History Main / LysistrataGambit

It is OlderThanFeudalism; the {{Trope Namer|s}} comes from ''Theatre/{{Lysistrata}}'', a Greek comedy by Creator/{{Aristophanes}}. It was considered comically absurd at the time, due to the prevailing idea that AllWomenAreLustful. To understand the humor in modern western culture, imagine if it was all the men who refused to have sex. While its original implementation was more complex, it was {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed (specifically by Hollywood) as "[[DoubleStandard the woman threatens to withhold sex from her man]]".

Lesbians in fiction never withhold sex from each other, either because they understand each other well enough that this is unnecessary, or because [[AllWomenArePrudes women don't want sex]] and you can't withhold what you aren't having in the first place, or because doing so would [[GirlOnGirlIsHot trigger the collapse of the Internet]]. And men, of course, are [[ImAManICantHelpIt incapable of withholding sex]] (which is why withholding sex ''from'' them is so effective), so they can't try this on their women. Plus, as noted earlier, women don't even want sex in the first place, so it wouldn't work on them anyway. Well, except on cable, where the standards of drama have (only just) caught up to those of ancient Greece, where AllWomenAreLustful. Hollywood's idea of men, women, and heterosexual relationships are [[ValuesDissonance peculiar compared to other times and places]].

Compare DeniedFoodAsPunishment and BathroomControl, for when the characters are not allowed to eat or go to the bathroom as punishment.

* In ''Literature/TheNowhereGirls'', the protagonists declare a strike on all sexual activity, from intercourse to kissing, until the boys of Prescott High start behaving better. The strike is meant to get the attention not of the rapists, but of the other boys who allow the rapes to continue through their silence. Enough of the female students go along with the strike to make the popular boys want revenge.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the fifth episode, Louis de Pointe du Lac withholds sex from his boyfriend Lestat as payback for the latter's cruel ToughLove stance during the Charlie incident which drove their vampire daughter Claudia away.

* In ''Creator/AbbottAndCostello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'', some suffragettes sing about withholding affection from men until women get the vote.

* In ''{{Series/Bones}}'' “The Cold In The Case”, the lab gang is talking about re-animation and Hodgins starts to say it sounds really cool. Angela quips “if you say “cool”l you won’t be having sex for,like,a year.”. He quickly corrects himself to say “revolting”.

* An episode of ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager'' has nearly all the girls in school agreeing to [[ADateWithRosiePalms take matters into their own hands]] and not sleep with the guys as an act of revenge against their philandering (or perceived to be cheating/thinking about cheating) boyfriends. It doesn't last, though.

%%* Subverted in an AwfulWeddedLife comedy in which the wife threatens "no sex for a year". The husband snarks back, "I think I can afford to miss out on three screws."