Basic Trope: A former womanizer is now raising a daughter with love and care after treating women as objects for so long.
- Straight: Bob used to treat women as pieces of meat in the past. In the present, he is a responsible father who treats his daughter Alice with love and care.
- Exaggerated: Bob used to keep entire harems of women at his beck and call. Now that he’s raising Alice, he wants to know everything about her so that he can treat her better.
- Downplayed:
- Bob’s treatment of women was no better or worse than any other man’s when he was a womanizer; as a father, his treatment of Alice is that of a normal caring parent.
- Bob never bedded as many women as he would’ve liked (but said he did), but certainly had the mindset of a playboy. He is aware of this in the present and is mindful to treat Alice better than he would’ve treated the women he lusted after in the past.
- Justified:
- Bob is all too aware of how society treats women after a certain age, how women with father issues often end up exploited, and how he benefited from that as a womanizer. To that end, he makes sure to raise Alice with love and care to ensure she is a smart, confident, capable, and independent woman as an adult.
- Bob feels guilty about how he treated women as conquests in the past and makes sure to raise Alice with the love and appreciation he never showed them.
- Bob's womanizing ways were more reflective of his views on relationships than on women generally, and he like most people believes in treating one's children well.
- Inverted:
- Young Carol is sexually active and treats men as nothing but glorified sperm donors; when she becomes pregnant with and gives birth to Alec, she gives it all up to raise him, making it a priority to ensure she doesn’t treat him that way.
- Alice grows up to be sexually active and irresponsible, treating men as nothing but glorified sperm donors. When her father Bob is old and grey, she becomes a responsible, caring daughter as she takes care of him, treating him better than how she used to treat her old flames.
- Bob was a Celibate Hero who treated women with the utmost respect as individuals in his heyday, but treats Alice as nothing more than an accessory as a father.
- Subverted:
- Bob still chases women after having Alice…
- When Bob finds out Carol is pregnant with Alice, he vows to give up his philandering ways to be a husband and father. Five years later, Carol is raising Alice all by herself and Bob is nowhere to be seen…
- Bob finds out Carol is pregnant, and sees that she’s anticipating a girl. He vows to give up his womanizing ways to be a good father to the baby, devoting nine whole months of preparation for what is sure to be a monumental task. Nine months later, Carol gives birth to a boy and Bob’s vow comes to nothing.
- Bob used to treat women as pieces of meat in the past. Sadly in the present, he makes little or no effort to make sure Alice grows up into a healthy adult.
- Double Subverted:
- ...until he has a Jerkass Realization, stops chasing women, and starts raising Alice with dedication.
- ...until he finally shows up ready to do his part.
- ...who comes out as transgender and transitions into a girl, thus requiring Bob to fulfill his promise after all.
- Parodied: Bob's womanizing is portrayed to be a la Bruce Wayne. When he fathers Alice, he devotes Batman-level seriousness to raising her with love and care.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob initially tries to change his womanizing ways when he learns about Carol's pregnancy but struggles to fully commit. He goes back and forth between his old habits and attempting to be a responsible father to Alice. At times, he shows genuine care and love for her, but other times he falls back into his old patterns of objectifying women. This inconsistency creates a constant tension and uncertainty in his role as a father and his treatment of Alice.
- Averted:
- Bob is a Celibate Hero instead of an irresponsible playboy.
- Bob always uses protection when bedding multiple female partners to avoid conceiving unwanted children.
- Enforced: "Bob's character doesn't jive well with women. Let's give him a daughter to make him more likable!"
- Lampshaded: "Dang Bob, you really grew up, huh?"
- Invoked: Carol asks Bob what he would do if he ever found out one of his former paramours had a girl, hoping to hear him say he'd give it all up to be with the woman and the kid.
- Exploited: Carol tells Bob she's pregnant with a girl to get him to step up and be a more responsible and more attentive boyfriend and father.
- Defied: Bob refuses to raise any children he might have and does not grow as a result.
- Discussed: "You know Bob, market research says 100% of men who chase women in their twenties end up being the best fathers to girls when they’re in their thirties." "Y'know what Susan, that makes an awful lot of sense..."
- Conversed: "Wow, that Bob has to be the best father I've ever seen. Look at how much Alice adores him!" "Eh. Five bucks says he bumped 'em and dumped 'em back in the day. Why else would he be so attentive?"
- Deconstructed:
- Bob means well when he raises Alice, but his attitude toward her is just as condescending and paternalistic as it was towards his former conquests, though Bob himself doesn’t realize this.
- While Bob does a decent if not exceptional job of raising Alice, it’s revealed that Carol hated his philandering ways so much that she left him to raise Alice on his own.
- Bob feels guilty for how he used to treat women in the past, causing him to overcompensate when raising Alice. He becomes a Boyfriend-Blocking Dad, which causes a strain on his relationship with Alice when she starts dating.
- Bob’s ability to be a good parent is constantly called into question due to his philandering past, and he’s always assumed to be an inferior parent to Carol regardless of Carol’s own parenting.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob is informed about how his attitude towards Alice isn’t much better than it used to be towards the women he used to date. He realizes this and talks through it with Alice, strengthening their relationship in the process.
- Alice understands that Carol leaving her and Bob was Carol’s fault, not Bob’s, as Bob is the one who bothered to put all the work into raising her, even if he wasn’t so great in the past.
- Bob learns that part of raising Alice well includes respecting her decisions as to who she dates. From that point on he demonstrates considerable tolerance towards her boyfriends, which teaches Alice her words have power. She takes this lesson with her into adulthood, marking a decisive good job in Bob’s parenting.
- Bob’s town learns just how hard he’s been working at raising Alice, apologizes, and never questions his ability to parent Alice ever again.
- Played for Laughs: The audience sees a montage of Bob being an irresponsible, childish philistine. Gilligan Cut to the present where Bob is enduring Alice as a Bratty Teenage Daughter.
- Played for Drama: Several of Bob's old flames live in the same town as him and Alice. They leer at Alice whenever she walks by them and their daughters harass her at school over how he used to treat their mothers. They mockingly ask Alice if Bob would screw them too if they showed up in a short skirt and tank top. Alice is distraught by this bullying.
Back to Playboy Has a Daughter.
