History Main / BeAWhoreToGetYourMan

* ''Theatre/AChorusLine'' has "be a whore to get your career" in the song "Dance Ten, Looks Three." The performer who got plastic surgery is perfectly fine with it and encourages others to do the same.

* In ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', this is the sort of tactic that works pretty well for most characters such as ex-porn star Amber (and that matter for her friend [[CampGay Dillon]]), but it ends up being averted in the case of Amber's sister Ruby. When she decides that she'd like to go to bed with her boyfriend Andy, Ruby attempts [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/gotta-keep-fit a series of increasingly blatant hints and offers]] (including borrowing Amber's quite respectable but pretty darned brazen LittleBlackDress), but everything bounces off Andy. When she finally insists on discussing the matter, it turns out that Andy is nervous and slightly unsure of his sexuality, but prepared to be ''talked'' rationally into going ahead.

* Siesta from ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero''. She is originally a kind, gentle and modest maid, but falling in love with Saito makes her push herself so much that she begins to use various costumes that enforce her sex appeal to try to seduce him. It fails

* Siesta from ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero''. She is originally a kind and gentle maid, but falling in love with Saito makes her push herself so much that [[TheScrappy she triggers audiences' hatred.]]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' Tina's new friend encourages Tina to change her style (complete with the typical middle school/junior high Too Much Makeup look) to attract Jimmy Pesto. Tina eventually realizes the makeup (and getting "drunk" on her mom's ''non-alcoholic'' margarita mix) isn't really her and decides to go back to her old style.

You will not often see this trope in shows produced before the 1960s or so, except in cases where the woman is already married to the man whose interest she wants to (re)acquire. The common trope before the 1960s was that [[MadonnaWhoreComplex men would happily tumble into bed with women who said "yes" but would only marry the woman who said "no"]]. This makes ''Grease'', set in the 1950s, somewhat anachronistic, as a real-life Sandy would have been seen in her time frame as doing ''exactly the wrong thing'' to catch Danny--unless she only wanted to catch him for the night. As the bad boy, however, Danny is intentionally at odds with the conventional morality of his time.

* Parodied in ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Khena'': Dev tells Maya she has to spice things up with her husband to make her marriage work, so she shows up at their apartment dressed like a dominatrix and wielding a whip. Turns out all of her husband's friends are here to watch the football game...

* ''Film/SplendorInTheGrass''. Deanie won't let Bud have sex with her because good girls don't have sex in 1928 Kansas. This leads to Bud breaking up with Deanie. In an effort to win Bud back, Deanie tarts herself up and tries to seduce him, but fails. Apparently Bud is just not able to see her in that way, or [[NoGuyWantsToBeChased maybe she just came on too strong]]. In any event, her effort to seduce Bud at the dance fails.

* At the beginning of ''Film/LoveFindsAndyHardy'', Polly is hesitant to let Andy kiss her, saying "Really, l think we're getting much too old for that sort of thing, hugging and kissing." At the end, having been made jealous by Betsy, and with Andy having gone through a serious flirtation with sexy Cynthia, Polly lays a long kiss on Andy.

* OlderThanFeudalism example from Literature/TheBible: Tamar ''literally'' pretended to be a prostitute in a plan that ultimately got her the son that the law, later codified in Mosaic law[[note]]basically, if you're a woman whose husband dies without giving you children, you marry his brother, if he has one, thereby making it still possible that you'll still have children, counted as being your deceased husband's. Onan didn't like that the children wouldn't be counted as ''his'', so when he did it with Tamar, he pulled out before ejaculating, and was killed for it. Judah was supposed to let her marry his ''next'' son when he got old enough, but he, probably fearing that there was a curse on her, wasn't doing it even though he said he would, so she enacted the plan mentioned above[[/note]], entitled her to have from Judah.

