"Success Through Sex" Accusation

Success often breeds resentment, with one popular form of resentment being accusations of foul play. One accusation that some people like to make is that a person's success came from seducing people.

The motivation for making this type of accusation can vary, but the usual reason is envy and/or resentment. A sexist man might accuse all successful women of using their looks/sex to get ahead under the belief that women are incapable of achieving success on their own merit. An attractive person might be accused of using their looks by envious parties who don't want to acknowledge that a person can be both attractive and competent. Hateful and/or envious people in general might do this because it's more comfortable to assume that a disliked person's success is the result of trickery rather than hard work.

Due to Double Standards, attractive women are more likely to be the targets of these types of accusations, the reason being that a man's success is almost always assumed to be due to his own merit regardless of his looks, while unattractive women are seen as having no choice but to work hard because of their lack of looks. Meanwhile, attractive women are often assumed to have used their looks, flirtation, sex, etc. to get ahead, regardless of how hard they worked. See also Never a Self-Made Woman (though of course this trope doesn't solely apply to women).

Compare Slut-Shaming. Overlaps with Malicious Slander if someone is trying to ruin someone's reputation via this, Sextra Credit if someone claims that someone got high grades via sex, Casting Couch if someone accuses an actor of sleeping with people for roles, or Sleeping Their Way to the Top if someone claims that a high ranking person slept their way to their position. Straw Misogynists and He Man Woman Haters are likely to do this towards women.

Contrast Sex for Services where a character really did trade sexual favors for non-sexual ones, and Sexual Extortion where a character demanded sex in exchange for a non-sexual favor.

May also involve Passed-Over Promotion and Green-Eyed Monster.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Chapter 55 implies that a student was threatening to spin such a story about the school chairwoman in order to blackmail her. While she is a pervert with a fetish for cute things, she became chairwoman by simply buying out the school just to spend time with her new boyfriend.

Comic Books

• Harleen: Harley Quinn is accused by gossips of sleeping with her supervisor to get her psychology qualification (which she may have done in some other continuities), but the story points out that it would be impossible for anybody really unqualified to do that in modern times, due to degrees needing the approval of much more than one person. In fact, she did have sex with her supervisor, but it was because of genuine mutual attraction rather than a quid-pro-quo.

Fan Works

• The Flash Sentry Chronicles: Wind Rider, in an attempt to protect his record, accuses Rainbow Dash of only becoming a Wonderbolt by sleeping with Soarin. Soarin finds himself fighting the urge to strike Wind Rider down, as Rainbow Dash became a Wonderbolt before the two of them started committing their relationship.
• The Many Dates of Danny Fenton: TMDDF: After Many Dates: Danny and Kim has a G-Rated variant. Sam assumes that Kim is a Brainless Beauty simply because she's a cheerleader. When she learns that Kim is a straight-A student, Sam accuses her of having offered boys dates to do her homework. Kim responds by giving Sam a tongue-lashing pointing out that for all of Sam's claims of hating shallow people, she's being shallow herself by making assumptions about Kim without getting to know her.
• Maribat AU: In Perfect, Marinette is a ballet dancer who's envied for her talent. Marinette wins the role of the lead dancer for a charity event in Gotham, which Lila claims she would have won if Marinette hadn't slept with the head of the company hosting the event.
• Moving On: Lila tries to imply that Marinette did "something unsavory" in order to design for Jagged Stone when the class starts praising the suit she made him. We don't see the class' reactions to this, but Alya (having long wised up to Lila's true nature) is disgusted.

