History StayInTheKitchen / Literature

** Lancre, despite being a very rural and generally "backward" place, has a reputation for producing very tough women who can handle themselves well. The presence of witches has a lot to do with it. Invoked in ''Carpe Jugulum'' when a (not local) priest demands to know why the townspeople have no problem with [[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Weatherwax]] going out to face monsters alone. They respond "Why should we care what happens to monsters?"

* Appers frequently in ''Literature/KimJiyoungBorn1982'', as the book is about sexism.

** he professors at Jiyoung's colleges would not recommend female students to employers.

* In ''Literature/KimJiyoungBorn1982'', Kim Jiyoung's boss does not think the female employees will stay at the company in the long run, as he thought they should quit their jobs once they have children.

* This is oddly {{invoked|Trope}} in [[Creator/AgathaChristie Agatha Christie's]] ''4.50 from Paddington,'' or ''What Mrs. [=McGillicuddy=] Saw!''--oddly because it's the woman herself who invokes it. Main character Lucy Eyelesbarrow is an intelligent young woman in her early thirties who attended Oxford University and excelled in mathematics, which might have led to a promising career in science. However, she realizes that academic jobs don't pay well; as she freely admits to liking money, she decides to go into the field of domestic service instead. The trope is then downplayed, as Lucy is able to make a fortune off of her work as a housekeeper/nursemaid/odd-job holder: British nobles pay highly for her services, she refuses to settle in a single home (despite being offered small fortunes to do so) because she likes making her own schedules, and she even takes luxurious vacations whenever she pleases.

* [[ReconstructedTrope Reconstructed]] and [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' by practitioners of the religion of Matriology. These folk have a [[{{Matriarchy}} matriarchal]] culture that holds that it is the nature of women to give life, whereas the nature of men is [[ARealManIsAKiller to take life]], [[TheSacredDarkness both of which are acknowledged as necessary acts]]. Thus in, say, a farmer's house, the husband's duty is to pick the fruit and slaughter the cattle, while the wife's duty is to prepare the food. Thus it isn't so much that ''women'' aren't allowed ''out'' of the kitchen so much as that ''men'' aren't allowed ''in'' it.

* It’s illegal for women to read in ''Literature/ATaleOfMagic'' and they aren’t expected to be anything other than an obedient wife and mother. Brystal’s father believes this to such a degree he doesn’t think a women should correct anything a man says; even if he was saying the sky was purple.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', Lady Ivinia tells the male Chimera warriors that Chimera women, of course, obey their men, and as a meek and gentle woman, she has no place in the councils of war, she will only tell them, in the name of the motherhood, that they must overcome the foe they face, and they should commit suicide if they fail. Then she withdraws, and one warrior observes that he's glad that their women are gentle, because if they were bold, who could imagine what they would be like?

