History Main / WomanlinessAsPathos

* WorldTree: Silk-Cotton trees are believed to be the ladder between the different heavens. When a person died it was believed that their primary soul climbed the tree towards heaven guided by the rainbow, while the totem spirit double stays at the family altar... or goes on a crazy rampage as a violent bush ghost if final rites were improper.
** Mount Kouroula was the axis-mundi where the golden ark of Faro landed from heaven.
** Pemba the Balanza tree was the divine sustainer of immortal life before he was corrupted. The Balanza was the connection between the heavens and the earth. Unlike other trees the Balanza has peculiar qualities. Heavy rains cause it to dry up and shrivel while drought seems to make them flourish.
** Some say Mangala or Massa Dambali himself planted the first Balanza tree on the small islet that was early earth. The first Balanza had four branches: the eastern branch yellow, the northern branch white, the western branch red, and the southern branch black.

Muso Koroni is the archetypical woman. It was she who polluted and corrupted the world with the dark force called "Wanzo". Wanzo is characterized by chaos and the savagery of the bush. Muso Koroni was the embodiment of such untamed wildness. Circumcision was believed to free boys from this feminine principle, while freeing girls from their male principle in turn. Marriage was thought to compensate the loss of femininity in men in a constructive manner.
Mamamdi Sefe Dekote doomed a city-state by rescuing the Virgin Sacrifice Sia Jatta Bari. She becomes aloof with him after the rescue and demands money while rebuffing affection. She makes him mutilate himself for her and then says she doesn't like mutilated men.
Annalja Tu Bari spread violence throughout the Sahel by saying she would only marry the man who could reconquer her father's old fiefs. When Samba Ganna accomplished this she demanded he slay a dragon for her. When he accomplished that she demanded he tame it and make it her pet. He died in disbelief at her gall and she incited more men to follow his example of conquest then died herself.
Paama Koono is seduced by his lover into revealing his Achilles' Heel.
Fanta Maa achieves victory over Bama Ngala Nyama after the latter's sister reveals his weakness.
Sogolon Kolokon is instrumental in defeating Sumanguru Kante by seducing him, his mother even throws a lampshade on it.
Fakoli works for his villainous uncle until his wife is kidnapped.
Myriad Donso legends are about foolish hunters letting girls manipulate them, only to realize too late that she is a spirit or bush animal. This is why a proper Dozo hunter was often expected to be ritually celibate.

** The Greek myth of Pandora states that Zeus wanted to punish Prometheus for stealing fire to give to mankind (which, at this point, is literally made of only men). So after chaining him to a rock and having his liver ripped out every night by an eagle, Zeus gives his dumb brother Epimetheus a "gift" in the form of Pandora, the first woman. Pandora is absolutely beautiful, and also absolutely good at everything (her name literally means all-gifted), so Epimetheus takes her in right away. Unfortunately, Pandora also carries a jar that Zeus tells her never to open, but her curiosity gets the better of her. When she opens it, all manner of suffering flies out.

Compare and contrast {{Moe}}, WomenAreWiser, and FemalesAreMoreInnocent; while on the surface, they seem to "counter" this trope by eliciting "positive" emotions, the wise, innocent women are often seen as valuable enough to protect. This trope is common in FilmNoir and HardboiledDetective stories, often to make the protagonist uncomfortable or to make him "care" about solving the case.

* NothingNiceAboutSugarAndSpice: Women or girls use the facade of being a GirlyGirl to be dangerous and vicious.

* BillyElliotPlot: A boy's femininity causes a conflict.

* NothingNiceAboutSugarAndSpicy: Women or girls use the facade of being a GirlyGirl to be dangerous and vicious.

** Aphrodite, in general, was a constant source of this; to the Greeks, her status as a LoveGoddess made her one of the most dangerous gods in the entire Olympian pantheon. A human could reasonably avoid pissing off gods like Helios, Poseidon, or Hades simply by not being involved with anything involving them. But love is an entirely different story, and Aphrodite's myths are full of men and women who angered, offended, or slighted her in some way and earned her wrath. Typically, causing her to retaliate by having them ([[AesopCollateralDamage or a loved one]]) fall in love with something troublesome. This, for example, is how the infamous Minotaur was born. Aphrodite herself also constantly fell in love with mortals (which usually ended badly), feuded with other gods for various reasons (usually over a lover), and {{cuckold}}ed her own husband Hephaestus with Ares. She was even involved with the creation of Pandora.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Self-explanatory. Women, even background extras, are inherently more valuable and sympathetic than men... for the same reason children are.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: A male character who lacks any of the sympathy or narrative importance of the female characters and is thus killed off.