Films — Live-Action

• In the third act of The American President, President Andrew Shepard's prospective reelection challenger Senator Bob Rumson suggests in a TV interview (without evidence) that Andy's current girlfriend, lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade, might have traded sexual favors to elected officials to get them to vote her way. They're both understandably infuriated by the accusation.
• In Black Swan, Beth accuses Nina of sucking Thomas' cock to get the lead role in the ballet. Nina responds by saying "Not all of us have to."
• Knives Out: After Harlan Thrombey is killed, he leaves all his belongings to Marta Cabrera, his nurse. Lynda Drysdale, his daughter, asks Marta "Were you boinking my father?" Jacob Thrombey, his grandson, then says "You had sex with my grandpa, you dirty anchor baby!"
• Legally Blonde: When Vivian catches Professor Callaghan feeling up Elle in a private meeting in his office, she believes Elle consented and that's how she went from bottom of the class to getting one of Callahan's coveted internship positions. When Emmett later tells Elle to quit over the sexual harassment, Vivian feels terrible about jumping to conclusions.
• The Proposal: A rare gender-flipped example. When Andrew brings his boss Margaret home as his "girlfriend" (in a gambit to keep Canadian Margaret from getting deported), his father accuses him of "sleeping his way to the middle". Andrew tells him they're engaged just to spite him.

Literature

• Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor: When initiating a coup against the royal family, Azel tries to force Eve to join him against her will. Only for her to be stopped by Glenn, Azel, who knows how poor the relationship between Glenn and Eve is, then accuses Eve of using her body to get Glenn on her side and even mockingly asks Glenn how his daughter felt.
• In the Anastasia Kamenskaya series by Alexandra Marinina, especially in the earlier books, there are rumors that the titular character sleeps with her boss Gordeyev and gets special treatment at the Criminal Investigation Department of Moscow (a separate office, regular rewards, etc.) for that reason, rather than because she is a brilliant detective. Anyone who knows Gordeyev and Kamenskaya at least somewhat well is aware that the rumors have no base in truth: there has never been any romance, platonic or sexual, between the two.
• The Callista Trilogy: In Darksaber, Admiral Daala relates to her Number Two Admiral Pellaeon that during her rise through the Imperial Navy, a disgruntled male officer accused her of sleeping her way to the top — with some cause, given she was Grand Moff Tarkin's mistress at the time. Tarkin reacted quite poorly to this and threw him out an airlock in a decaying orbit with his spacesuit's radio locked in the "on" position so that everyone on the planet could hear his screams as he burned up on reentry.
• Ciaphas Cain: Commissar Beije suspects Magot (a trooper in Cain's regiment who punched out a boxing champion from Beije's misogynistic regiment when he refused a normal match) got off lightly due to sleeping with Cain. Cain doesn't bother to correct him, but Magot is a) a Psycho Lesbian (who is having an inappropriate relationship, though with her female commanding officer) and b) who on occasion saved Cain's life, and he prefers not to be a discipline-happy martinet.