* In ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'', one of Benedict Lightwood's claims against Charlotte Branwell's leadership is that women are incapable of running the Institute.
* In ''Literature/DyingOfTheLight'', this may well be Stay In The Rape Closet, at least for native women. A {{Gendercide}} plague had forced communities to either do that or be selected out. A few generations later, it became the societal norm.
* ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheClockworkPrincess'': Mention is made in a footnote that [[AxCrazy Bangladesh Dupree]] has encountered people with this attitude... ''[[TooDumbToLive towards her]]''. Never more than twice though, and their replacements are always incredibly polite towards her.
** Baron Wulfenbach, meanwhile, takes incredible strides to avert this trope, having entire all-female regiments in his army. Meanwhile, the number of the Baron's enemies who subscribe to this idea becomes increasingly small, usually because said all-female regiments have melted them, or blown them up.
* This is oddly {{invoked|Trope}} in [[Creator/AgathaChristie Agatha Christie's]] ''4.50 from Paddington,'' or ''What Mrs. [=McGillicuddy=] Saw!''--oddly because it's the woman herself who invokes it. Main character Lucy Eyelesbarrow is an intelligent young woman in her early thirties who attended Oxford University and excelled in mathematics, which might have led to a promising career in science. However, she realizes that academic jobs don't pay well; as she freely admits to liking money, she decides to go into the field of domestic service instead. The trope is then downplayed, as Lucy is able to make a fortune off of her work as a housekeeper/nursemaid/odd-job holder: British nobles pay highly for her services, she refuses to settle in a single home (despite being offered small fortunes to do so) because she likes making her own schedules, and she even takes luxurious vacations whenever she pleases.
* The ''Literature/{{Honorverse}}'' has a (mostly) justified variant with the planet Grayson, a colony of SpaceAmish who left Earth on a colony ship to get away from all technology. Unfortunately, they unwittingly chose a DeathWorld to settle, and by the time they got there, they didn't have the resources to go anywhere else. As a result of the absolutely toxic atmosphere (heavy metals, et al), the death rates in the early days of the colony were ''devastating'', and the stillbirth and miscarriage rates were astronomical. As a result, Grayson men became ''extremely'' protective of their womenfolk, who faced enough risk and tragedy from their own bodies that subjecting them to any more was practically unthinkable.
* Inverted in Catherine Asaro's ''Literature/SkolianSaga''. The upper classes of the Skolian Empire are like this--some of them even forbid their male family members from seeing anyone who's not a relative except under strict supervision, although they're considered to be ultra-conservative and somewhat out-of-touch for it. The kidnapped princeling in ''Undercity'' desperately wants to go to university and become a marine biologist, but his mother won't allow it. [[spoiler: After Major Bhaajan figures out that the kidnappers were able to get him because he was so unhappy he ran away, she relents, and by the end of the book he's enrolled.]]
* This is true for most of the polities in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}''. The New Confederacy finds women in the military incompatible with Southern chivalry, and the Nazis share similar sentiments, as does the reactionary Northern Confederation. The only significant exception is Azania, which is a LadyLand and is mocked by the Confederation in particular for its female soldiers.
* A [[Literature/SweetValleyHigh Sweet Valley Twins]] book had the girls dealing with a homeroom teacher who had this attitude. Literally -- he takes the money collected for the class to ''buy'' lunch on a class trip and gives it to the girls for them to buy supplies and ''make'' lunch for the entire class. He also assigns the girls to clean up duties and seems genuinely incapable of believing that the girls are just as adept at sports and class offices as the boys are.
* The ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'': The city-state of Gujaareh reveres its women as "goddesses", which, conveniently for the men, generally involves keeping them comfortably sequestered in the home with minimal actual power or involvement in public life.
* ''Literature/BooksOfTheRaksura'': [[GenderInvertedTrope Gender-flipped]] and {{Downplayed|Trope}} with Raksura Consorts, the only males among the titular [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting]] {{Draconic Humanoid}}s who can reproduce with [[HiveCasteSystem Queens]]. They generally lead pampered lives within their home colony and almost never leave, so some of them see Moon, a Consort who grew up outside a colony and remains an active, deadly fighter after joining one, as a sort of RebelliousPrincess for not playing the role properly.
* In ''Literature/ScavengerAlliance'', The Alliance has some clearly-defined gender roles; men hunt, women fish. Women cook and care for children, aren't allowed to use bows and don't become officers. Women leave their division to get married, not men. This is because a few throwbacks have managed to grab positions of power and always derail any attempt to change things: Wall and Major always vote against proposed female officers, for example. Changing this is a major recurring plotline, and Blaze getting Wall on her side so he votes for her as Donnell's deputy is a huge victory. This is quickly followed by Raeni ousting Major as leader of Queen's Island.
* [[ReconstructedTrope Reconstructed]] and [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' by practitioners of the religion of Matriology. These folk have a [[{{Matriarchy}} matriarchal]] culture that holds that it is the nature of women to give life, whereas the nature of men is [[ARealManIsAKiller to take life]], [[TheSacredDarkness both of which are acknowledged as necessary acts]]. Thus in, say, a farmer's house, the husband's duty is to pick the fruit and slaughter the cattle, while the wife's duty is to prepare the food. Thus it isn't so much that ''women'' aren't allowed ''out'' of the kitchen so much as that ''men'' aren't allowed ''in'' it.
* ''Literature/{{Tasakeru}}'': Zero does the sweet-and-misguided version of this to Hanami, ostensibly because his {{Samurai}} training has drilled the concept of chivalry into him since birth, [[spoiler:and also because [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther he really does care about Hanami]]]].

