History Main / NoWomansLand

** The main distinction between these two is that Grayson's other [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is adaptability. Thus after exposure to foreign powers and particularly seeing Honor in action they begin reforms. Still, their world suffers from a high mortality rate among male infants so plural marriages remain a fact of life.

* In AvatarTheLastAirbender, women in the northern water tribe are forbidden from learning to fight )they must become healers), and are forced into arranged marriages.

** There is a {{real life}} subculture that ascribes to this theory -- called Goreans. Generally not well-liked by other subcultures or mainstream society.
*** Every Gorean this troper has ever met is female and thinks nothing is wrong with it.
*** Further, among Gorean lifestylers and Gorean fans, women outnumber men as much as 10 to 1. Granted, some of them indulge in some revisionist contortions to wrap their heads comfortably around the UnfortunateImplications.

** So a legal adult was basically kidnapped by her parents, had her passport stolen by them so she couldn't leave the country and was essentially forced to be with someone her parents approved of? Sounds like Mom and Dad created their own little No Woman's Land.

* ''[=~300~=]'' has the unfortunate Persian messenger astounded to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a counsel. This is generally assumed to be part of the film's attempt to portray the Greco-Persian war as an allegory for {{the War on Terror}}. In reality, Spartan women did enjoy more rights than in any other Greek city-state. Dido's line, "Only Spartan women give birth to real men," was directed at the Athenians in "[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory historical]]" record. However, Persian women enjoyed more rights than Spartan women at the time.

* One of the [[SoBadItsHorrible many, many flaws]] in ''{{FATAL}}'' is turning medieval Europe into one of these. Granted, the Dark Ages weren't known for their contributions to Women's Liberation, but..

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* The Warcraft rpg by WhiteWolf says [[AllTrollsAreDifferent female trolls]] are just breeding stock and property used to make more trolls. WorldOfWarcraft heavily disagrees however, as there are many female trolls leaders like Arlokk, Mar'li, Lor'khan, Jeklik, and Primal Torntusk in various troll tribes, various troll males [[http://www.wowhead.com/quest=3822 treating]] [[http://www.wowhead.com/quest=7842 their mates]] [[http://www.wowhead.com/npc=28902#comments with respect]], and troll mooks coming in both genders, so this seems to be a Case of ArmedWithCanon.
** It also states this about [[PigMan quilboars]] who are practically matriarchal in ''{{World of Warcraft}}''.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women There may be some truth to that premise,]] though it's [[OrSoIHeard probably far from a documentary]].

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* ''[=~300~=]'' has the unfortunate Persian messenger astounded to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a counsel. Although the queen's retort ("Only Spartan women give birth to real men,") throws the Spartans right back into chauvinism, because she's still valued only for her breeding ability. And she's a racist! Not to mention that Persians treated their women better than any of the Greeks -- in RealLife (or at least the "[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory historical]]" record), Dido said that to ''Athenians''. Further evidence that this film uses the Greco-Persian War as a allegory for {{the War on Terror}}.
** "Only Spartan women give birth to real men" is actually a pretty good summary of the Spartan attitude towards women and why they were historically much more gender egalitarian than the democratic Athenians. If your society values manliness above all else then you're going to want your women to be capable of manliness too.
* Jake in ''TheBluesBrothers'' film acts like someone who's from there when he's at the fine diner. Specifically, he pretends to be interested in purchasing a neighboring table's females.

This trope is not only the portrayal of the Islamic world. India, Southeast Asia, and the whole African continent don't get off well either. These cultural areas are as vastly different from each other as they are from the West. They're as old, as complex and (dare I say it?) worth appreciation as the Western culture, or (for the nerds) the Far Eastern. Asian propagandists have been known to depict Westerners as misogynists as well. This trope works on the unspoken assumption that other cultures are inherently dysfunctional and ''barbaric'' and they don't take time to make it logical or realistic or even show the truth, choosing to generalize and shock instead.

Related to: DamselInDistress, UnfortunateImplications, ButItReallyHappened and probably many other unpleasant tropes. MedievalMorons sees people of another time as essentially cruel and stupid. Contrast LadyLand.

*** You're missing the point. Also, for more fun... Spartan brides had to initially dress as boys to wean their men off homosexuality.
*** Another reason for the sexual egalitarianism is the fact that all male Spartans were soldiers into their thirties. Women were left to run all the businesses and other functions of Spartan society that slaves couldn't fulfill.
**** Slavery existed in Sparta, but limited to the upper classes in the typical use of the word. [[YourMileageMayVary Historians disagree somewhat]] as to how the helots were actually regarded.
*** It has been said their approach to women was to ensure the children they gave birth to would be strong.
* Jake in ''TheBluesBrothers'' film acts like someone who's from there when he's at the fine diner.
** Specifically, he pretends to be interested in purchasing a neighboring table's females.

