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The Smurfette principle is the practice in media, such as film and television, to include only one woman in an otherwise entirely male ensemble. [1] [2] It establishes a male-dominated narrative, where the woman is the exception and exists only in reference to the men. [3] [4] The concept is named after Smurfette, the only female among the Smurfs, a group of comic book creatures.
The term was coined by Katha Pollitt in 1991 in The New York Times : [5]
Contemporary shows are either essentially all-male, like "Garfield", or are organized on what I call the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined (...) The message is clear. Boys are the norm, girls the variation; boys are central, girls peripheral; boys are individuals, girls types. Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls exist only in relation to boys.
Pollitt observed this as what she thought of in terms of a common media practice while shopping for her daughter's Christmas toys. The initial use of the term was in relation to "preschool culture," that to Pollitt, would hinder a child's understanding of gender. She wrote: "The sexism in preschool culture deforms both boys and girls. Little girls learn to split their consciousness, filtering their dreams and ambitions through boy characters while admiring the clothes of the princess." [5]
The woman character essentially represents "femininity" in these cases. She may or may not play a major role in the story, but typically is "everything female." Some examples that Pollitt cites include the mother figure, a “glamour queen,” or a female sidekick of sorts. [5] As a consequence, works employing this trope often fail the Bechdel test, an indicator of gender bias in fiction.
In 2011, Pollitt discussed her term again in The Atlantic . She said that the issue is still highly prevalent in the current media. She specifically cited the feature film, Super 8 (popular at that time), which had only one female main character (played by Elle Fanning). Also at this time, she extended the principle to include television networks. The only major female anchor in the MSNBC lineup in 2011, according to Pollitt, was Rachel Maddow. She commented, "It's quite remarkable that there's only this one woman, and it's never equal." [2]
This phenomenon has not disappeared by any means, making many appearances in popular literature and discourse. Journalists complain that major blockbusters often include only one female, and this trend is not fading anytime soon. [6] This is visible in ensemble movie posters, like with Ocean's Eleven , The Matrix , and Star Wars, among many others. [7] New York Magazine compiled all lines spoken by women in the Star Wars franchise who are not Princess Leia, leaving a mere 63 seconds of female dialogue during the total series run time of nearly seven hours (23,160 seconds). [8] Steve Rose looks at Eleven's situation in the TV show Stranger Things , where she is essentially replaced (while on her own adventures) by Max, another young girl, who is also teased, then "lusted after," another common reaction to a lone female character. [6] The "Smurfette," or sole female cast member, has been understood to typically have a stereotypical role of a romantic partner, a “brooding badass,” or exists to deflate the tension of an all-male cast. [9]
As a result of the discontent about the lack of women, a new pattern has emerged, of “gender-inversion,” resulting in versions of existing media franchises with lead casts of exclusively female actresses, like Ocean's 8 and Ghostbusters . [9]
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that only “10% of all films have a gender balanced cast,” thus reinforcing the existence of the lack of fair female representation, i.e. the Smurfette Principle. [10] [9]
In an article and video for Bitch Magazine , Anita Sarkeesian asserts that the tendency of media from the 1980s and 1990s—which typically adhere to this principle—continuously being remade results in the recurrence of this issue, creating an ongoing cycle. She also called on the film industry to include more female characters, or even a female-dominated cast, and pass the Bechdel test, stating that after these are kept in mind and actually accomplished, meaningful diversity will be possible. [11]
Rickie Solinger, in a review of some of Pollitt's major works up to 1993, wrote that the Smurfette principle applies to preschoolers and adults alike. [12]
Jan Susina, a scholar and researcher of child and adolescent literature, used the term in a 1995 edition of the journal, The Lion and the Unicorn, to back up his assertion that children's literature is being “dumbed down” as a larger symptom of cultural problems, particularly that entertainment is like “junk food,” or unrewarding to the audience. He uses Pollitt's term as evidence that a lack of women contributes to low quality media for children and also that the popular media has picked up on this issue in major publications. [13]
The principle has been observed in the following works among others:
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express oneself.
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actor, activist, fashion model, and producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Gender neutrality, also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions should avoid distinguishing roles according to people's sex or gender. This is in order to avoid discrimination arising from the impression that there are social roles for which one gender is more suited than another. The disparity in gender equality throughout history has had a significant impact on many aspects of society, including marketing, toys, education and parenting techniques. In order to increase gender neutrality in recent years, there has been a societal emphasis on utilizing inclusive language and advocating for equality.
The damsel in distress is a narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has been kidnapped or placed in other peril. Kinship, love, lust or a combination of those motivate the male protagonist to initiate the narrative.