Womanliness as Pathos is a narrative idea that the mere ''presence'' of something [[MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial female or feminine]] will cause emotions like angst, drama, suffering, or pity...or cause "positive" emotions like [[ProtectiveTropes sympathy, protectiveness]], [[LoveTropes love]] or {{lust}} as a drive to overcome or prevent others like sadness, worry, loneliness or heartbreak.

* TheUnfairSex: Female characters get away with shenanigans that male characters could not or wouldn't even ''dare'' to try.

* UnstablePoweredWoman: Plot difficulty instigated by a woman who can't control her new power.

Due to its very controversial and delicate subject matter, we must ask that there be Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease. Also, examples listed on ''this'' page should be extremely egregious, repetitious or well-known; otherwise, it is probably a better fit in one of the relevant {{Sub Trope}}s in the subpage for tropes. [[noreallife]]

* CatFight: A fight that is interesting not for how tough, skilled or powerful the characters are, but how ''hot'' they are or how silly their fighting is.

* DeathByChildbirth: A woman dies during difficult childbirth.

* TraumaticCSection: A woman needs a caesarian section to save the life of her and/or her baby, and it's shown as a horrific, gory and dangerous procedure.

* TransgenderFetishization: A trans character (especially transfemale) is presented as ''exceptionally'' sexy or attractive.

* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': Women (whether good or bad) are quite often the cause of anguish, danger or the eventual downfall of several characters, especially the protagonists.
** "That Yellow Bastard" opens with protagonist John Hartigan pursuing pedophile child-killer Roark Junior to save the eleven-year-old Nancy Callahan. John saves Nancy and wounds Junior's genitals but is betrayed by his fellow cops and framed for the crimes himself. While in prison, Hartigan's wife refuses to wait for him, divorces him and has children with another man. Hartigan's only solace during this time are the periodic letters he receives from Nancy, who (under an alias) tells him about her life and how much she loves him for saving her. One day, Hartigan receives one of Nancy's letters with a finger inside, and he confesses to all the false charges so that he'll be released early and able to save Nancy. Upon finding her working as a stripper, Hartigan realizes that he was tricked and has led Roark Junior directly to Nancy. Nancy spots Hartigan in the crowd and immediately leaps into his arms, kissing him, thus accidentally revealing who she is. Hartigan protects her from Junior, and while hiding out, Nancy tries to convince Hartigan to sleep with her, but he refuses [[MayDecemberRomance due to their age difference]]. While Hartigan struggles to keep his urges under control, Junior finds them and attempts to kill Hartigan while promising to rape and kill Nancy. Hartigan escapes, saves Nancy, and kills Junior. He and Nancy declare their love for each other, and she goes off to wait for him to find her again. Hartigan, however, realizes that with Junior dead, his father will now scour the ends of the Earth for Hartigan and Nancy, and so he does the only thing he can to protect her--[[HeroicSacrifice killing himself]].
** "The Big Fat Kill" involves a gang of {{Dirty Cop}}s trying to shakedown and sexually assault one of the prostitutes who are in charge of Old Town. The cops and the hookers have a non-aggression truce whereas they'll leave each other alone, but this is broken when [[AllAsiansKnowKungFu Miho]] kills the dirty cops and gives the police an excuse to throw TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw at Old Town and take it over. This starts a war in which the protagonist Dwight has to protect the freedom of the working girls against an army of cops, gangsters and mercenaries. It's later revealed that Becky, the girl who caused all of this, intentionally provoked the cops and started the war--and she is later implied to be killed because of it.

** In addition to the main plot between Rick and Ilsa, the movie demonstrates the corrupt and apathetic nature of DirtyCop Captain Renault by introducing a young, beautiful and sympathetic Bulgarian refugee named Annina whom Renault has agreed to help escape to America with her husband [[SexualExtortion if she performs sexual favors for him]]. Before she makes her choice, the desperate Annina comes to Rick to ask if she can trust that Renault will keep his word and if (as a man) Rick could forgive a wife who [[{{cuckold}} slept with someone else]] even if it was for his own happiness. The young, innocent woman's plight persuades the usually-cynical Rick to rig the roulette tables in her husband's favor and allow them to leave the country without giving in to Renault's demands.

