History Main / NeverASelfmadeWoman

** It's doubly subverted in the case of [=McGonagall=], with the information released for her on Pottermore. We are told how she inherited her magical powers from her mother and shared many of her mother's favorite activities when she went to Hogwarts. While her father was mentioned a few times, very little is given on his influence for her.

* Apart from Galadriel, the women of LordOfTheRings fall into this. Rosie, Goldberry and Arwen all function as LoveInterests for male characters, and while Eowyn breaks out of the mold eventually, she's introduced as the dutiful neice and a LoveInterest for Aragorn, and some interpretations attribute her drive to join the army as a reaction to being rejected.

* This is played so stright in {{Telenovela}}s, it hurts. Most heroines are defined exclusively for the relationship they have with the male hero, even if the soap is named after her. Some play with this trope, through; for example, in ''Simplemente María'', the titular heroine's success as a fashion designer is thanks to her own hard work.

** Thankfully this trope was averted by Cynthia, the first female League Champion, who was a self-made woman all the way through. The only person who could claim credit for some of her success is her grandmother, the elder of their hometown.

* A common complaint about ''PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is that Professor Juniper is the first female Pokémon Professor to appear in the games, and she's also the first Pokémon Professor stated to have learned her trade from her father, who also is a prominent NPC. Which is a bit unfortunate, given that the character was originally meant to be a male and ''still'' have the whole 'inherited trade from father' aspect.

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* Played with in ''ThePrincessAndTheFrog''; it's obvious to the viewer that Tiana achieves her goals with hard work, sacrifice, and dedication to her dream, but every character in the movie that knows about Tiana's father constantly links her success to his influence, including Tiana herself. Eventually this is averted, as shown at the end, when she finally does set up her restaurant it is shown to be green and frog-themed and named "Tiana's Palace", clearly based off of her experience as a frog. In an earlier scene where she imagines her restaurant, it is done up in the yellow style her father had planned on using. The issue of Tiana's father's influence on her life also serves as a strengthening element in the relationship between her and Naveen. Naveen is the only character who appreciates how deeply Tiana is dedicated to her dream of owning a restaurant, but never knows anything about her father beyond what little she tells him, and is thus the only character who respects Tiana's good qualities as actually being her own-- part of what she ''needed'' was to get out of her dad's shadow.

* Mary of ''{{Hancock}}'' is introduced to us as the manager's wife, but later turns out to be a rather interesting character. [[spoiler: When she explains the background behind her powers however, it turns out that their relationship was problematic because someone needed ''Hancock'' to go on being immortal and save the world, and that he and Mary were only paired up by convention - ''he'' is the important one. Why Mary, who is more powerful than him, doesn't have the responsibility that he does is never explained.]]

Another variation is when a female character who is already powerful or who has an important role without male aid meets her lover. [[AllAmazonsWantHercules Since prominent women usually require a partner who is at least as interesting and powerful as they]], the story will often start revolving around him once they meet. Suddenly, the conflict doesn't seem as important to her anymore. If things quiet down and they get married, he usually has a great career ahead of him, but she's content to [[AcceptableFeminineGoals slow hers down to be a wife or mother]]. From the moment they become an item, no one mentions her previous accomplishments anymore; they just talk about her [[FemaleSuccessIsFamily only as half of a couple]]. Her partner's heroism is still remembered and talked about, but she is lucky if she even gets mentioned a few years down the line.

See also MostWritersAreMale

In short, this is another example of DoubleStandard.

If she's TheChick in the team, then she's usually someone's little sister, girlfriend or love interest. If she's a military or political leader of some sort, then you can bet that she got the position with help from her father.

"Success" in this case extends to the broadest definition -- being part of the plot. The author or the characters have to choose who gets to join in on the hijinks or know the secrets; chances are, most of the people they choose are going to be men. Women who join in are most commonly there as a "bonus" to someone else, often as a love interest or a family member.

* ''Film/SherlockHolmes'' has all of two women as more than one-shot characters: Watson's fiancée and Holmes' LoveInterest.