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Literature/{{Ishmael|1985}}'' by Creator/BarbaraHambly, a ST/Here Come The Brides crossover -- an amnesiac Spock is taken in by Aaron Stemple. At one point two characters have gone missing in the rainy Seattle woods and Spock suggests Biddy Cloom lend a hand in the search. "But she's a woman!" says Stemple. "What has her gender to do with her ability to locate missing persons?" asks Spock.

* This is the twist ending to ''Literature/TheStepfordWives''. [[spoiler: It is revealed that the men of Stepford are quite happy to murder their wives, just to replace them with gorgeous robots that have no outside hobbies or interests and live only to cook and clean and care for their husbands. The result is that after roughly six months, the women seem to turn perpetually happy and talk about how they're giving up photography or whatever because they just weren't very good at it anyway and now they're too busy.]]
* Wulfgar in R. A. Salvatore's ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novels (you know, the ones with [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt Do'Urden]]) starts getting entirely irrational ideas like this when he's to be getting married to Catti-Brie, even though he knows she's an ActionGirl already. If he'd only admitted it made no sense and seen it was just his dumb culture keeping hold of his subconscious, but no...

* In ''Literature/TheInvertedWorld'', Helward's wife Victoria complains that the Guild system encourages this kind of attitude: women aren't allowed to become Guild members and are expected to devote all their time to producing children. The root of the problem is actually the skewed gender ratio of births in the City: the live birth of females is so rare that, even with mandatory marriage at a young age, it is becoming difficult to keep the population up.
%%* In Harry Harrison's ''Literature/StarSmashersOfTheGalaxyRangers'', it's invoked, subverted, averted, reverted, and generally twisted into pretzel-shapes. %% Please give at least one actual example.
* A variant in the ''Literature/StarTrekVoyagerRelaunch'' novels. Tillum Drafar has the view that mothers should not be working outside the home. Among his people, biological necessity compels women with young children to dedicate their time entirely to the infant. When confronted with B'Elanna Torres, who balances her work with her motherhood, he implies she is a poor mother for doing so and initially treats her dismissively. B'Elanna, once she understands the reason for his prejudice, manages to challenge it in a non-confrontational but effective manner.
* ''Literature/InDeath'': Commander Skinner explicitly states this attitude to Eve Dallas in ''Interlude In Death''. She quickly demonstrates that she just does not fit in his view of the world.
* ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' has this be Christian's idea of the 'place for a woman'. He practically mentions the trope itself, by saying that he would much prefer Anastasia to be nothing more than 'barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen'. He seems to have no problem with his second-in-command, Ross, being a working woman, but that might have to do with the fact that she is stated to be a [[LipstickLesbian lesbian]].
* Oddly, Esme in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. Rosalie and Alice are formidable fighters always in the thick of conflict, but there is never any question of whether or not Esme will take part. In fact, it is stated at one point that Esme is not a fighter. Presumably, this is related to her role as "mother" in the family (and her conscious decision to refrain from violence), but it's still pretty strange since she must be just as strong and capable as any other vampire and they could always use the help.
** In ''Breaking Dawn'', Edward is constantly upset with Bella taking fighting lessons from Emmett, at one point outright forbidding her from having any one night. It's supposed to be because he can't stand the thought of her being hurt, but as a vampire, there's very little that ''can'' harm her. Plus, she's a newborn and thus has more strength than a normal vampire, ''and'' the Volturi are coming for a fight, so having her be untrained for combat comes across as just silly.
*** It is implied to be because he has to see Emmett's thoughts about ways to hurt her that it bothers him, and he says outright that it is because ''he'' can't bear to think that way about her that he can't train her himself.
* In ''The Cat Ate My Gymsuit,'' Marcy's father expresses this attitude toward her and her mother.
