], while Weslie's parents are both kind and caring, they both have contrasting jobs. His father, Smarc, makes a living by building machines, contrasting with his mother, Lily, who used to work as a singer.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart and Lisa's school was split into Boys' and Girls' sections. The Boys learned everything pretty much the same way, but the Girls reverted to some absolutely bizarre New Age teaching methods. While the boys' teaching methods worked better, outside of class their side of the school looked like a scene from ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' This trope is defied in all regards by the character [[MagicAIsMagicA Twilight Sparkle]] who plays the role of father science to a whole bunch of characters (both male and female) representing mother nature. This includes, but isn't limited to, the rest of her friends (which includes a farmer, an athlete, a fashionista, a party girl, and a nature-orientated animal caretaker), her plucky baby dragon male assistant, her brother that joined the royal guard and married a princess of love, and a LargeHam princess of the Night. What could be regarded as the exception is her relationship with her equally brilliant mentor, Princess Celestia, but even then Twilight's temperament is far closer to the logical analyst compared to Celestia's more whimsical nature. Twilight is a living embodiment that even a female character on a little girl's show could be a highly logical rationalist.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' Dipper and Mabel. Dipper is easily the smarter of the Pines twins and is highly intelligent and resourceful. Mabel, on the other hand, is far more goofy, energetic, and emotional.

* Part of the main conflict in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode [[Recap/PhineasAndFerbPerryLaysAnEgg "Perry Lays an Egg"]]. When the boys found an egg that they think Perry laid and then left behind, their solution to the unattended egg is a giant robotic platypus machine to incubate it until it hatches. Candace, having just watched a nature documentary, admonishes them for this cold and clinical approach and pushes them to be more hands on.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* In the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' universes:
** ComicBook/PoisonIvy and ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} fit the trope. Poison Ivy can control the growth of plants with her mind and is often depicted as being mothering to plants and so in harmony with the natural world to the point that she hates anything man-made. Catwoman is not so obvious, but she has an unexplained and very odd affinity with cats. In some continuities, even tigers will discard habitual ferociousness if she gives them the right look. In contrast, the logical/scientific villains like ComicBook/MrFreeze or the ComicBook/TheRiddler tend to be male, although ComicBook/ThePenguin does have an affinity with birds.
** Even Penguin shows this when compared to Catwoman. Both have an affinity with an animal (Birds and Cats respectively), Penguin shows a higher preference for high tech gadgets (like his trick umbrellas) than Catwoman who relies on a plain whip, claws, and acrobatics.
** Then there's Harley-Quinn, the mad psychiatrist. She may have started off as a psychiatrist, but she is driven by her insanely emotional devotion to ComicBook/TheJoker.
* In the Franchise/{{Superman}} comic book story "Father Nature's Folly" a male alien arrives on Earth, and claims that he and his mate were [[{{Precursors}} the creators of life in many worlds]]. He claimed to be unhappy with the result of his mate's work on Earth and would have mutated all life into bizarre forms had Superman not stopped him.
* In ''ComicBook/FromHell'', Sir William Gull gives a rather deranged, yet convincing Nietzschean speech about the Ancient Greek beliefs mentioned above, rationalising his actions as ensuring we would have a logical, Apollonian and masculine future of science and order instead of being dragged backwards into an emotional, Dionysian future of insanity and emotional female rule. It was well-argued enough that author Creator/AlanMoore talked himself into becoming a magician whilst writing it.
* [[ZigzaggingTrope Zigzag in]] ''ComicBook/XenozoicTales'', featuring the very science-minded Hannah Dundee and the Earth father Jack Tenrec. Both of them have leanings for the opposite side. Jack, despite his undying devotion to the natural order, loves working on cars and other machines. Hannah, more subtly, believes in the mystic underpinnings of the world, but she considers they will be scientifically explicable, once they are better understood. There's also the indication that she's been [[spoiler:chosen by the Grith]].
* Zol-El and Alura, the parents of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. Zor-El is an artist and very kind and opened-up. Alura is a scientist and usually an example of GoodIsNotNice. A flashback revealed that she used to be an EmotionlessGirl before [[DefrostingIceQueen her relationship with Zor]].
* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' is a gender flip. It has two major pairs of "sweet, mystical, peaceful boy" and "strong warrior woman" (Suntop and Ember, Redlance and Nightfall), and both are experienced as playing against type. An AnimatedAdaptation was proposed but canceled when ExecutiveMeddling demanded that the personalities be switched.
* A variant that mingles this trope with MagicVersusScience can be found in the original 1978 run of ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'', produced by Creator/MarvelComics. The evil Dire Wraiths are broken into two factions, one favoring sorcery and the other science, and the two dislike each other. Of course of the series, with perhaps some slight {{retcon}}s, it's established that these factions are largely gender-locked; all sorcerer-wraiths are female, and all sci-wraiths are male. There are shown to be some exceptions, with a female sci-wraith being prominent in the early issues, but the "warlock" (male sorcerer-wraith) Dr. Dredd observes that the female Wraiths jealously guard their power and try to force away male would-be practitioners of sorcery. It culminates with the female Wraiths [[{{Gendercide}} wiping out all of the males]] after they decide that science has failed them too often in their battle against the Space Knights of Galador.