History Main / SpeciesEqualsGender

This trope can also be combined with AnimalMotifs and TransformationConventions. Subtrope to SpeciesCodedForYourConvenience. See also AnimalStereotypes, AnimalGenderBender, PeacockGirl, InsectGenderBender, FemaleFelineMaleMutt, GenderEqualsBreed and OneGenderRace. Related to and usually a subtrope to WomenAreDelicate. Related to PaleFemalesDarkMales and MasculineLinesFeminineCurves.

* '''Horse:''' Most likely to be male, because stallions are considered badass; however, particularly cute/pretty ones are often female. Anything referred to as a "pony", whether it technically is one or not[[note]]actual ponies have shorter legs than other kinds of horse[[/note]], is likely female (see the whole ''MyLittlePony'' franchise).

There are exceptions to the "graceful animals are female, big imposing animals are male" part of the trope. Hippos, for example, are quite often female in fiction and if so will be cast as a fat girl. The WomenAreDelicate aspect is often subverted with large animals who will then just act delicately for comedy, like cows, elephants and the aforementioned hippos.

The opposite is true with insects, where females tend to be bigger and stronger and more likely to have distinguishing marks while males are tiny and nondescript. Because of this insects like mosquitoes, mantises, ants, and bees are usually portrayed as male. Spiders seem to come out all right, though. It's become common knowledge that the female attempts to eat the male during/after coitus, so spiders tend to be portrayed as [[TheVamp vamps]], especially the Black Widow, probably thanks to her very indicative name.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/BugFables,'' which uses realistic sexual division--nearly all of the bees and ants you meet are female, as are all the mosquitos you meet. There's also buff female stag beetles and several male ladybugs. It also internally subverts this with Crisbee, the only confirmed male bee you meet--because he's a carpeter bee, which isn't a eusocial species.

* '''Crows:''' Usually male, the males are slightly larger than the females

* '''Crows:''' Usually male

* '''Crows:''' Most likely male

Usually the more ugly, masculine-looking, or androgynous-looking animals (like pigs, gorillas, Crows, Frogs and toads, rhinos, donkeys, turkeys, and walruses) are more commonly male, while the more beautiful, graceful, or feminine-looking ones (like cats, ladybugs, swans, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and ironically peacocks and [[AnimalGenderBender male-plumaged ostriches]]) are more commonly female. If butterflies are shown as adult butterflies they're all female, but when an "ugly" catepillar is shown it'll be male, and one of the few male butterflies. Some species can be either/or gender wise (like dogs, mice, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, tigers, horses, kangaroos, and snakes).

Usually the more ugly, masculine-looking, or androgynous-looking animals (like pigs, gorillas, CreepyCrows, Frogs and toads, rhinos, donkeys, turkeys, and walruses) are more commonly male, while the more beautiful, graceful, or feminine-looking ones (like cats, ladybugs, swans, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and ironically peacocks and [[AnimalGenderBender male-plumaged ostriches]]) are more commonly female. If butterflies are shown as adult butterflies they're all female, but when an "ugly" catepillar is shown it'll be male, and one of the few male butterflies. Some species can be either/or gender wise (like dogs, mice, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, tigers, horses, kangaroos, and snakes).

* Subverted with Jenny the female donkey in the DonaldDuck cartoons, "Don Donald" and "The Village Smithy" because most cartoon donkeys and mules are male.

* '''Bees:''' More likely male except for the queen, despite being made up mostly of females in Real Life.

* '''Hippos:''' Often female and can be a BigBeautifulWoman.

* '''Humans:''' Can be either equally likely to be male or female or more likely to be male depending on the needs of the story.
* '''Hyenas:''' More likely to be male

* '''Wolves:''' Usually seen as masculine in typical Japanese mythology. Wolves are also the originators of the PapaWolf trope.
* '''Weasels:''' More likely to be male but more commonly female if they are minks.