-->-- [[{{Borat}} Borat Sagdiyev]]

* ''[[KissOfTheDragon Kiss of the Dragon]]'', a Jet Li vehicle set in Paris, plays this trope straight by having Bridget Fonda as a woman from some rural region in the ''US'' who was lured to France and ended up forced to work as a prostitute for the BigBad.
* A particularly notorious use of the trope is the Hong Kong "Women in Prison" sexploitation flick ''Bamboo House of Dolls'', in which the Japanese capture a bunch of American nurses in China during WorldWarTwo and subject them and their Chinese cellmates to various forms of torture and sexual abuse.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women There may be some truth to that premise,]] though it's [[OrSoIHeard probably far from a documentary.]]

** There is a RealLife subculture that ascribes to this theory - called Goreans. Generally not well-liked by other subcultures or mainstream society.

** Worth noting, is that Barrayar is sort of a literal NoWomansLand, as a long period of favoring male children resulted in a gross imbalance in the sexes- see China.

** Taken rather more literally in CultColony Athos. The founders landed there with ovarian tissue cultures and one needs special clearances to even see ''pictures'' of a woman.

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* [[{{Ruritania}} Elbonia]] of the ''{{Dilbert}}'' comics.
* ''Non Sequitur'' has had a good many Sunday strips, showing one human and a few other male animals drinking and eating junk food on a couch together, all pre-women, of course.
* Berkely Breathed's ''{{Outland}}'' had the Men's Couch for Opus, Bill the Cat and Milquetoast the Cockroach- a very similar concept to the one used in ''Non Sequitur''.

* In the ''{{Firefly}}'' episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds", Saffron says that on her planet, a woman is always subservient to the male until her father/brother uses her as payment for something, or sells her. [[spoiler:This may or may not be true, but the crew of Serenity certainly buys her story.]]
** The viewer does as well, given that it's a JossWhedon show. His track record with [[StrawmanPolitical straw misogynists]] is well established, and this trope is played dead straight in episodes like "Heart of Gold".

* Played very {{Anvilicious}}ly in the early ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode "Emancipation" which featured Samantha Carter becoming a BlitheSpirit on a planet with this as their [[PlanetOfHats hat]].

* ''Kiss of the Dragon'', a Jet Li vehicle set in Paris, plays this trope straight by having Bridget Fonda as a woman from some rural region in the ''US'' who was lured to France and ended up forced to work as a prostitute for the BigBad.

* A recent ''DoctorPhil'' arc featured a girl (19, I think) who moved to the Middle East to marry a boy she'd met on the Internet. The point was heavily delivered that if she married him while over there, she would lose all her rights as a person. So her parents smuggled her back and revoked her passport and had her date an American boy. [[UnfortunateImplications You know where]] [[AcceptableTargets this goes]].
** So her parents took away her right to make decisions about her life in order to prevent her from living in a place that would remove her right to make decisions about her life.
** It was more Dr Phil's comments that Persian men [[MarsNeedsWomen seek]] out [[WhereDaWhiteWomenAt American women]] to brainwash and hold hostage.

** Elbonia is an intentional parody aimed at the American perception of (in Adams' words) "any nation without cable TV."

* ''[=~300~=]'' has the unfortunate Persian messenger astounded to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a counsel. Although the queen's retort ("Only Spartan women give birth to real men,") throws the Spartans right back into chauvinism, because she's still valued only for her breeding ability. And she's a racist! Not to mention that Persians treated their women better than any of the Greeks -- in RealLife (or at least the "[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory historical]]" record), Dido said that to ''Athenians''. Further evidence that this film uses the Greco-Persian War as a synechdoche for {{the War on Terror}}.

**** Also, 'synecdoche' is in no way correctly used in the opening paragraph. I think you meant 'allegory'.

* ''{{Shitsurakuen}}''. A metaphor for the callous ambivalence towards students being bullied pushed to Anvilicious levels. Girls in Utopia Gakuen are nothing but objects to be hoarded, fought over, abused and discarded at leisure by the boys, who are [[TheSlytherins universally depicted as doing so]].

** Taking it a step further, lesbians, rebellious women and women with compromised fertility are forced into prostitution if they're lucky or sent to work as slaves in toxic environments until they die horribly if they're not. This is made more disturbing by the fact that those who are charged with the task of indoctrinating women into such a life of servitude, The Aunts, are other women.