* The Irene Adler of SherlockHolmes2009 is demoted from being one of the few people ever to outwit Sherlock to being Moriarty's lackey, and after [[spoiler: being StuffedIntoTheFridge]] in Game Of Shadows her replacement is involved in the plot because of her brother.

Another variation is when a female character who is already powerful or who has an important role without male aid meets her lover. [[AllAmazonsWantHercules Since prominent women usually require a partner who is at least as interesting and powerful as they]], the story will often start revolving around him once they meet. Suddenly, the conflict doesn't seem as important to her anymore. If things quiet down and they get married, he usually has a great career ahead of him, but she's content to [[AcceptableFeminineGoals slow hers down to be a wife or mother]]. From the moment they become an item, no one mentions her previous accomplishments anymore; they just talk about her only as half of a couple. Her partner's heroism is still remembered and talked about, but she is lucky if she even gets mentioned a few years down the line.

* The ''StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' plays this to the hilt with the Imperial [[JediAcademyTrilogy Natasi Daala]], who rose to her position in an Empire that discriminated against women because Grand Moff Tarkin took her as his lover. And honestly, she was a GeneralFailure. In ''DeathStar'' Tarkin claims that he just allowed her to get past that prejudice and her successes were her own, but this is also the book where he kept having her snuck out to the Death Star for liasons. And then she got brain damaged, which might explain her InformedAbility in the Jedi Academy Trilogy.

There are shades to this. We may have the ActionGirl who has achieved a lot and gone up in society, but whenever her background is brought up, it is always a man in her family (father, uncle, older brother or husband) who is prominent as her predecessor or a key to her success. It will be strongly implied that she would never have gotten into this SeriousBusiness if she hadn´t been motivated and trained by her powerful male relatives who [[DungeonmastersGirlfriend are active on the same field]]. In short, a personal, emotional relationship with a mentor is needed, not just a professional one driven by her own independent ambitions. She might have grown into her own {{badass}}ery, but the story will continue to define her as the more important male character´s apprentice or heiress.

* Fate/StayNight has this trope in play with its Masters in Tohsaka Rin, Matou Sakura, and Ilyasviel von Einsbern. While it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]], being that the Grail War is meant to be a competition between three families, they're the only ones who actually owe their success as mages to their lineage. Shirou bumbles onto his role in the War and has to struggle to make up for his lack of magical skill over the course of the series (because his adopted father ''didn't'' teach him more than basic tricks), Shinji Matou is a failure, Kuzuki is [[spoiler:an assassin and]] not a mage at all despite being a formidable Master, and Bazett Fraga McRemitz, Lancer's original Master, is [[QuicklyDemotedWoman dead before the show begins]] so Kotomine can gain control of Lancer.

* The female lead of the ''Film/Transformers'' movies, whose life revolves around the male lead.

* ''{{Hellsing}}'' - Part of Integra's backstory was that she had to fight the stigmas that she was a woman doing a man's job, and that she more or less fell into the role after her father died (and she killed her uncle in self defense when he tried to usurp control).
** In the manga, there was no such stigma and she was recognized as the legitimate heir of the organization... except for the usurping uncle. The only sign that there might still be stigma around her gender is the fact that she's called [[SheIsTheKing Sir]], but it's entirely possible that was due to Hirano not knowing what the proper title would be (which would be "Dame").
* ''{{Naruto}}'' averts this trope for the most part, save for one rather infamous panel (was the character blatantly sexist or was the author? We don't know). Kushina never ''really'' wanted to be Hokage, she just said it to get attention. Tsunade becomes Hokage because she's a good leader and a total {{Badass}}. [[DarkChick Konan]] seemed to be this at first, but then we learn that she was never romantically involved with Nagato, is a very strong fighter in her own right, and only joined Akatsuki to help Nagato. That said, Kurenai [[YourMileageMayVary can be said to have fallen victim to this trope]], though she is a skilled fighter too.
** Tsunade is accused for getting her position due to being descended to the Senjuu clan from where the First and Second Hokage came from, but the emphasis is thanfully put in the legacy of this clan and its influence in Konoha, not in her being a woman.