-->''Father says that girl children should be born at the age of eighteen and married off immediately.''
* Invoked by Septimus in ''[[Literature/SeptimusHeap Syren]]'' where he tells Jenna to stay with [[TheLoad Milo Banda]] rather than follow him into the Ice Tunnels, as her survival is critical for the safety of the Castle.
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', Andalite society has traditionally only allowed males to be [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warriors]]. [[DownplayedTrope Females can still be as highly respected scientists or artists]], but not warriors. By the events of the actual series, where the Andalite's have been in a brutal war with the Yeerks for years, there are actually female cadets in the military.
** When Visser Four creates an alternate timeline on Earth with [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America as a fascist dictatorship]], one of the changes is that [[DarkActionGirl Rachel]] is not part of the Animorphs anymore. [[PlayedForLaughs In a rather funny scene]]:
--->'''Rachel''': Why wasn't I even in the group?\\
'''[[RealityWarper Drode]]''': You? A [[BloodKnight violent-prone sociopath]] like you, Rachel? ''(laughs)'' You were in a reeducation camp. This world has little room for bold, aggressive females. You were being taught your place.\\
'''Rachel''': [[BerserkButton Say what? My]] ''[[BerserkButton what?]]''
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Literature/{{Everworld}}''--[[HeroicWannabe David]] and the other guys often try to convince [[TheSmurfettePrinciple April]] to stay out of the fighting (even against Hel, whose powers mainly affect men). She always refuses and acts offended, but in her narration is ashamed to admit that she really, ''really'' wants to take those offers.
* A twist in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' - the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Alethi]] have ''very'' strict gender roles (particularly in the aristocracy) that define "masculine arts" (politics, combat, commerce, etc) and "feminine arts" (art, science, history, etc). For either gender, stepping outside these roles is seen as scandalous - a woman who wanted to fight would be "told her place", but the same would go for a man who wanted to write a book. There are a few exceptions, though. The priesthood is open to both genders, and priests have at least some leeway in terms of gender roles. And since all the gender roles are based on an ancient book defining them, jobs that didn't exist back then (such as horse groom) are gender-neutral.
* ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'': Princesses are expected to act in "proper" ways, which generally mean being ditzy and useless and waiting for a prince to save them from something and marry them. Cimorene is considered "difficult" by everyone in the castle she grew up in because her practical mind led her to want to do things that actually served a purpose and let her take care of herself. Subverted in ''Searching for Dragons'', when Cimorene has just met Mendabar and tells him she thinks Kazul is trapped in the Enchanted Forest and is going to go search for her. Mendabar tells her she shouldn't do that, to which Cimorene angrily asks him if it's because he thinks it's improper behavior for a princess. He tells her no, it's because he's king of the forest and thus knows that it's an incredibly dangerous place, full of dangerous stuff she's probably never seen before, and plus as the close friend and assistant of the already-disappeared king of dragons, her getting lost or killed or enchanted would likely spark ''massive'' political problems between the dragons and the citizens of the forest, which is the very thing they're trying to avoid. Cimorene is amazed because this is the first time someone ever gave her a legitimate reason not to do something. (She still goes, but accepts Mendabar's offer to come along and help her out).