Live-Action TV

• Agent Carter: Peggy Carter is frequently put down by her coworkers because they view her only as a lucky secretary who got her job by sleeping around with Captain America and other men. Worth noting here that Peggy was in a position of authority with the SSR before Steve finally got himself enlisted (she was his instructor in Basic Training), and there's absolutely no evidence she got there through any means other than her own merit. She spends much of the first season fighting to prove that she's every bit as competent as they are but ultimately learns to ignore her lack of recognition and trust herself.
• Beverly Hills, 90210: Steve's girlfriend Laura starts a rumor that Brenda got the lead role in a play by sleeping with the director. At first, Steve takes Laura's side, but when it's discovered that she started the rumor, the director fires her, causing her to spiral, which is when Steve realizes that she's crazy.
• Bones: In "Soccer Mom in the Mini-Van", Boone's old Jerkass FBI mentor Sam Reilly isn't fond of Brennan and openly insults her by insinuating she only has her position as Boone's Expert Consultant partner because he's sleeping with her. Brennan (who's a Ditzy Genius with No Social Skills) completely misses that he was insulting her and thinks he's sincerely complimenting her sexual prowess (which she's quite confident of).
  Sam: You know, Booth, she must be really good in bed because I can't see any other reason you keep her around here.
  Brennan: [confused] I am. Very good. But Booth has no direct knowledge of that fact.
• The Closer: Brenda's squad and main rival Commander Taylor suspect that she made Deputy Chief (in a city she was never a cop in) by sleeping with Assistant Chief Will Pope. It's revealed that the two had an affair however, Brenda's interrogation, manipulation, and investigation skills are why she was made Deputy Chief. Taylor does question her authority and methods, however the two gain a mutual respect for each other.
• In Halt and Catch Fire, Gordon becomes frustrated when Cameron's section of the Giant project advances faster than his (largely because Cameron is a genius programmer, whereas Gordon is an alcoholic engineer) and thus spreads a rumor that she's getting more resources because she slept with their boss, Joe. Cameron turns the table on him by passionately kissing him in front of his subordinates and publicly implying that they had sex the previous night. As Gordon is married with kids, he decides to squash any further rumors about Cameron's sexual history so that nobody spreads rumors about her sleeping with him to his wife.
• Mad Men: Peggy mentions that people think she had to have slept with Don because how else does a newly-hired secretary suddenly get promoted to copywriter? In reality, Peggy strictly got the position on her own merits; Don meanwhile has a strict rule against sleeping with secretaries (which goes out the window after Megan is hired). More importantly, it was Freddy Rumsen who saw Peggy's potential (in "Babylon"), not Don.
• Two of a Kind: When Kevin is rumored to be having an affair with one of his students, she initially tells him it's not a problem and should take it in stride like she does; however, when the rumor mutates into her sleeping with him for better grades, she changes her tune.
• Who's the Boss?: In "Protecting the President", Angela learns that one of her own vice-presidents has been talking smack about her behind her back, including a comment that she's a "two-bit tramp who slept her way to the top". When she starts to tell her mother about it, she correctly guesses exactly what he said, saying it's what all men say about women who outrank them.

Professional Wrestling

• A.J. Lee famously touched a nerve in a promo against the Bella Twins, who were both dating other WWE superstars (Brie would later marry Bryan Danielson), when she told them "Talent is not sexually transmitted."

Theatre

• Legally Blonde: Occurs slightly differently than in the original film. Warner and Vivian catch Callahan forcibly kissing Elle through a window after Callahan complimented her in front of all the interns. But while Warner runs off immediately after the kiss, Vivian witnesses Elle slap Callahan in response. Warner, who already saw Elle as a "Marilyn" rather than a "Jackie", makes Elle feel even worse about the sexual harassment by assuming she did it on purpose.
  Warner: [smarmy] Well, hell-o, Marilyn. Looks like you'll make partner now. After all, you earned it.
  Vivian: Warner. Shut up.
• The Music Man: Implied by the Pick-a-Little Ladies about Marian Paroo. They believe that the late Miser Madison left the library collection to her in his will, guaranteeing her a job as the town librarian, because she had an affair with him, but it turns out Madison was simply a friend of Marian's late father who wanted to make sure the fatherless family was provided for.
• The Phantom of the Opera: In "Notes / Prima Donna", after the Phantom's latest batch of demands include having Christine replace Carlotta as the leading lady in Il Muto, everyone is quick to assume that the whole thing is a scheme between her and Raoul, the theater's new patron, whom everyone also assumes are having an affair.
  Who'd believe a diva happy to relieve a
  Chorus girl who's gone and slept with the patron?
  Raoul and the soubrette, entwined in love's duet!
  Although he may demur, he must have been with her!
  
  You'd never get away with all this in a play,
  But if it's loudly sung and in a foreign tongue
  It's just the sort of story audiences adore, in fact, a perfect opera!

Video Games

• The Coffin of Andy and Leyley has a variation involving Sexual Extortion. When Andy and Ashley hear from the lady on the floor below their apartment that she has been receiving food from the wardens (when they weren't given any) by asking nicely, Ashley replies, "like 'bend over and open wide' -nicely?" Her accusation proves to be true when they force her to call a warden to lure him to their room for "a good time" so Ashley can use him as an offering for the Entity.