* Inverted in the {{Manhwa}} ''{{Jackals}}'' where Alligator Nichol, ''[[TheHero the main character]]'', owes the mastery of his massive two-handed blade to his... mother, Roxy the Grim Reaper. Yes. He's total {{Badass}} but he's been trained by a woman.
** In fact, the whole story seems to make it a point to subvert this trope to hell and back when it comes to female characters. Only the resident DistressedDamsel plays the trope straight.

* One SilverAge {{Superman}} comic has Lois Lane telling the story of how she got her job at the Daily Planet, telling Clark Kent "And I'll have you know I did it without your help!". Through the course of the story, we discover that Superman was secretly helping her all along. Remember, girls, even if you ''think'' you succeeded on your own merits, it's really because a man was helping you.

* Anna Valerious of ''VanHelsing''. She's introduced as a daughter and sister, is motivated by the absence of the brother, and her function in the story is as a LoveInterest to the male lead. And she's a FauxActionGirl to boot!

* The female lead of the Transformers movies, whose life revolves around the male lead
* Crops up in the Bond movies every now and then, Though there's a bit of a subversion in TheWorldIsNotEnough. [[spoiler: Electra may talk a lot about her father, and becomes the owner of his oil company through heritage, but then it turns out that it was her mother's family that built up his wealth in the first place]]
* Also prominent in the latest {{Terminator}} movie, which has three major female Characters; Marcus' love interest, John's girlfriend, and a mute little girl who is treated like some kind of pet for Kyle

* Film/SherlockHolmes has all of two women as more than one-shot characters: Watson's fiancée and Holmes' LoveInterest.
* Mary of {{Hancock}}. She's introduced to us as the manager's wife, but later turns out to be a rather interesting character. [[spoiler: When she explains the background behind her powers however, it turns out that their relationship was problematic because someone needed ''him'' to go on being immortal and save the world, and that he and Mary were only paired up by convention - ''he'' is the important one. Why Mary, who is more powerful than him, doesn't have the responsibility that he does is never explained.]]
* In ''{{West Side Story}}'' there were girls in the Jets , but they were only there as the girlfriends of some of the more important male characters.
** With the exception of [[{{Tomboy}} Anybodys]], who wants to be a Jet and fight alongside the rest of them but is treated as an AnnoyingYoungerSibling. After the rumble she seems to be accepted into the gang.
* In TheYoungVictoria, the queen is pretty much treated as a puppet of her (male) advisers, and when she calls her husband out on undermining her as a queen, the whole movie starts to work against her - all her other advisers want them to reign together, and he is finally shot, causing her to back down.
** ''TheYoungVictoria'' also serves as an inversion. All the men try to play her as a puppet because, ultimately, a great deal of their power ''rests solely on Victoria liking them.'' Albert goes behind her back because he feels useless and knows that every iota of his respect in the British court stems from his relationship with Victoria. In the end, the solution isn't for either of them to ignore or manipulate the other, but for Victoria to rule with Albert serving as a trusted, competent advisor, in a partnership that requires both of them.
** By definition a Queen's success is family. That is kind of the point of monarchy.

* Justified in period pieces like TheDuchess and TheMaskOfZorro where historically the woman could not have been important unless related to an important man.
* In TheItalianJob though Stella Bridger is the safe cracker, a necessary part of the team, she is also Charlie's love interest and his mentor's daughter.

* Winnie from the WallStreet sequel is one of the more extreme examples; she has no other purpose aside from being something that Jake and Gekko barters with.
* Averted in ThePhantomMenace where Amidala is ruler of Naboo. By RevengeOfTheSith though it's played straight as it's all about Anakin becomeing Darth Vader but to give her credit there were three deleated scenes of her actively trying to stop the chancellor from taking over.
** Similarly averted in ANewHope where Princess Leia is a senator and member of the rebellion with no man by her side.
* Mrs. Brisby in TheSecretOfNimh would not have gotten any help for her situation if she wasn't, as they keep calling her, "Mrs. Jonathan Brisby".
* The Bowler (aka Baby Bowler) from MysteryMen happens to own a bowling ball haunted by her murdered father. He can levitate himself just fine, but needs her to carry him around to get from place to place without disturbing anyone. It's especially glaring because, while the rest of the heroes [[CharacterDevelopment have to come to terms with their true powers and learn to believe in themselves]], she doesn't actually have any powers to believe in, and specifically joins because her father made her. She'd rather go back to school.

