History Main / TheWarOnStraw

[[caption-width-right:350:[-[[https://www.deviantart.com/kevinbolk/art/The-Straw-Man-Argument-202024841 The Straw Man Argument]] by [[https://www.deviantart.com/kevinbolk kevinbolk]]-]]]

'''See also:'''

* GoldenMeanFallacy: To declare that both sides are extreme and the "correct" side is somewhere in the middle.

'''Also see:'''

* StrawCharacter: They exist for one reason and one reason only, to be proven wrong.

The War On Straw has many fronts; among them are:

* MarySuetopia: Not quite straw in-and-of itself; but given [[SturgeonsLaw the quality of most Utopian writing]], a Suetopia is usually more than sufficiently straw-adjacent to qualify for inclusion here.

* LadyLand: You have two options: You have a MarySuetopia, or a Straw {{Dystopia}}. Either way, strawmen are a ''very'' frequent feature. (There are a few non-straw examples of this trope, though. Just note that most versions of LadyLand are somewhere between 60% and 90% straw by volume.)

[[quoteright:250:[[VisualPun https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strawmanguthing.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:If you can't fight your opponent, try this guy instead.]]

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal''

* GrumpyBear: Essentially a straw [[TheCynic cynic]].

Simple: declare war on straw! You're the writer, aren't you? You control what the "other side" has to say. All you need to do is present the opposing position as a laughable shadow of its former self and you can easily knock it over. You'll always be the winner! Everybody loves a winner. Bonus points if the opposing side is violently murdered afterwards (with the killer [[KarmaHoudini never being punished]], naturally, because why would you ever punish someone who's ''right?'').

The flip side (where a position is so off-the-wall that it's impossible to distinguish between a genuine statement and an exaggeration/parody) is PoesLaw. The actual inverse is sometimes referred to as '''steelmanning''', where a debater attacks the ''strongest'' possible interpretation of their opponent's argument, even if it is not the argument they necessarily made. This is often used against evasive "guerrilla debaters" who attempt to avoid actually presenting their own arguments, in the hope of constantly taking shots at their opponent without having to defend their own position.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Social justice activists are easier to attack if you caricature them into prissy pricks who make mountains out of molehills. Even easier if they come from privileged background.

* HeteronormativeCrusader: Can either crop up in [[SlashFic Slash Fics]] where a character is hit by RonTheDeathEater, [[GayAesop Gay Aesops]] via CompressedVice, or CureYourGays stories where this character is the one who's right.

* HollywoodAtheist: Portrays people who don't believe in god(s) as immoral, miserable, or venomous towards believers.

* SubParSupremacist: Character claims a group he's a part of is better than others while failing to exhibit any of those traits.

* StrawMisogynist: For particularly {{Anvilicious}} portrayals of HeManWomanHater characters.

* OldMediaAreEvil: The opposite of NewMediaAreEvil, portraying older technologies as inherently evil.

For more detail about the fallacy upon which this series of tropes is named, see StrawmanFallacy.

Some of the tropes here are not strawmen every time they appear; for instance, a CorruptChurch, AnimalWrongsGroup, or AmoralAttorney can sometimes be used as a villain a la AcceptableTargets [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic without any (deliberate) intention]] of making a larger political statement. Sometimes people use those things with the justification that [[PoesLaw they do exist in reality]] to a limited extent -- but they are still strawmen when used, implicitly or explicitly, [[AssociationFallacy to try to make a larger argument against anyone who shares their beliefs]] (especially if they happen to be particularly extreme and/or alienating to even other people who ''do'' share them but are decidedly more moderate about the topic in question).

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: The idea that virginal, modest women are perfect and deserving of a HappilyEverAfter with TheProtagonist, and women who aren't virgins or don't dress or behave a certain way are irredeemably awful and deserving of violence.

* AntiRoleModel: In order to discourage kids from doing something bad, the writer portrays a character who does said bad things in the worst possible light.
* AssimilationAcademy: Schools are portrayed as soul-sucking institutions designed to mould everyone into being identical.

* BlondeRepublicanSexKitten: Women with conservative values are portrayed as attractive, fit and blonde to combat the stereotype that conservatives mostly consist of old men.

* CorruptChurch: If that trope is used to portray a real-world religion, or an {{Expy}} of one.

* CruellaToAnimals: Pretending anyone who eats meat or wears fur actually likes animals being hurt.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Making the villain object to the strawman's point, implying that you are worse than the villain for agreeing with the strawman.

* GreedyJew: When Jews are conspiring against Western Civilization. Or if not that, when they're written as amoral, greedy and generally unpleasant people.

->''"A straw man argument is one based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To 'set up a straw man' or 'set up a straw man argument' is to describe a position that superficially resembles an opponent's actual view but is easier to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent."''
-->-- ''Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}''

* AngryWhiteMan: When used to portray generalize a majority as ignorant towards the suffering of historically oppressed minorities.

[[caption-width-right:250:Your argument did not address his, but nice try.]]

->''[[TheStinger There's a straaaaawmaaaaan]] [[WaxingLyrical waiting on the net!]] [[Music/DavidBowie He'd like to come debate us,]] [[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars but he knows his points are shit!]]''

* BlondeRepublicanSexKitten: Women with conservative values are portrayed as manipulative [[FemmeFatale Femme Fatales]].