* In his book ''The Intelligent Woman's Guide To Manhunting'' Dr. Albert Ellis advises single women that the eligible men prefer to marry women who [[ReallyGetsAround have a good deal of sexual experience]] and [[SexIsEvil sexually conservative]] men are fascists, [[MeddlingParents under parental domination]] and under the influence of an [[HolierThanThou orthodox religion]]. He also says that in order to attract the right man, a girl should start [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating]], [[TechnicalVirgin petting]] and she should also [[SexAsRiteOfPassage lose her virginity]] while she's in her teens. Dr. Ellis also recommends to young women they should become sexual gourmets before they marry by sleeping with a lot of guys and that a woman should have had say, between 10 and 20 sexual partners by her wedding day:
--> Try a reasonably large variety of sex partners before you settle down to your one-and-only. Don't be cowed by the term "promiscuity"--which, rightly defined, means indiscriminate sexual congress. Almost no girl, except a real prostitute who sells her favors to anyone who comes along is truly promiscuous since most girls get hundreds of of sex offers from men every year, and even if they accepted a score or more of these offers they would be far from indiscriminate in their selection. So don't surrender to the promiscuity bugaboo.

* Subverted in ''Series/ToddAndTheBookOfPureEvil''. Hannah dresses up as a sexy rocker chick, complete with a short skirt and a low-cut shirt, in order to win the affections of the main character. She then climbs in through his bedroom window and makes some rather deliberate advances toward him. [[AvertedTrope Todd is weirded out]] by Hannah's behaviour and remains [[SingleTargetSexuality fixated]] on his love interest, Jenny. Later, she bemoans what she's turned herself into and switches back to her [[HotScientist science geek]] wardrobe.

** The situation is reversed with Peg. If she'd spent less time trying to be a sexpot and more time trying to be an ideal housewife (cooking, cleaning, etc,) then Al would spend a lot more love and attention on her. This fact was highlighted in one episode where Peg, for whatever reason, had to clean up the backyard--Al watched with a CheshireCatGrin and, every now and then, would take Peg upstairs... something she dreaded in this case, since she was worn out from the manual labor.
* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' features several episodes where Lucy tries to sexy herself up either because she thinks Ricky is not paying enough attention to her or because she's jealous of the young women he works with. One of the "country" episodes features the husbands lusting after a sexy young girl in a tight dress (played by a pre-''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'' Creator/BarbaraEden) so Lucy, Ethel and Grace (aka "Country Ethel") glamorize themselves to compete for their husbands' attention.

* Creator/ChrisRock had a stand-up bit based on how past relationships shape the requirements for current relationships for men and women differently: "Women can't go backwards in terms of lifestyle, while men can't go backwards sexually." Basically, Rock told the women in the audience that if their men kept insisting on kinky sex acts, it was because a previous girlfriend did it for him.

No I'm positive\\

** Lois took Meg out shopping, and pushed shirts that had "Porn Star" and "Sperm Dumpster" written on them. This is a comment on several things, one is the characters of Lois and Meg, but the other is the fact that such shirts really are sold to girls.

** Interestingly subverted in "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset," in which the girls dress and act like, well, stupid spoiled whores, but as part of a fad that is an end in and of itself and NOT to attract male attention. In fact, the boys seem put off by the girls' new personae, and unlike the episodes where Wendy sluts herself up to attract Stan's attention, in this one she rails against the fad.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' when [[AlphaBitch Melody]] makes over [[TheSmartGuy Bright Eyes]] to be 'cool' rather than a bookworm. Her new look and attitude completely backfires, causing an also-made up [[TwiceShy Lancer]] to reject her at the same time she rejects ''his'' [[JerkJock new persona]]. The two get together [[BeYourself after reverting to their normal selves]], much to Melody's [[WrongGenreSavvy complete confusion]].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' Tina's new friend encourages Tina to change her style (complete with the typical middle school/junior high Too Much Makeup look) to attract Jimmy Pesto. Tina eventually realizes the makeup (and getting "drunk" on her mom's ''non-alcoholic'' margarita mix) isn't really her, and decides to go back to her old style.

* In ''Literature/OnlyEverYours'' by Louise O'Neill, [[spoiler:freida]] sleeps with [[spoiler:Darwin]] thinking it will make him fall in love with her and choose her as his "companion." [[spoiler:This leads to disaster for all involved.]]

