Talk:Smurfette principle

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Untitled
I believe this was parodied in an episode of "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" where Billy is playing with the tiny "Schlubs" in his backyard and he discovers that there can only be one female in the colony and if another one ever shows up they have to fight to the death. Also in the "Family Guy" version of "Star Wars" Herbert/Kinobi tells Chris/Luke that he has a sister. When Chris/Luke asks who it is, Herbert/Kinobi exclaims, "Who do you think it is? Who's the only woman in the galaxy?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Magnigornia (talk • contribs) 17:22, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

Agent Carter
While the reference is certainly appropriate for Captain America: The First Avenger, I've removed the reference to the Agent Carter series itself. The Smurfette Principle refers to an ensemble cast of males with a singular female character fulfilling stereotypical roles as a peripheral. This is not the case in Agent Carter, where she is the eponymous character and the focus of the show even though the rest of the cast is primarily (but not entirely) male. In the absence of a source supporting the assertion that the Smurfette Principle applies to Agent Carter, its inclusion is inappropriate. -Nutiketaiel (talk) 10:26, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Inception/Ariadne
I've removed Ariadne from the list of examples. Although she is the only female member of Cobb's team, she is one of two main female characters in Inception and her character is not peripheral or playing to any female stereotypes (if anything, the main antagonist Mal is a more stereotypical female character as she has some aspects of a 'femme fatale'.) I couldn't find any sources suggesting this is an example of a Smurfette character apart from the one cited (a very brief passing mention in a video blog, not really a reliable source) while others such as  suggest Ariadne is actually an example of a lone female character in a group of men who is not a Smurfette character. At best, this is a debatable case, so shouldn't be included in a list of examples that illustrate the issue. Inception is certainly a male dominated movie but not because of the character Ariadne. Eggybacon (talk) 13:07, 14 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Not sure Wikipedia is the place for discussion, though. I think Princess Leia should not be on this list, either. She is clearly a strong and capable character and does not only exist in relation to the men. In fact, we have a trio of main characters (Luke, Leia, Han), one of which happens to be a woman. She is strong, brave, takes matters into her own hands. There might be a lack of female characters in Star Wars as far as numbers go, but that isn't the decisive factor for this "Smurfette principle". GrafLukas (talk) 08:42, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Doubt
There is clearly more than one female character in many of the examples listed. Just because they may not have any major role, doesn't mean they don't count. There are usually few protagonists anyway. How wouldn't be some of these just coincidence? --188.99.186.160 (talk) 22:57, 25 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes, and only having one female character doesn't automatically qualify for this "Smurfette principle". I agree with the actual Smurfette and a lot of other examples can be found. But I personally disagree with Princess Leia being on that list, as her character is not limited to being female. Yes, Luke's original motivation to save her has some fairytale tropes, Princess in distress and all, but as soon as we meet her it becomes obvious she is quite a character, and capable too. GrafLukas (talk) 08:45, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Differences with Tokenism
This is different than Tokenism because while it may be in the same vein of discussing underrepresented peoples, it serves a different role. The Smurfette principle looks directly at the female role in media, not just any minority and not in any other medium besides screens and print. While the character/person in discussion may be included for the purpose of diversity, it not always the only reason. Many times the female is added to make the cast more interesting or colorful in terms of character development. The Smurfette Principle is also more of an observation of this tendency (toward adding for diversity) than solely an explanatory force. It also does not completely deviate from the idea that it would prevent the accusation of discrimination. The Smurfette Principle describes stereotyping women into typical female roles like motherhood or the "glamour queen," which inherently discriminates against women who do not fit into that "norm." (Historynerd2018 (talk) 22:15, 15 July 2018 (UTC))

Recent Additions
I added some sections yesterday to update and round out the existing page. I added more background to why Katha Pollitt created the term and what she has said about it most recently (in 2011). I also added a section about recent developments, especially those in the context of current media. It is actually a fairly current term that many people use, which was not reflected as much in the older version of this page. I also added a section on uses in scholarship. These are people who use the term not so much to talk about current media, but how the Smurfette Principle relates to certain fields of study like feminism and general literature. (Historynerd2018 (talk) 17:09, 25 July 2018 (UTC)).

Add Bionicle examples?
See List of Bionicle characters. It's been a long time since I've followed Bionicle at all, but I recall that most or all of the characters associated with the element of water are female, while most or all of the characters associated with the other five elements are male. And since there are usually hero teams of six characters, one of each element, this results in teams with five men and one woman. At least, that's what I remember—a Bionicle expert should weigh in. – PointyOintment ❬💬•⌨❭ 13:42, 2 December 2019 (UTC)
 * We'd need a reliable source in any case. See WP:V.  Sandstein   15:51, 2 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Gender imbalance isn't the only definition of this Smurfette principle, though. This is about limiting the female character to being female or projecting a bunch of "stereotypical female characteristics" on that character. Sky from that terrible children's show Paw Patrol is such an example - only female, all pink, everything about her screaming "I'm a girl". Is that the case with Bionicle or are those females associated with water strong, capable characters in their own right? GrafLukas (talk) 08:50, 21 April 2022 (UTC)