Visual Novels

• In Adastra (2018), the titular moon is inhabited by a strictly patriarchal civilization of wolves. Therefore, rumors quickly spread that Virginia, the late emperor's only daughter, is as successful a diplomat as she is due to sexual favours to fellow politicians, rather than the actual reason: the fact she's brilliant. Of course, Virginia knows about these rumors and laughs them all off.

Web Animation

• Etra chan saw it!:
  • Azami is envious of Yuri for the CEO's praise of her. In order to make Yuri look bad, Azami decides to tell the CEO a bunch of lies about Yuri, even going so far as to claim that Yuri gained business deals by sleeping with clients. The CEO is infuriated by Azami's claims and rips her a new one for harassing people rather than doing her job.
  • Akamatsu is a sexist office worker who thinks that women can only achieve success by seducing men. He claims that Karin, his coworker, and Yuzuriha, his manager, are more successful than him because they sleep and/or flirt with their clients. Karin and Yuzuriha give him a tongue-lashing, stating that he needs to improve his own skills rather than bad-mouth people, and Akamatsu eventually turns his attitude around.
  • Akamatsu is a misogynist who accuses Karin, Yuzuriha, and Azami, who are all wealthy, of being prostitutes under the "logic" that the only way a woman can be rich without relying on a man is sex-work. In actuality, they're doctors.
• Trouble Busters: Ian is an arrogant misogynist who's offended that Hilary, a woman, is a member of the production team while he's only a member of the debugging team. He claims that Hiliary's better position is because she seduced one of the higher-ups. Ian has the audacity to state to Hillary (who's secretly recording him) that the boss is an idiot who only hired Hilary for being a young woman and that he's too stupid to recognize Ian's talents.

Webcomics

• Some readers of The Order of the Stick were uncertain why Vaarsuvius is enraged by their being mistaken for a warlock. Forum user SPoD used this trope as a simile to explain the reason for Vaarsuvius' response:
  "A wizard being called a sorcerer is sort of like having a PhD and someone telling you that you only managed to graduate because you have natural talent.
  A wizard being called a warlock is like having a PhD and being told you only managed to graduate because you gave the dean a quickie in the alley behind the movie theater."
• Something*Positive: An ugly old coworker of Monette's spitefully tells her "all that lying on your back did wonders for your posture", Monette jabs right back explaining that since said coworker's approach gave her bad breath and gangly knees she'd try a different one.
• Inverted in Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic when Wolf (a male drow in a matriarchal society) is mocked by wood elves, and shuts them both up with a single comeback:
  "I slept my way to this post."

Web Videos

• Apple Texts: This iText Pro story has Jim, a misogynistic company worker, looking down on the female CEO of a client company. He makes all kinds of sexist remarks towards her, at one point accusing her of gaining her position by sleeping with her superiors.
• Berserk Abridged: Adon Corlbowitz baselessly accuses Casca of having become a commander in the Band of the Hawk by sleeping with Griffith as one of many "sexist villain cliches" he spouts before their first fight.
• Center Texts: Isabella is a college graduate who receives this accusation from Jenny, her own mother; Jenny always favored Isabella's brother Ben, a layabout who dropped out of every college he went to. Jenny claims that the only reason Isabella was able to succeed where Ben failed is because she slept her way into getting good grades.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series: In episode 31, when Joey finds out that Mai won four locator cards, he accuses her of having slept with Kaiba for them. Mai gets offended, asking if it's so hard to believe that she actually won them fair and square. Joey's response?
  "Get your Kaiba-lovin' boobies outta my face!"

Western Animation

• Family Guy: In "From Method to Madness", Stewie becomes part of a double act with a girl named Olivia. When he sees that her name comes before his on their first banner, he mockingly asks her how the sex with their manager was.

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