* Lily in ''HarryPotter'' is only important as a mother and Tonks (while starting out independent) becomes a mere LoveInterest in the last two books.
** Another one HP female: Fleur starts off as a competent female, but then also gets reduced to the role of Bill's wife. But Bill is totally cool, so maybe that's why people don't mind Fleur as much as... well, Lily, at least.
** Lily is a complicated case, see the (now archived) Discussion

** Pretty much all the pure-blood witches that married muggles/mudbloods and were thus erased from the Black tapestry (the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!) fit in the this trope. The wizards who were erased from the Black tapestry, were not erased for "wrong love," but for many different reasons (usually it was more about their personal beliefs rather than their lovelife).
* ''{{Dracula}}'' gives the ladies the same treatment: the only women in the the main cast are the fiancees to others in the team.
** You can also see it as an inversion in that most of the team is composed of 'Lucy's suitors' and in most of the bits of the book happening after Transylvania, Jonathan appears as 'Mina's husband' rather than the other way around, even though Mina does first appear as 'Jonathan's fiancee'.
* Juliet Butler in the ''ArtemisFowl'' books could be an example of this trope - if she were more of a character. She is characterized largely as "[[BattleButler Butler]]'s little sister," and the great majority of her [[ActionGirl physical skills]] and knowledge of [[CuteBruiser bodyguarding]] comes from her [[IHaveBrothers brother/family]]. She doesn't seem to have a problem with this - in "The Eternity Code," she takes on Artemis as her Principal because she's explicitly [[FollowInMyFootsteps trying to fill her brother's shoes]]. She does utilize her own ingenuity (as well as some awesome tricks she picked up from [[ProfessionalWrestling professional wrestling]] and lucha libre) to become her own fighter, but whenever she is mentioned by other characters, it is always in the context of her relationship to Butler.
** Although one could argue that her brother would have never gotten the position if not for their family's reputation either.

* Marasiah Fel, The first female ruler of the Fel Empire, got her postion because, well, she was in the Fel Dynasty

* DanBrown's LoveInterests are all like this. Vittoria of AngelsAndDemons and Sophie of TheDaVinciCode are only involved in their respective fields because their father-figures were already in them. They're both competent, no doubt, but from the moment they meets the AuthorAvatar, that is all but forgotten. Basically, they're the hot scientists who only get to tag along because the key victims happened to have raised them.
* As the protagonists of JRRTolkien's Middle-earth stories (''TheLordOfTheRings'', etc) are most often members of various (often royal) families followed over millenia, they are related to others most of the time. Because of this, almost all women appearing are also related by blood or marriage to other characters. (Although many would argue that several of those women do not fit the trope, like e.g. Galadriel.)
** Unlike many of the other examples, Eowyn is considered more bad-ass than her relatives, and most of the characters make the shift from warrior to something peaceful (unsurprisingly, given that that was one of the major themes in the book).
** Eowyn was ''royalty,'' so of course she was there because she was family -- so were Aragorn, Eomer, Theoden, Denethor and Faramir. However Eowyn was also clearly stated to be as spirited as her brother, and this was precisely why she was driven to seek "suicide by combat." She felt constricted by her station, forced to stand by and watch helplessly, forbidden to fight her enemies, all the while tormented by the spy Grima (at least until his expulsion). As she protests to Aragorn, "You say only that you are a woman, and your place is in the house." But Aragorn replies that they both were bound by their duties, which neither could shirk. In the end, she and Faramir bond because they had suffered similar losses.
*** By "in the house" Aragorn meant ''ruling the entire kingdom''.
*** It also meant running the war effort. What in the world happened to their supply of fodder and replacement horses while Eowyn was off seeking glory?
* Conina of {{Discworld}} does her best to avoid this, fighting her father's influences as a barbarian, and not always succeeding. Of course since those violent impulses come in handy it's probably a good thing.
** Lady Sybil might be a straighter example, her main relevance to the story is her relationship with Vimes. (albeit it has a major effect on Vimes for sure)
*** This one might even be an inversion. Up until Sybil, Vimes had been captain of the Night Watch, only because no one else wanted the job, and he wasn't getting promoted because his mouth kept running away from his brain. Once he met Sybil, he started his way up the ladder of success. So Vimes success is family.
* Done in-universe in the {{Robotech}} ExpandedUniverse. Miriya was the greatest Zentraedi female ace, and when she got her HeelFaceTurn and [[TheRedSonja married Max Sterling]], for the rest of the original series she was his counterpart and got equal screentime with him. Then during the Malcontent Uprisings, the brass made the official decision to turn her into a propaganda piece; "homemaker, mother, ''former'' freedom fighter." Miriya abided by it, but still played an important role in the finale (and returned to {{Badass}} status during the Sentinels series).