Anytime a large population of a given species is present, there will often be a more realistic balance of males and females to accurately reflect the human population. Thus in films like ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' (ants), ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'' (bees), ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' (ants), ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'' (penguins), and Disney's adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' (gorillas), males and females are seen together. Even then, the male animal characters in the group are usually the ones with the most prominent roles storywise. It's still not totally realistic, especially not in the case with eusocial insects (like ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}''), as the different genders tend to have widely different roles and appearances and all worker ants, bees, and wasps are female.

!!Common "Stock" Animal Gender Stereotypes Used Can Include:

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There are exceptions to the "graceful animals are female, big imposing animals are male" part of the trope. Hippos, for example, are quite often female in fiction and if so will be cast in the FatGirl role. The WomenAreDelicate aspect is often subverted with large animals who will then just act delicately for comedy, like cows, elephants and the aforementioned hippos.

* '''Hippos:''' Often female and playing as either a BigBeautifulWoman or a FatGirl.

* '''Sheep:''' Can be either male or (mostly)female. Often depicted as female if they are supposed to be lambs.

* '''Sheep:''' Can be either male or female. Often depicted as female if they are supposed to be lambs.

This trope can also be combined with AnimalMotifs and TransformationConventions. Subtrope to SpeciesCodedForYourConvenience. See also AnimalStereotypes, AnimalGenderBender, PeacockGirl, InsectGenderBender, FemaleFelineMaleMutt, and GenderEqualsBreed. Related to and usually a subtrope to WomenAreDelicate. Related to PaleFemalesDarkMales and MasculineLinesFeminineCurves.

Usually the more ugly, masculine-looking, or androgynous-looking animals (like pigs, gorillas, CreepyCrows, Frogs and toads, rhinos, donkeys, turkeys, and walruses) are more commonly male, while the more beautiful, graceful, or feminine-looking ones (like cats, ladybugs, swans, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and ironically peacocks and male-plumaged ostriches) are more commonly female. If butterflies are shown as adult butterflies they're all female, but when an "ugly" catepillar is shown it'll be male, and one of the few male butterflies. Some species can be either/or gender wise (like dogs, mice, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, tigers, horses, kangaroos, and snakes).

* A non-animal example of this is ''SonyPicture/{{Sausage Party}}'' in which all sausages are male, and all hot dog buns are female.

* '''Chickens:''' Can be either male (rooster) or female (hen) depending on the needs of the story. Roosters are used for cock fighting and [[CockADoodleDawn standing on a fence, crowing and dawn scenes]]. Chicken coop scenes generally depict hens with one rooster guarding the coop. Most chickens referred to simply as chickens are hens.

Anytime a large population of a given species is present, there will often be a more realistic balance of males and females to accurately reflect the human population. Thus in films like ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' (ants), ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'' (bees), ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' (ants), ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'' (penguins), and Disney's adaptation of ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'' (gorillas), males and females are seen together. Even then, the male animal characters in the group are usually the ones with the most prominent roles storywise. It's still not totally realistic, especially not in the case with eusocial insects (like ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}''), as the different genders tend to have widely different roles and appearances and all worker ants, bees, and wasps are female.

* ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'' shows gorillas in a troop. Unlike in most works with large groups of animals of a given species, the two most prominent members of the troop storywise, Terk and Kala, are female.
* The titular protagonist in ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' is a young rooster who is simply referred to as a chicken.
* Interestingly played with in ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}''. There's a few examples (e.g. the male lion and his assistant, the female sheep), a few exceptions (e.g. a married couple of otters with the female having a more prominent role).

* '''Horse:''' Most likely to be male because stallions are considered badass, but "ponies" and ponies [[note]] Actual ponies have proportionately shorter legs than standard and miniature horses. This makes them opposite of foals, filly or colt, which have proportionately longer legs than adult horses.[[/note]] seem to be an exception (see the whole ''MyLittlePony'' franchise).