* The Warcraft rpg by {{Whitewolf}} says [[AllTrollsAreDifferent female trolls]] are just breeding stock and property used to make more trolls. WorldOfWarcraft heavily disagrees however, as there are many female trolls leaders like Arlokk, Mar'li, Lor'khan, Jeklik, and Primal Torntusk in various troll tribes, various troll males [[http://www.wowhead.com/quest=3822 treating]] [[http://www.wowhead.com/quest=7842 their mates]] [[http://www.wowhead.com/npc=28902#comments with respect]], and troll mooks coming in both genders, so this seems to be a Case of ArmedWithCanon.

->When you come to Kazakhstan, you are all invited to stay at my house, eat my food [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and use my sister]].\\
-- ''{{Borat}}''

* ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]'' has the unfortunate Persian messenger astounded to see that the Spartans allow women (or at least, the queen) to speak at a counsel. Although the queen's retort ("Only Spartan women give birth to real men,") throws the Spartans right back into chauvinism, because she's still valued only for her breeding ability. And she's a racist! Not to mention that Persians treated their women better than any of the Greeks - in RealLife (or at least the "[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory historical]]" record), Dido said that to ''Athenians''. Further evidence that this film uses the Greco-Persian War as a synechdoche for the War on Terror.

*** You're missing the point. Also, for more fun... Spartan brides had to initially dress as boys to wean their men off homosexuality.
***Another reason for the sexual egalitarianism is the fact that all male Spartans were soldiers into their thirties. Women were left to run all the businesses and other functions of Spartan society that slaves couldn't fulfill.

* The short story ''Taboos'' by Mary Caraker. Among other things, women are forbidden literacy.
* Subverted in ''TheBelgariad''. Garion initially reacts poorly on finding out that Nadrak society dictates that women should have male "owners"...until learning that "ownership" works out to what is essentially a mutually beneficial business relationship instead of slavery.

**Also a subversion. The nominally powerless women are arguably as powerful as the men, and not just in the power-behind-the-throne sense. Cordelia, coming from gender-integrated Beta Colony, simply does what she would do anyway and stops a coup; Alys Vorpatril runs the Imperial Palace and can pretty much compel the outcomes of votes by the (male) Counts.

*** Only in the upper classes, really.
*** To be fair, this is in the context of a technology that allowed parents to assign a sex to their baby before conception, not to female infanticide. (While infanticide actually ''is'' an issue in Barrayaran society, it was practiced on the basis of mutation and deformity, not gender.) The new technology led to a huge imbalance in favor of male children, but the imbalance period really only lasted a decade or so before social pressures balanced them out.

* Janine Cross' ''Dragon Temple Trilogy'' one ups Gor: Women aren't just considered property, they're ''disposable'' property. They work, eat and sleep separately from men. They sleep on raised mats so that their "filthy female secretions" don't desecrate the soil. "Unclaimed" women (adult women not taken as wives) are subject to becoming sex slaves (which is an express ticket to a horrible, diseased death). Those women who do have power only have that which is granted by the men in their lives (powerful husbands or male relatives). Those with Dhjibi blood (denoted by mottled skin) are doubly-disposable. Naturally, in their own lands, [[NobleSavage the Dhjibi]] have more or less equality of the sexes.

* In the ''{{Firefly}}'' episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds," Saffron claims that on her planet, a woman is always subservient to the male until her father/brother uses her as payment for something, or sells her. This may or may not be true, but the crew of Serenity certainly buys her story.
** The viewer does as well, given that it's a JossWhedon show. His track record with [[StrawmanPolitical straw misogynists]] is well established, and this trope is played dead straight in episodes like "Heart of Gold."
*** It's no so much straw misogynists as this is a [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]]. There are planets that do much worse than mistreat women.

** [[DisContinuity And the fans hated it]].

** A similar plot was used on the Joss Whedon (again) show ''Angel'' in the season 3 episode "Billy". The touch of the episode's villain turns men (including a couple of the protagonists) into murderous misogynists. In this case, it wasn't so much horrifying as it was anvilicious.
* In StarTrek, the Ferengi exemplify this trope ''to an extreme''. Ferengi women aren't allowed to handle money, think for themselves, or ''wear clothes''. They also [[{{Squick}} pre-chew their husbands' food]].

** It also states this about [[{{Pigman}} quilboars]] who are practically matriarchal in WorldOfWarcraft.

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*** Unfortunately, this is true to the extent of being relative, too. In Eagleland, this fact is often portrayed as representing Africa in somewhat of a totality.

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* The flashback sequences of the "Working Through Pain" vignette in ''{{Batman}}'': Gotham Knight seemed to be set in one of these. The female mentor Bruce Wayne seeks out is a pariah by her local community because she dared to undergo TrainingFromHell reserved for Men Only.

* ''{{Shitsurakuen}}''. So very, very much. Girls in Utopia Gakuen are nothing but objects to be hoarded, fought over, abused and discarded at leisure by the boys. Which they gleefully do.