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Ms. Red Ink

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Kahran042 The Topic Slayer from New Hampshire Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Singularity
The Topic Slayer
#1: Sep 16th 2024 at 3:39:28 PM

Does this really need to be exist? From what I've seen, it's just a gender-specific version of Money Dumb.

Seven colors in the rainbow. Seven letters in the word "rainbow". Coincidence? I think not.
DeadlyEspresso Louisiana Heartstopper from your local Popeyes Since: Apr, 2023
Louisiana Heartstopper
#3: Sep 17th 2024 at 12:52:49 PM

[up][up]I'm not sure if this trope may be distinct enough from Money Dumb or redundant with it. Ms. Red Ink did come first as it was created in 2009 while Money Dumb was created in 2020 (so if anything, Money Dumb might be redundant with Ms. Red Ink). However, I think Ms. Red Ink may also be reflective of a stereotype of women having a tendancy to waste money on trivial things such as fashion. "This trope assumes that female characters are incapable of handling money, and will therefore waste it. Or that anything a woman is interested in purchasing must be frivolous, and/or that women are not capable of distinguishing between "want" and "need."

This trope assumes that female characters are incapable of handling money, and will therefore waste it. Or that anything a woman is interested in purchasing must be frivolous, and/or that women are not capable of distinguishing between "want" and "need.
So, this might be more of a subtrope to Money Dumb where it's about the stereotype of women being Money Dumb.

I sadly doubt he would like Popeyes, though...
MorganWick (Elder Troper)
#4: Sep 18th 2024 at 2:59:41 AM

Problem is, what does the example section look like in that case? How do you make the examples not just "Money Dumb But Female", or do you?

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#5: Sep 18th 2024 at 7:23:02 AM

A wick check might help here, if there's concern over the examples.

Which one should I wick check? Or should I wick check both?

Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Sep 18th 2024 at 10:23:10 AM

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
EmeraldSource Since: Jan, 2021
#6: Sep 18th 2024 at 10:24:36 AM

If Ms. Red Ink came after Money Dumb it would probably have been dismissed as redundant. But as it does focus on female stereotypes it's also a companion to tropes like Pretty Freeloader, Trophy Wife and Gold Digger, an implication they are manipulative or get by on their looks, whereas Money Dumb is more about being naive or having bad habits.

Comics are just words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures.
8BrickMario Since: May, 2013
#7: Sep 18th 2024 at 11:45:50 AM

There's also a demonstrable use of this pattern of women specifically being bad with money or "argh the wife spending us out of house and home". Granted, this is more prevalent in things like fifties/sixties sitcoms, so it might have lost its ubiquity, but it was a real phenomenon/social concern in storytelling that is tied to the gender of the character.

Prfnoff Since: Jan, 2001
#8: Sep 18th 2024 at 2:04:23 PM

Perhaps the trope might more properly be named Mrs. Red Ink, since it seems tied to the social convention of housewives normally being granted permission to spend their husbands' money buying things for their households and themselves as they see fit. (When husbands don't allow this, it leads to conflicts of a different sort.)

Kahran042 The Topic Slayer from New Hampshire Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Singularity
The Topic Slayer
#9: Sep 19th 2024 at 5:59:22 AM

[up]Maybe.

Really, the main thing I noticed was that the Simpsons entry was really more about Homer than Marge. Should the stuff about Homer be moved to Money Dumb, do you think?

Seven colors in the rainbow. Seven letters in the word "rainbow". Coincidence? I think not.
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