* In ''{{NCIS}}'', Tony attributes Ziva's job as being due to her father's high position in Mossad. He's partially correct, in that Ziva's father trained her from birth to do the job she does. In Season 7, she removes herself completely from her father's influence...and moves straight back into Gibbs'!
** However, it's pretty clear that while her father has become an important character, he wouldn't be if not for Ziva. Then again, [[spoiler: she might not be as important as she is if she wasn't Ari's half-sister and handler in Mossad]].
*** Given that being recognizable is a disadvantage for a field agent, it might not be so much of an advantage.
* HowIMetYourMother introduces Robin as Ted's girlfriend, and while it does occasionally give Robin subplots that have nothing to do with the main cast, these subplots will almost always pertain to her relationship with a man, despite being supposedly hardcore career focused.
* Mrs Onedin in TheOnedinLine. Justified in that the marriage was her idea as a way to seal a business alliance and both parties profited equally.
* ThatSeventiesShow had three major female characters. Donna and Jackie was either dating or fought over by the boys, and Kitty is Eric's mom.

* The director's cut of ''[=~Star Ocean: Till the End of Time~=]'' added this for Clair and Nel. Their respective fathers used to have the same jobs they did.
** Especially odd since they lived in a matriarchal kingdom. As specifically mentioned by the characters.
* Koei's {{Dynasty Warriors}} and {{Samurai Warriors}} games are pretty guilty of this, although it would be hard to entirely avoid as they are set in historical China and Japan, where few women would be able to make names for themselves without being linked to a man. But that doesn't mean they need to constantly talk about how much they love their beloved, sheesh.
* Eva of the DevilMayCry series could be an example of the trope, if only she wasn't ''solely'' spoken of as "mother to Dante and Vergil" or "wife of Sparda", or any variation or combination thereof. She's pretty much a blank slate of a character and no backstory whatsoever is given as to what she did ''before'' meeting an over-two-thousand year old devil, bearing his children, and then dying horribly in a demon attack to save said children. She's pretty much defined by those relationships and nothing else, not counting Trish who is meant to be her clone (and acts nothing like her). The ShoutOut in {{Bayonetta}} appears to fill in the gap in Eva's story by making her an accomplished dark witch that fought off the forces of Inferno, but she had to make a contract with a 'Legendary Dark Knight' before that happened.

* A common complaint about ''PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Professor Juniper is the first female Pokémon Professor to appear in the games, and she's also the first Pokémon Professor stated to have learned her trade from her father, who also is a prominent NPC.
** Which is a bit unfortunate, given that the character was originally meant to be a male and ''still'' have the whole 'inherited trade from father' aspect.

* Inverted, or something, in one episode of TheSimpsons. Lisa laments that since her father Homer is kind of an idiot, she fears that she'll ultimately fail in life due to his genes...or something. So, he gathers up relatives from all over the country and finds that the female members of the family, and only the female members, have intelligent, fulfilling careers. Homer and Bart are crestfallen...but then quickly accept the fact that most of the male line are thickheaded idiots. They even participate in a headbutting contest. Yeah, it was a weird episode.