* ''Film/GIJane'': This trope is {{exploited|trope}} by several characters to try and justify their beliefs that a woman is unfit to join, and inherently disruptive to, a Navy Seal unit. The main character, O'Neil, is put through miserable hazing and bullying, is accused of being a predatory lesbian, and [[DrillSergeantNasty Master Chief Urgayle]] begins to sexually assault her during a training exercise to show what is "likely" to happen to a woman captured by the enemy--an action that all of the male trainees fiercely object to but do not try to stop. O'Neil fights off Urgayle before things go too far, leaving it ambiguous whether or not he would have ''truly'' gone that far.
* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': Dr. Jones's experiences with women are fraught with emotional baggage. He is constantly tempted and solicited by his female students, and endures heavy BelligerentSexualTension with the women he works with like Marion, Willie and Elsa. In particular, Willie is portrayed as a constant obstacle--she is consistently a DamselInDistress and has such a shallow reaction to [[EekAMouse bugs and creepy-crawlies]] that she hesitates to save him and Short Round from a death trap (and then accidentally reactivates said trap while frantically trying to get them off her). Elsa, meanwhile, is a HoneyTrap that seduces and betrays Indy, and he later learns she did the same thing to his father. She winds up tricking her boss into killing himself with a false Grail and then dies trying to take the real Grail out of the temple [[VillainessesWantHeroes so that she can be with Indy]]. Indy winds up almost getting himself killed trying to save her, and still mourns her (unlike any other villain in the series).

* ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'': The character of Buffalo Bill was not meant to be seen as truly homosexual or transgender. Instead, the writers, cast and actors state (as repeated by Hannibal Lector in-universe) that Bill was a deeply disturbed man who wanted to create a "new him" with the "respect and power" he felt that women were afforded in society. For this reason, he kidnapped, tortured, killed and then skinned overweight women to create his "woman suit", which made him feel confident and sexy the way he thought "women" would.
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'': Sarah Conner in ''Film/TheTerminator'' was scripted to be a vulnerable, accessible GirlNextDoor compared to the unstoppable, terrifying monster coming to kill her. Her design was crafted to be as far as possible from what you'd expect from a woman destined to save the world. In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', she was redesigned so that the girl we knew was gone. Now, we have a [[ActionGirl tougher, more proactive Sarah]], but she is described as being like a "cornered animal" whose voice and behavior are simultaneously defiant and chilling. She attempts to become a Terminator herself when stalking Miles Dyson, but finds she's not a machine after all.

** Aphrodite, in general, was a constant source of this; to the Greeks, her status as a LoveGoddess made her one of the most dangerous gods in the entire Olympian pantheon. A human could reasonably avoid pissing off gods like Helios, Poseidon or Hades simply by not being involved with anything involving them. But love is an entirely different story, and Aphrodite's myths are full of men and women who angered, offended, or slighted her in some way and earned her wrath. Typically, causing her to retaliate by having them ([[AesopCollateralDamage or a loved one]]) fall in love with something troublesome. This, for example, is how the infamous Minotaur was born. Aphrodite herself also constantly fell in love with mortals (which usually ended badly), feuded with other gods for various reasons (usually over a lover) and {{cuckold}}ed her own husband Hephaestus with Ares. She was even involved with the creation of Pandora.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': Early in the game, Niko finds out that his cousin Roman is being {{cuckold}}ed by a small-time criminal with powerful connections. Roman is devastated to learn of it, but begs Niko to do nothing that would draw the wrath of the more powerful criminals. Niko is ''appalled'' by his cousin's resignation and kills the criminal anyway to retaliate. Later in the game, it's also revealed that Niko's girlfriend Michelle [[spoiler:is actually a government agent named Karen Daniels]], and depending on the ending, Niko's other canonical girlfriend, Kate, can also be accidentally killed during a drive-by, prompting Niko to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* StayInTheKitchen: Drama ensues when someone tries to hold a woman down for challenging traditional gender roles.

->''"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."''
-->-- '''Rick''', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' is a prequel reintroduces Catalina as one of Carl "CJ" Johnson's "girlfriends" (although it's clear that CJ is only putting up with her to try and get money to bail his older brother out of jail). Once again, Catalina is a complete psychopath and further demonstrates herself to be [[StupidEvil an extremely impulsive and inept]] criminal due to her HairTriggerTemper. She continuously nags, screams, and derides CJ, using him as an example of why she "hates men" while ignoring any of the problems she herself causes. Further, when confronted by CJ on her actions (and her refusal to pay him the money she promised), she changes the subject by accusing him of eyeing other women and being a bad boyfriend, and blames her chaotic actions on "the female heart".

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Gwen Stacy is a constant source of angst and turmoil for Peter, resulting in the circumstances her death being retreaded several times throughout publication, as well as many stories that resulted directly from her death or the events immediately leading up to them. For example, The Clone Saga started when StalkerWithACrush Miles Warren cloned both her and Peter Parker as revenge for Peter letting the object of his affection die. The story ''Sins Past'' revealed more details about her past, including that [[spoiler:she cheated on him with his archenemy ComicBook/NormanOsborn and bore two children.]]