* [[GenderInvertedTrope Gender-flipped]] in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' where it's the men who are expected to do this type of thing. The main male character ''does'' follow his gender role but he's also [[ActionGirl an Action Guy]] which ''deeply'' impresses his wives-to-be even as it's driving them out of their skin with worry.

* In the Literature/TortallUniverse, noble women were mostly trained to be polite, beautiful and good at managing estates. [[Literature/SongOfTheLioness Alanna]] decided she would be having none of that, so disguised herself as a boy and trained to be a knight. After revealing her gender, saving the land several times and the King marrying another competent fighter from another land, this ''begins'' to dissolve. The follow-up series, ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', shows that the attitude is alive and kicking as sexists continually try to block Keladry from becoming a knight.
** The prequel ''Literature/BekaCooper'' series shows how this starts; a religious movement of the Gentle Goddess (or some such) that would eventually gain enough popularity to kill off the ActionGirl. In hindsight, this shows why Alanna is the Goddess' champion; she must have gotten tired of being pushed aside and pretty much jumped at the chance Alanna offered her to gain her reputation back.
** Note that the above examples pertain to Tortall, the main setting. Other cultures in the setting range from worse than the Tortallans to full gender equality, and in the case of the Copper Islands the rightful ruler is always a queen regnant.
* Literature/TheBrightestShadow: Both played straight in certain cultures and nonexistent in others. Sein evens out differences between sexes, but mansthein alien biology still emphasizes those differences.
* In the ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Wheel of Time]]'' series, Rand repeatedly goes out of his way to avoid getting any women killed--even his Amazon bodyguard and the evil sorceresses trying to kill him. Rand ''is'' rapidly going out of his mind, and knows that this is stupid behavior and all it does is annoy said bodyguards and his three girlfriends but he can't make himself stop it. Likely a result both of upbringing and having ''killed his wife'' in his last incarnation. The aforementioned Amazon Bodyguards at one point threaten to commit mass suicide if he doesn't let them go into battle with him. Another time, when he ''does'' manage to sneak off without them, they then come in when he's canoodling with his girlfriend and ''beat him up'' as punishment.
** Nynaeve and Elayne go on numerous adventures together and constantly grumble about the men wanting them to stay out of danger. However, they do have a point since they are undertrained apprentices with no combat skills and get kidnapped often.
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': This is played straight and inverted. The Arcasians have this attitude, but their enemies the Calvarians are a gender-neutral meritocracy capable of fielding entire companies of female combatants. Then Reynard adopts the Calvarian model when building his ArmyOfThievesAndWhores and ends up with one-fifth of his own army being women, some of whom are later made Chevalier (Knights) for their efforts. This doesn't sit well with the more traditionally minded Arcasian nobility.
* ActionGirl Brienne from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is frequently reminded by minor characters that "a woman's war is in the birthing bed," even though she'd really have no problem mopping the floor with all of them. It's ''very'' worth pointing out the society of Westeros is incredibly sexist, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance being based on medieval Europe]], and Lord Randyll Tarly is not only against women being anything but wives and mothers he is also against noblemen being anything other than warriors. His merciless and brutal attempts to 'make a man' out of his cowardly, obese, book-loving, song-singing, home and hearth inclined son Samwell are wonderful evidence. Lord Tarly takes gender roles very seriously...
** This is a particularly dark example because there's really nothing protective about his attitude toward her. He doesn't bother to hide the fact that he's really, really hoping something terrible will happen to her so that she'll learn her lesson and get back in the kitchen where women belong. Also deconstructed. This mentality actually puts most women in danger more than it protects them from it. Most women and girls in Westeros cannot defend themselves because they've been discouraged from learning how; nor can they enforce chivalry. Without male guardians, a situation that occurs frequently, especially for peasant women, they're sitting ducks. And there are many men out there who WouldHitAGirl.
** The [[AllThereInTheManual in-universe histories]], set while dragons were still around, reveal that the Targaryen royal family and their Velaryon cousins used to have a lot more martially inclined women, although they were from a different cultural background. This trend seems to have died out with their dragons when they would likely have felt the need to assimilate more Westerosi cultural values as they no longer had their superweapons
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Literature/{{Ishmael|1985}}'' by Creator/BarbaraHambly, a ST/Here Come The Brides crossover -- an amnesiac Spock is taken in by Aaron Stemple. At one point two characters have gone missing in the rainy Seattle woods and Spock suggests Biddy Cloom lend a hand in the search. "But she's a woman!" says Stemple. "What has her gender to do with her ability to locate missing persons?" asks Spock.