* Inverted in "Rancho Deluxe" where an older man's sweet, timid, good girl niece cries her way into a man's confidence, getting him to confess his crimes. [[spoiler: It then turns out she actually the older man's smoking hot girlfriend playing the young man all the time]]

* TropeCodifier, Sandy in ''Film/{{Grease}}'' changes from a sweet girl next door to a bad girl.[[note]] Creator/MarieOsmond turned down the role ''because'' of the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop.[[/note]] The film also shows Danny ''trying'' to become the Varsity Good Guy to be with Sandy--still, he's extremely glad she made those changes. Kind of weird as they had a relationship that apparently more or less ''worked'' before she changed to fit in with his friends. The 1950s (in which the film is set) actually put a good deal of value on fitting in with one's social group, and the 1970s (in which the film was made) was all about reinventing yourself to make your life better.
** Subverted by the 2016 Live TV version. In this adaptation, Sandy is given a backstory in-which her parents have always had a lot of control over her life. This is emphasized by how she lies to them about going to study at her friend's house in-order to secretly go to prom, which her parents would disapprove of since they never let her go to dances. With this backstory in-mind, Sandy's decision to take on a "bad girl" appearance at the end of the show is clearly ''not'' due to the pressure from her friends to fit in, but instead due to Sandy's newfound confidence to be who she has always felt like she was on the inside, ''not'' who her parents (or friends, for that matter) want her to be. This is emphasized by Sandy's discussion with Rizzo right before the makeover, where Rizzo makes sure that this is something Sandy wants to do before they go through with it.
* ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}'' plays this one utterly straight, with the protagonist Kevin's girlfriend Any starting off the film as frigid, prudish, and impossible to please (she calls him "pathetic" because he lost an impromptu mock battle against a friend who'd literally just gotten back from the Army). Then the hobgoblins use their MindControl powers to lower her inhibitions, which makes her go to the local nightclub and start stripping before her friends intervene. By the end of the film it's clear both Kevin and Amy are happier now that she's "loosened up". ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'''s remarks on this:

* Parodied in ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Khena'': Dev tells Maya she has to spice things up with her husband to make her mariage work, so she shows up at their apartment dressed like a dominatrix and wielding a whip. Turns out all of her husband's friends are here to watch the football game...

* Lampshaded in ''Film/TheUntoldStory''. The lone female cop dresses in a slutty fashion in order to impress the men in the precinct. They are impressed but the chief tells her she looks "like a whore". She replies with "but this is the way your girlfriends dress" and he quickly responds with, "But they are whores, my dear."
* ''Film/DangerousBeauty'': Marco Venier refuses to marry Veronica Franco because her family has no money for a dowry. Unable to marry well without a dowry, Veronica has no way to support herself except by becoming a [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]], literally a whore. Marco eventually persuades her to become his mistress, and they eventually live happily ever after (his wife is less happy about that).

* Exploited in ''Series/RobinHood'' Kate dresses up as a drunken and flirty tavern wench in order to provide a distraction for a man that the outlaws are trying to con. Granted, she's not doing it specifically to get Robin's attention, but it does seem a rather interesting coincidence that the two become a couple in the very next episode.

* Inverted in one episode of ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', where Hilary, a ValleyGirl-type, meets an attractive doctor while volunteering. She is frustrated as to why he's not interested until Will tells her that he's more of the intellectual type of person. She takes it to the extreme and starts dressing frumpily and pretending she's interested in politics.

* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', after the Faye-Dora-Marten [[TriangRelations Love-Triangle]] finally collapsed, with Dora and Marten winding up together, Faye heads home to visit her mother and unwind for a bit. After telling her mother the entire story, the old lady tells her that, back in the day, she'd been stuck in a similar love-triangle with Faye's late father - and, obviously, won, resulting in the following conversation:

-->'''[=FayeMom=]''': Oh, that was easy. I just put out first.

-->'''[=FayeMom=]''': Well I didn't say it was EXACTLY like your situation!

* [[DarkChick Karin]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is often [[DieForOurShip seen as such]] by many fans (especially the "whore" part). From the very beginning, any time she's alone with Sasuke she'll [[TheGlassesGottaGo take off her glasses]] and go [[{{Tsundere}} from tsun-tsun to dere-dere]]. Not to mention her willingness to rape him while their team mates sleep; they're understandably leery of leaving her alone with a wounded Sasuke. Ultimately subverted though in that [[spoiler: not only does this totally fail to get Sasuke's attention, but Sasuke stabs her and tries to kill her when she gets taken hostage and becomes a burden.]]

* ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' fan favorite episode on ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}'' have the cast discuss the trope.

* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' features several episodes where Lucy tries to sexy herself up either because she thinks Ricky is not paying enough attention to her or because she's jealous of the young women he works with. One of the "country" episodes features the husbands lusting after a sexy young girl in a tight dress (played by a pre-''Jeanne'' Creator/BarbaraEden) so Lucy, Ethel and Grace (aka "Country Ethel") glamorize themselves to compete for their husbands' attention.

* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' features several episodes where Lucy tries to sexy herself up either because she thinks Ricky is not paying enough attention to her or because she's jealous of the young women he works with. One of the "country" episodes features the husbands lusting after a sexy young girl in a tight dress (played by a pre-''Jeanne'' Barbara Eden) so Lucy, Ethel and Grace (aka "Country Ethel") glamorize themselves to compete for their husbands' attention.

* Subverted in ''MyLittlePonyTales'' when [[AlphaBitch Melody]] makes over [[TheSmartGuy Bright Eyes]] to be 'cool' rather than a bookworm. Her new look and attitude completely backfires, causing an also-made up [[TwiceShy Lancer]] to reject her at the same time she rejects ''his'' [[JerkJock new persona]]. The two get together [[BeYourself after reverting to their normal selves]], much to Melody's [[WrongGenreSavvy complete confusion]].

* {{Degrassi}}: Manny did this in order to stop being seen as [[TheCutie cute]] and win over a random one-shot character, but it's most remembered for helping her win over [[YourCheatingHeart Craig]].
* Subverted in Series/{{Zoey 101}}: Quinn does this to get Mark back, but fails. [[spoiler: Logan]] does fall for her, but only after he puts her glasses back on.

* A number of people advise for or against it in the ''WheelOfTime''. The most notable proponent is Berelain, who used seduction as a means to keep her tiny kingdom of Mayenne free from powerful neighbors. She tried to turn up the charm on Rand, who was mostly oblivious, and on Perrin, who was happily married. In general, genuine affection and respect win out over this trope for the good guys, and if it does work then it's a sign that the characters in question aren't protagonist material. Even the moderately-lecherous Mat is turned off by this trope.

* Inverted in ''Series/{{Glee}}'': Kurt (knowing Finn won't like it) encourages Rachel to dress like a slut to attract him. When she recreates Sandy's black outfit from ''{{Grease}}'', Finn tells her she looks like a "sad clown hooker".

* Mocked mercilessly and then torn apart in ''CloneHigh'''s two-part finale: after a series of embarrassing makeovers from Abe and Toots, Cleo completely tarts up Joan of Arc. She [[UnnecessaryMakeover hates the makeover]] but decides to keep it because [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop it makes Abe say she's "hot" for the first time in the whole series]]. She stills ends up going to prom with JFK, because Abe is preoccupied with Cleo. Then JFK admits that he's liked her all along "even when she's not being a slutty whore" and they sleep with each other, just in time for Abe to realize ''he'' likes her and burst in on them.
* At one point in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Lois took Meg out shopping, and pushed shirts that had "Porn Star" and "Sperm Dumpster" written on them. This is a comment on several things, one is the characters of Lois and Meg, but the other is the fact that such shirts really are sold to girls.

You will not often see this trope in shows produced before the 60s or so, except in cases where the woman is already married to the man whose interest she wants to (re)acquire. The common trope before the 1960's was that [[MadonnaWhoreComplex men would happily tumble into bed with women who said "yes" but would only marry the woman who said "no".]] This makes ''Grease'', set in the 1950s, somewhat anachronistic, as a real-life Sandy would have been seen in her time frame as doing ''exactly the wrong thing'' to catch Danny--unless she only wanted to catch him for the night. As the bad boy, however, Danny is intentionally at odds with the conventional morality of his time.

* TropeCodifier, Sandy in ''Film/{{Grease}}'' changes from a sweet girl next door to a bad girl.[[note]] Creator/MarieOsmond turned down the role ''because'' of the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop.[[/note]] The film also shows Danny ''trying'' to become the Varsity Good Guy to be with Sandy -- still, he's extremely glad she made those changes. Kind of weird as they had a relationship that apparently more or less ''worked'' before she changed to fit in with his friends. The 1950s (in which the film is set) actually put a good deal of value on fitting in with one's social group, and the 1970s (in which the film was made) was all about reinventing yourself to make your life better.
** Subverted by the 2016 Live TV version. In this adaptation, Sandy is given a backstory in-which her parents have always had a lot of control over her life. This is emphasized by how she lies to them about going to study at her friend's house in-order to secretly go to prom, which her parents would disapprove of since they never let her go to dances. With this backstory in-mind, Sandy's decision to take on a "bad girl" appearance at the end of the show is clearly NOT due to the pressure from her friends to fit in, but instead due to Sandy's newfound confidence to be who she has always felt like she was on the inside, NOT who her parents (or friends, for that matter) want her to be. This is emphasized by Sandy's discussion with Rizzo right before the makeover, where Rizzo makes sure that this is something Sandy wants to do before they go through with it.