-->--'''Rick''', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''

* ''Film/IndianaJones'': Dr. Jones's experiences with women are fraught with emotional baggage. He is constantly tempted and solicited by his female students, and endures heavy BelligerentSexualTension with the women he works with like Marion, Willie and Elsa. In particular, Willie is portrayed as a constant obstacle--she is consistently a DamselInDistress and has such a shallow reaction to [[EekAMouse bugs and creepy-crawlies]] that she hesitates to save him and Short Round from a death trap (and then accidentally reactivates said trap while frantically trying to get them off her). Elsa, meanwhile, is a HoneyTrap that seduces and betrays Indy, and he later learns she did the same thing to his father. She winds up tricking her boss into killing himself with a false Grail and then dies trying to take the real Grail out of the temple [[VillainessesWantHeroes so that she can be with Indy]]. Indy winds up almost getting himself killed trying to save her, and still mourns her (unlike any other villain in the series).

* TheGwenStacy: A hero's love interest whose death haunts him.

* The ''Videogame/GrandTheftAuto'' franchise makes extensive use of this trope, with women often being the causes of game's events or important motivators for the male protagonists.
** In ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', the story proper begins when the protagonist Claude is betrayed by his girlfriend, Catalina, during a bank robbery and gets arrested for it. Catalina thus becomes the story's main antagonist and is demonstrated to be a complete psychopath. Further, Claude is later betrayed by one of his mafioso bosses because the mafioso falsely thinks Claude is sleeping with one of his mistresses, Maria, who becomes both the DamselInDistress as well as the closest thing Claude has to a LoveInterest.
** ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' is a prequel reintroduces Catalina as one of Carl "CJ" Johnson's "girlfriends" (although it's clear that CJ is only putting up with her to try and get money to bail his older brother out of jail). Once again, Catalina is a complete psychopath and further demonstrates herself to be [[StupidEvil an extremely impulsive and inept]] criminal due to her HairTriggerTemper. She continuously nags, screams, and derides CJ, using him as an example of why she "hates men" while ignoring any of the problems she herself causes. Further, when confronted by CJ on her actions (and her refusal to pay him the money she promised), she changes the subject by accusing him of eyeing other women and being a bad boyfriend, and blames her chaotic actions on "the female heart".
** ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': Early in the game, Niko finds out that his cousin Roman is being {{cuckold}}ed by a small-time criminal with powerful connections. Roman is devastated to learn of it, but begs Niko to do nothing that would draw the wrath of the more powerful criminals. Niko is ''appalled'' by his cousin's resignation and kills the criminal anyway to retaliate. Later in the game, it's also revealed that Niko's girlfriend Michelle [[spoiler:is actually a government agent named Karen Daniels]], and depending on the ending, Niko's other canonical girlfriend, Kate, can also be accidentally killed during a drive-by, prompting Niko to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
** ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoV'': The IncitingIncident for the events of the game is the moment when Michael chooses to wreck what he thinks is the house of the man (or ''[[ReallyGetsAround one]]'' of the men) his wife [[{{cuckold}} has been having an affair with]]. The fact that he himself cheats on her with random strippers and prostitutes is barely addressed at all; it's her infidelity that the game mostly focuses on. We also see many other examples of important or secondary male characters whose love interests or girlfriends are seeing other people. Franklin is motivated to get rich primarily to try and win back his ex-girlfriend from her rich fiancé, and Trevor points out that his unwilling accomplice, Floyd, is being cheated on by his fiancée Debra--something given credence when Debra mentions a "Robert" later. Trevor himself is also introduced in the game cuckolding Johnny from ''Lost and Damned'' (soon after killing him), and one of the few characters that elicits Trevor's sympathy (and, in fact, outright love) is the beleaguered but loyal wife of the mob boss whose house Michael ruined.

** ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoV'': The IncitingIncident for the events of the game is the moment when Michael chooses to wreck what he thinks is the house of the man (or ''[[ReallyGetsAround one]]'' of the men) his wife [[{{cuckold}} has been having an affair with]]. The fact that he himself cheats on her with random strippers and prostitutes is barely addressed at all; it's her infidelity that the game mostly focuses on. We also see many other examples of important or secondary male characters whose love interests or girlfriends are seeing other people. Franklin is motivated to get rich primarily to try and win back his ex-girlfriend from her rich fiancé, and Trevor points out that his unwilling accomplice, Floyd, is being cheated on by his fiancée Debra--something given credence when Debra mentions a "Robert" later. Trevor himself is also introduced in the game cuckolding Johnny from ''Lost and Damned'', and soon after killing him.