* Creator/HBeamPiper's ''Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen'' does this with [[LadyOfWar Rylla]], who has been [[WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent raised as a boy]] owing to her father's inability to produce a son. When she breaks her leg leading an otherwise successful cavalry charge, Kalvan tries to get her nurses to pretend that her limb hasn't healed so she'll hopefully miss the rest of the fighting. Fortunately for him, [[spoiler:she figures out what he had been doing and leads a small squad of cavalry who happen to arrive in the right place to capture an enemy commander who had been attempting to flee the battlefield]]. In a twist, Kalvan knows entirely well that his wife is one of the better fighters around. He also knows that she's very reckless of her personal safety and that the dynasty cannot survive both of them dying in the same battle. Later on, when she finally learns to be a ''little'' more careful, he raises fewer objections to her leaving the castle.
* In ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', Susan and Lucy Pevensie are advised not to fight when they are given their weapons because "wars are ugly when women fight" (the movies left this line out). By ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'', however, which also introduces the RebelliousPrincess Aravis, the grown-up Lucy has already made her way to the military as an archer, as Corin tells Shasta that she fights [[{{Shorttank}} "as well as" a boy]]. Susan has decided to stay aside, but according to Corin it's because fighting just doesn't suit her [[TeamMom sensitive personality]] ("Queen Susan is more like an ordinary grown-up lady. She doesn't like going to war, despite being [[LadyOfWar an excellent archer]]"). Lucy becomes known as "The Valiant" and Susan as "The Gentle," making their involvement in combat a matter of personality, not societal rules. Jill is portrayed quite well when it's her turn to go out on adventures in ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' and ''Literature/TheLastBattle''. The movie threw this right out the window, with the producers pointing out that if Susan wasn't supposed to fight, Santa really shouldn't have given her a bow and arrow.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** The bizarre case of Tonks. Once she becomes a mother, Lupin and others are mostly concerned with keeping her safe. She's a fully-trained Auror, and probably the second best fighter left in the order. Once she shows up, though, she heads to the front lines immediately. Harry even notes this in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', when Lupin offers to join the group on their quest and adds that Tonks is staying with her mother. Harry thinks this is odd and that Tonks would be more likely to want to join in on the action as well. This is right before he finds out Tonks is pregnant. When Tonks shows up to fight later in the book, it's after her son has already been born.
** Also in ''Deathly Hallows'', the entire Weasley family and Harry refuse to let Ginny join in the fight at the end. It's not that they think she's incapable, but that she's underage (everyone else underage has been evacuated) and they don't want to lose anyone else they love (Mrs. Weasley doesn't even want her other children fighting, but they're all legally adults, except for Ginny, and thus she can't keep them from doing so). Ginny is ''not'' happy with this and cheerfully runs off to help the first chance she gets.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** The entire nation of Borogravia is like this in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', although it's suggested it's less out of a feeling women should be protected, and more out of a feeling women shouldn't be allowed to do anything, or they might get ideas, and the whole thing is enforced more by old women than men, who prefer not to even think about it.
** ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'' parodies this twice:
*** Nobby complains that he's being expected to do the cooking, just because he's a woman. This is despite the fact that 1) [[DisguisedInDrag He's not actually a woman]] 2) Nobody expected him to do the cooking, he just started doing it and 3) there is an actual woman present who everyone is very clear "doesn't do cookery". She's [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Sergeant Angua]], so no-one's going to suggest ''she'' can't fight.
*** Carrot says that the D'regs have a particular view of women fighting. Jabbar, the D'reg Wise Man replies "Yes -- we expect them to be good at it."
** Lancre, despite being a very rural and generally "backward" place, has a reputation for producing very tough women who can handle themselves well. The presence of witches has a lot to do with it. Invoked in ''Carpe Jugulum'' when a (not local) priest demands to know why the townspeople have no problem with [[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Weatherwax]] going out to face monsters alone. They respond "Why should we care what happens to monsters?"
** ''Subverted'' in ''Literature/MenAtArms'', where the Watch is forced to get some new, "minority" recruits. They get a dwarf, a troll, and a [[RunningGag w]][[spoiler:erewolf]]. Vimes, in particular, is unhappy about this (he doesn't like w[[spoiler:erewolves]]), and so the others keep trying to explain that Angua's been taken on as a "minority recruit" because she's a "w--" and then looking horribly embarrassed and having Angua herself call their attitudes old-fashioned. At one point, Colon even says that "The Watch is a job for ''men''." All of this sets up this trope magnificently. It then turns out her status as a female has nothing to do with their misgivings, and if anything, they're worried she'll be a little ''too good'' at fighting for comfort.
* The Kzin of ''Literature/KnownSpace'' are what happens when a bronze culture gets genetic engineering. The Men are warriors and all violent. The women are modified into being non-sentient.
* Played for laughs in ''Literature/TheAlphabetOfManliness'', especially in the ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice Obedience]]'' section, which is a "taking care of your pet" manual... written for women.
* Despite what they're famous for, this is the real point of John Norman's ''Literature/{{Gor}}'' books. Definitely meant as an example of the "sweet and well-intentioned" variety but since ''every single woman'' enjoys being enslaved it just feels creepy.
** At least in some of the early books it was more even-handed, discussing that all women want ''both'' freedom and slavery in different amounts at different times, and the same being true for men.
* The well-intentioned but misguided variety shows up in ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', where the males think it's best if Mina is shielded from knowledge of their plans to kill the villain. This enforced ignorance means she's a sitting duck for the very man they wanted to protect her from. After their actions lead to Dracula attacking her, they quickly change their philosophy.
* Exists to a lesser degree in the ''Literature/{{Antares}}'' novels -- female spacers are a rarity on Alta. It is explained as a cultural holdover from when they needed to populate their world, women were expected to produce many children and therefore avoided dangerous occupations. That said, nobody voices any objections to female spacers, especially when they need to expand their navy to defend against the Ryall.
* ''Literature/AbleTeam''. This backfires badly on team leader Carl Lyons when he deliberately leaves behind his ActionGirlfriend, DEA agent Flor Trujillo, as they're about to bust a convoy of drug smugglers. The smugglers start shooting at them with an RPG-7 and Flor, who's commandeered a helicopter to catch up with them, flies right into it.
* [[{{Backstory}} This was why]] Toulac, a career soldier, had to retire from the army in the ''Literature/{{Shadowleague}}'' trilogy by Maggie Furey.
* In ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]]'', the eponymous character desperately wants Arya to be evacuated with the children when Urgals attack, although not out of chauvinism but because he doesn't want her to get hurt. [[SubvertedTrope She doesn't listen]], and she continuously shows over the series that she is a formidable (and superhuman) fighter and eventual {{Love Interest|s}} of the title character.