-->'''Crow:''' So, Mike, I learned from today's movie that Daphne was a slut, and Amy wasn't fun until she became a slut.
-->'''Mike Nelson:''' Well, that's the [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop fun message]] of today's movie!

* "I should've beat her where she beat me, in the sack." ''Theatre/TheWomen''--this is the lesson good wife Mary learns when slutty Crystal seduces Mary's husband and steals him away.

--> "You need some nice clothes so we can show you off and make a good match. People are saying you're not as fetching as rumored."

--> Try a reasonably large variety of sex partners before you settle down to your one - and - only. Don't be cowed by the term "promiscuity" - which, rightly defined, means indiscriminate sexual congress. Almost no girl, except a real prostitute who sells her favors to anyone who comes along is truly promiscuous since most girls get hundreds of of sex offers from men every year, and even if they accepted a score or more of these offers they would be far from indiscriminate in their selection. So don't surrender to the promiscuity bugaboo.

** The situation is reversed with Peg. If she'd spent less time trying to be a sexpot and more time trying to be an ideal housewife (cooking, cleaning, etc,) then Al would spend a lot more love and attention on her. This fact was highlighted in one episode where Peg, for whatever reason, had to clean up the backyard - Al watched with a CheshireCatGrin and, every now and then, would take Peg upstairs... something she dreaded in this case, since she was worn out from the manual labor.

-->'''Haley:''' I mean, what did you think Brooke, that I could just dress up in tight, black leather and heels and smoking a cigarette and that it would win back Nathan's heart?
-->'''Brooke:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Wait a minute, you were smoking?]]

-->'''Sandy:''' In order to get the guy you love ... you have to be a slut! What a wonderful message for the youth of America!

* Katy Perry's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A Last Friday Night"]].

* Live musical performances of ''Theatre/{{Grease}}'' follow this trope, having girl-next-door-type, sweet Sandy change to look like a vamp-y bad girl at the end -- to be with Danny and to fit among his friends.
* In ''Theatre/ReturnToTheForbiddenPlanet'', [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Miranda]] tries this on Captain Tempest after he sings about how she's much too young for him. "[[SheIsAllGrownUp Good morrow, big boy!]]" It doesn't work quite the way she wants it -- on the one hand, it ''does'' get the Captain's attention, but the robot Ariel has to remind her that it was her sweetness and charm that attracted the Captain to her in the first place, not a frou-frou frock.

--> Look at her, she's like a nun\\

Miss Prissy Pants won't last a week!

* ''KatawaShoujo'''s case is... unusual. [[spoiler:Hanako doesn't change her appearance, but she ''does'' allow Hisao to have sex with her in order to change his perception of her as [[DontYouDarePityMe someone that needs to be protected]].]] It works, but only after she has to explain it. Furthermore, [[spoiler:the sex is [[FanDisservice obviously very awkward and uncomfortable for Hanako]] and Hisao feels horrible when he finds out the truth.]]

-> ''In ''Film/{{Grease}}'', what did Sandy do to get Danny Zuko? She had to ditch the poodle skirt and slap on a catsuit. In short, she had to dress like a 'ho'.''

* Live musical performances of ''{{Grease}}'' follow this trope, having girl-next-door-type, sweet Sandy change to look like a vamp-y bad girl at the end -- to be with Danny and to fit among his friends.
* In ''[[ForbiddenPlanet Return to the Forbidden Planet]]'', [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Miranda]] tries this on Captain Tempest after he sings about how she's much too young for him. "[[SheIsAllGrownUp Good morrow, big boy!]]" It doesn't work quite the way she wants it -- on the one hand, it ''does'' get the Captain's attention, but the robot Ariel has to remind her that it was her sweetness and charm that attracted the Captain to her in the first place, not a frou-frou frock.