Katha Pollitt is an American poet, essayist and critic. She is the author of four essay collections and two books of poetry. Her writing focuses on political and social issues from a left-leaning perspective, including abortion, racism, welfare reform, feminism, and poverty.
Smurfette is one of the protagonists from the comic strip The Smurfs. Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel, the Smurfs' archenemy, in order to spy on them and sow jealousy. However, she decides that she wants to be a real Smurf and Papa Smurf casts a spell that changes her hair from black to blonde as a sign of her transformation. She was the only female Smurf until the creation of Sassette. A Granny Smurf was also later introduced, although it is unclear how she was created. Thierry Culliford, the son of the comics' creator, Peyo, and current head of the Studio Peyo, announced in 2008 that more female Smurfs would be introduced in the stories. Smurfette has stereotypical feminine features, with long blonde wavy hair, long eyelashes, and wears a white dress and white high heels. She is the love interest of almost every Smurf.
The final girl is a trope in horror films. It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in many films, including Psycho, Voices of Desire, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Alien, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and Train to Busan. The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her article "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film" (1987). Clover suggested that in these films, the viewer began by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experienced a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.
The portrayal of women inAmerican comic books has often been the subject of controversy since the medium's beginning. Critics have noted the roles of women as both supporting characters and lead characters are substantially more subjected to gender stereotypes, with femininity and/or sexual characteristics having a larger presence in their overall character.
Gender has been an important theme explored in speculative fiction. The genres that make up speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural fiction, horror, superhero fiction, science fantasy and related genres, have always offered the opportunity for writers to explore social conventions, including gender, gender roles, and beliefs about gender. Like all literary forms, the science fiction genre reflects the popular perceptions of the eras in which individual creators were writing; and those creators' responses to gender stereotypes and gender roles.
A Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in fiction, usually depicted as a young woman with eccentric personality quirks who serves as the romantic interest for a male protagonist. The term was coined by film critic Nathan Rabin after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown (2005). Rabin criticized the type as one-dimensional, existing only to provide emotional support to the protagonist, or to teach him important life lessons, while receiving nothing in return. The term has since entered the general vernacular.
The Bechdel test, also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a test to measure the representation of women in film and other fiction. The test asks whether a work features at least two female characters who have a conversation about something other than a man. In some iterations, the requirement that the two female characters have names is added.
The representation of gender in horror films, particularly depictions of women, has been the subject of critical commentary.
The strong female character is a stock character, the opposite of the damsel in distress. In the first half of the 20th century, the rise of mainstream feminism and the increased use of the concept in the later 20th century have reduced the concept to a standard item of pop culture fiction. This narrative cliche is separate and distinct from the notion of a female character who is well written, granted some form of agency, and whose actions and desires occupy a central place in the story in a way that is unusual in the history of women in literature and women in film.
Gender roles are culturally influenced stereotypes which create expectations for appropriate behavior for males and females. An understanding of these roles is evident in children as young as age four. Children between 3 and 6 months can form distinctions between male and female faces. By ten months, infants can associate certain objects with females and males, like a hammer with males or scarf with females. Gender roles are influenced by the media, family, the environment, and society. In addition to biological maturation, children develop within a set of gender-specific social and behavioral norms embedded in family structure, natural play patterns, close friendships, and the teeming social jungle of school life. The gender roles encountered in childhood play a large part in shaping an individual's self-concept and influence the way an individual forms relationships later on in life.
Gender plays a role in mass media and is represented within media platforms. These platforms are not limited to film, radio, television, advertisement, social media, and video games. Initiatives and resources exist to promote gender equality and reinforce women's empowerment in the media industry and representations. For example, UNESCO, in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists, elaborated the Gender-sensitive Indicators for Media contributing to gender equality and women's empowerment in all forms of media.
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Women are involved in the film industry in all roles, including as film directors, actresses, cinematographers, film producers, film critics, and other film industry professions, though women have been underrepresented in creative positions.
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media is a US non-profit research organization that researches gender representation in media and advocates for equal representation of women.
Johanson analysis, developed by film critic MaryAnn Johanson, provides a method to evaluate the representation of women and girls in fiction. The analysis evaluates media on criteria that include the basic representation of women, female agency, power and authority, the male gaze, and issues of gender and sexuality. Johanson's 2015 study, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, compiled statistics for every film released in 2015, and all those nominated for Oscars in 2014 or 2015. She also drew conclusions about movie profitability when women are represented well.
Muslim Casting is an American casting and consulting company that seeks to promote Muslim representation and visibility in Hollywood. Founded by Serena Rasoul in January 2021, the company helps productions portray Muslims accurately through DEI consulting. Muslim Casting has been featured in various news outlets such as Variety, NPR, Backstage, The Washington Post, and NBC News.
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