* The sequel of ''TheSecretOfNimh'' ignores all of the heroic deeds Mrs. Brisby has done in the original movie. Instead all the praise goes to her late husband and their youngest son, who get treated like saints. Mrs. Brisby contents herself with the role of the loving mother.
* Barbara Gordon in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' starts out as mainly important because she is Commissioner Gordon's daughter (and later Dick's love interest). The trope is inverted, however, in BatmanBeyond, where Sam Young's role as district attorney is mostly just window-dressing for his ''real'' role as Barbara Gordon's husband.
* Inverted in AvatarTheLastAirbender: Katara accompanies Aang because she wants to learn waterbending and Sokka comes along because he feels he needs to a) protect his sister and b) help the avatar defeat the fire nation. In the second season it's completely averted by Mai, Toph, and Ty Lee as all three are expressly defying their family's wishes by going on adventures (though it could be argued that Mai's relationship with Zuko eventually plays this straight). The only case in which this trope is played straight is with [[TheDragon Azula]] who is following in [[BigBad her father's]] footsteps, although even this is a partial subversion, as for most of the series Azula [[MagnificentBitch is shown to be a much more threatening villain that Ozai.]]
* [[Futurama]] inverts it: Both Leela, who is an orphan and the captain of the crew, and Mom, the matriarch of her own company, earned their ranks. [[spoiler: Granted, Mom worked with the Professor in the beginning of her career, but there's no doubt she herself had quite a bit of say in how the robots ultimately turned out.]]

* Weirdly narrative example in ThePrincessAndTheFrog; it's obvious to the viewer that Tiana achieves her goals with hard work, sacrifice, and dedication to her dream, but every character in the movie that knows about Tiana's father constantly links her success to his influence, including Tiana herself. A fairly common criticism of the plot is that her dream of owning a restaurant is really her father's, and Tiana's real dream-come-true is falling in love.
** This is subtly shown at the end, when she finally does set up her restaurant. It is shown to be green and frog-themed and named "Tiana's Palace", clearly based off of her experience as a frog. In an earlier scene where she imagines her restaurant, it is done up in the yellow style her father had planned on using. The idea was that she still kept to her dream, but was now doing it for herself rather than for her father. Of course, there's the fact that it's based off of the time she spent with the man who would become her husband, so yeah... (although Naveen arguably only achieved his dream because of Tiana also)
*** The issue of Tiana's father's influence on her life also serves as a strengthening element in the relationship between her and Naveen. Naveen is the only character who appreciates how deeply Tiana is dedicated to her dream of owning a restaurant, but never knows anything about her father beyond what little she tells him, and is thus the only character who respects Tiana's good qualities as actually being her own-- part of what she ''needed'' was to get out of her dad's shadow.

* Averted by Laura Chincilla and Dilma Rousseff, the presidents of Costa Rica and Brazil respectively, who are the only female rulers in Latin America not to have gotten the position through being the wife of a former president.

* One SilverAge {{Superman}} comic has Lois Lane telling the story of how she got her job at the Daily Planet, telling Clark Kent "And I'll have you know I did it without your help!". Through the course of the story, we discover that Superman was secretly helping her all along.

* In BlueBloods they are a police dynasty so everyone's success is family including the daughter Erin(who is a DA). However it is less from pulling strings and more from tradition.
* ''{{Criminal Minds}}'' plays with this when they introduce Emily Prentiss. The first thing we learn about her is that her parents are diplomats, and the audience (and, it's implied, the characters) assume that this is how she got her job. This isn't the case at all, and she remains an important character, which her parents are... not.
* The women in TheBigBangTheory are mostly GirlOfTheWeek or long term love interests for one of the boys. A possible exception is Amy, Sheldon's "kinda sorta girlfriend".
* StarTrekDeepSpaceNine has many women on it: but would Captain Sisko's girlfriend, Quark's mother, or Chief O'brien's wife even be on the show if it weren't for the men they're related to? This becomes most troubling when Jadzia Dax, one of the show's main characters, eventually becomes little more than Worf's fiancee and later his wife. After that, she was only one half of a couple, and definitely the lesser half.

* Barbara Gordon in BatmanTheAnimatedSeries starts out as mainly important because she is Commissioner Gordon's daughter (and later Dick's love interest). The trope is inverted, however, in BatmanBeyond, where Sam Young's role as district attorney is mostly just window-dressing for his ''real'' role as Barbara Gordon's husband.