Patricia Grisafi
Representations of women in media have come a long way, but there’s still so much that’s quite frankly messed up. Women are often portrayed without nuance, being presented as man-hungry, antisocial, baby-crazy, or as a plot device that leads a male character to find growth.
On Reddit, folks are sharing the depictions of women in media that make them want to puke (and not because they’re pregnant, unlike every woman in the history of TV who has ever thrown up).
Sitcom wives, every woman on The Big Bang Theory, and superheroes with inappropriate footwear rank high followed by the every-joyful and quirky Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
1. Wife Of Average Sitcom Husband
“All the average joe/overweight sitcom husbands with gorgeous super model wives. Usually when the male lead is also creator/EP, imagine that.” — SRichmon51385
2. Baby Crazy Women
“I hate that every female character in sitcoms has children during the course of the plot. Even the women who start out clearly child-free. A good example of this is Bernadette from big bang theory, who ends up having two children. I like much better the story of Xiomara from Jane the Virgin, who gets pregnant unplanned, has an abortion and doesn’t regret her decision.” — Hadopelagial
3. The Big Bang Theory
“Lots of the women in The Big Bang Theory are chronically mistreated by their dipsh*t boyfriends and are just okay with it somehow.” — celestialism
4. Fight Scenes In Impractical Footwear
“Fight scenes in towering high heels. IRL broken ankles everywhere.” — zenOFiniquity8
5. The “White Washed” Best Friend
“The Black, Latina, and Asian best friend / helper who is either super stereotypical or completely ‘white-washed’ with no proper characterizations (arc, motives, nuances, etc).” — tiredofyobullshit
6. Fat Women Who Obsess Over Their Weight
“Fat woman characters whose entire storyline revolves around their weight. Can we as a society be done with this and just let fat women exist? The first episode of This is Us was so trope heavy I gave up on the entire series.” — HarpyPizzaParty
7. Labor and Childbirth
“I absolutely hate the way labor and childbirth scenes are depicted on tv, especially sitcoms.” — redgwenivere
8. Vomiting = Pregnant
“The one where you see a character vomit once and the viewer can ONLY assume she is pregnant. I have vomited a bit in my life, and it’s never been a pregnancy.” — LetsBeReal24
9. Braces and Glasses = Ugly
“When the girl is supposed to be ugly so she wears glasses and has braces.” — Scieska
10. Women Fainting At Blood
“Woman fainting at the sight of blood. Like, she can bleed for a week every month and change bloody pads/tampons/clothes/bedding with her own blood on it but will faint at the sight of non-period blood. Really?” — c_nd_n
11. Same Sex Stereotypes
“Two women in a relationship = super-butch lesbian + ultra-girly lesbian.” — inkwater
12. The “Tough Chick”
“The ‘tough chick’ trope where she only has agency, a backbone and the ability to do anything remotely physically demanding is due to the tragic back story, usually involving rape or being orphaned. Otherwise, a female character in media can’t both be strong and sympathetic at the same time.” — bigtiddytoad
13. Hair Choices
“The badass superhero spy chick who lets her hair fly around instead of just pulling it back or braiding it!” — VerdePatate
14. Make-Up
“That we all spend hours on make up.” — susgrigs
15. Manic Pixie Dream Girl
“It’s almost too easy to say this one, but the Manic Pixie dream girl. Blech.” — TheElusivePeacock
Featured Image: YouTube