* In the ''Literature/AdrianMole'' series, Adrian behaves this way with his first girlfriend Pandora, wanting to marry her straight out of school and for her not to work outside the home. Pandora, being [[ReallyGetsAround promiscuous]] and TheAce, laughs him down.

* It’s illegal for women to read in
''Literature/ATaleOfMagic'' and they aren’t expected to be anything other than an obedient wife and mother. Brystal’s father believes this to such a degree he doesn’t think a women should correct anything a man says; even if he was saying the sky was purple.

* In ''Literature/DragonQueen'', Badan tells Trava that she can't run the tavern without a man; it very much comes off as this trope.

** The entire nation of Borogravia is like this in ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', although it's suggested it's less out of a feeling women should be protected, and more out of a feeling women shouldn't be allowed to do anything, or they might get ideas, and the whole thing is enforced more by old women than men, who prefer not to even think about it.
** Parodied in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', where Nobby complains that he's being expected to do the cooking, just because he's a woman. This is despite the fact that 1) [[DisguisedInDrag He's not actually a woman]] 2) Nobody expected him to do the cooking, he just started doing it and 3) there is an actual woman present who everyone is very clear "doesn't do cookery". She's [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Sergeant Angua]], so no-one's going to suggest ''she'' can't fight.
** ''Jingo'' also parodies this when Carrot says that the D'regs have a particular view of women fighting. Jabbar, the D'reg Wise Man replies "Yes -- we expect them to be good at it."

** ''Subverted'' in ''Discworld/MenAtArms'', where the Watch is forced to get some new, "minority" recruits. They get a dwarf, a troll, and a [[RunningGag w]][[spoiler:erewolf]]. Vimes, in particular, is unhappy about this (he doesn't like w[[spoiler:erewolves]]), and so the others keep trying to explain that Angua's been taken on as a "minority recruit" because she's a "w--" and then looking horribly embarrassed and having Angua herself call their attitudes old-fashioned. At one point, Colon even says that "The Watch is a job for ''men''." All of this sets up this trope magnificently. It then turns out her status as a female has nothing to do with their misgivings, and if anything, they're worried she'll be a little ''too good'' at fighting for comfort.

* [[ReconstructedTrope Reconstructed]] and [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' by practitioners of the religion of Matriology. These folk have a [[{{Matriarchy}} matriarchal]] culture that holds that it is the nature of women to give life, whereas the nature of men is [[ARealManIsAKiller to take life]], [[TheSacredDarknessbBoth of which are acknowledged as necessary acts]]. Thus in, say, a farmer's house, the husband's duty is to pick the fruit and slaughter the cattle, while the wife's duty is to prepare the food. Thus it isn't so much that ''women'' aren't allowed ''out'' of the kitchen so much as that ''men'' aren't allowed ''in'' it.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'':

** The prequel ''Literature/ProvostsDog'' series shows how this starts; a religious movement of the Gentle Goddess (or some such) that would eventually gain enough popularity to kill off the ActionGirl. In hindsight, this shows why Alanna is the Goddess' champion; she must have gotten tired of being pushed aside and pretty much jumped at the chance Alanna offered her to gain her reputation back.