History Main / GenderIncompetence

* ''WesternAnimation/HighGuardianSpice'': Zig-zags this a bit. On one hand, the female leads are not shown to be perfect, make mistakes and struggle in their fights. But any named male characters that aren't a teacher or Snapdragon are either evil, homophobic jerkasses, or stupid and generally not up to the intelligence of the main heroes.

* ''VideoGame/Siren'' does this too the ladies, every single one of them. Compared to the men girls have more limited climbing abilities, can not use higher skill weapons, and need males to help them get to certain areas when being escorted. These limitations also transfer to the ladies when the player is in control of them and can make a stage that was literally just played as a male much harder. Not even the [[DarkActionGirl evil]] female shibitos are spared from this as they share the same limitations as the human girls.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendofZelda'' does this not with all genders but with the members of the Triforce. The bearer of wisdom is always female while the other two are male and while all three are portrayed as powerful in their own right the bearer of wisdom, no matter how strong and combat ready she gets, will always be weak to sustained attack while the other two don't have the same weakness.

* '''Dumb Blond Gender:''' Here, an entire gender is treated as being as dumb as a collection of granite chunks, causing them to screw up all the time through sheer lack of intelligence.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'' has an interesting variation with the girls of both franchises. During a stage transition males and the ladies received different animations to better fit their gender. When a male loses his HP and the stage transition is happening all of the girls could appear to be scolding her ally for losing while another male being anchor just looks like he wants to get revenge. What makes this interesting is that in the final version all of the girls have below average to low HP so they could very easily lead to the team's downfall.

** Notably, the [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Simpson gene]] [[LamarckWasRight responsible for the male Simpson's stupidity]] [[CanonDisContinuity is never mentioned again]], and future episodes [[RetCon give other explanations for Homer and Bart's stupidity, like a crayon lodged in Homer's brain and a combination of ADHD, a pathological need for attention, and a generally bad experience during his first day at school for Bart]], while a woman heavily implied to be Homer's older half-sister was about Homer's intellect.
** Although Homer and Bart are usually shown as being less intelligent than Marge or Lisa, they're perhaps more likeable (at least until Homer's {{Jerkass}} tenancies went into orbit) and socially adept, balancing things out somewhat.

** Notably, the [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Simpson gene]] [[LamarckWasRight responsible for the male Simpson's stupidity]] [[CanonDisContinuity is never mentioned again]], and future episodes [[RetCon give better explanations for Homer and Bart's stupidity, like a crayon lodged in Homer's brain and a combination of ADHD, a pathological need for attention, and a generally bad experience during his first day at school for Bart]], while a woman heavily implied to be Homer's older half-sister was about Homer's intellect.

** Notably, the [[YouFailBiologyForever Simpson gene]] [[LamarckWasRight responsible for the male Simpson's stupidity]] [[CanonDisContinuity is never mentioned again]], and future episodes [[RetCon give better explanations for Homer and Bart's stupidity, like a crayon lodged in Homer's brain and a combination of ADHD, a pathological need for attention, and a generally bad experience during his first day at school for Bart]], while a woman heavily implied to be Homer's older half-sister was about Homer's intellect.

* The first season of the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' anime was quite unfair with its female characters, most barely getting to fight or only fighting once for a plot event, then not anymore. The most {{egregious}} example might be Kusuha, who only deploys for one fight ''so she can get captured''. Thankfully the second season averts this and makes both guys and girls awesome.

* '''Gender Baggage:''' This is for when all members of a gender are treated as being overly emotional, or conversely, [[StrawVulcan too logical,]] causing them to fail when greater strength/compassion is needed.

In all cases, one gender is made effectively useless throughout the course of the fiction, while the other is not. Compare to GenderRestrictedAbility, FauxActionGirl, BumblingDad, and WomenAreWiser. Contrast with PositiveDiscrimination.

In all cases, one gender is made effectively useless throughout the course of the fiction, while the other is not. Compare to GenderRestrictedAbility, FauxActionGirl and WomenAreWiser. Contrast with PositiveDiscrimination.

* ''TheWheelOfTime'' series has this. Men are widely regarded as weak, mainly because they can't really work together in channeling, and most of those that can channel get sealed up pretty quick.

Stacy, Mark and Grace are wandering through the woods in their quest to defeat Monster X and recover the MacGuffin of the week. All have great weapons, are hailed as seasoned combatants and are generally viewed as heroes. It looks like we may have a fantastic fight on our hands.

The fight begins as soon as our heroes reach the cave, but Monster X is so tough that he trounces Stacy and Grace without breaking a sweat. Clearly, we're in trouble. Only Mark can save the CityOfAdventure from the monster, and he proceeds to do so with a new technique he learned [[MostWritersAreMale while the girls we're busy getting fighting over their periods and/or boy of the week.]]

Of course, we don't think anything of it at first. Mark was lucky to have that new technique, even though the girls each have cool techniques as well (Usually relating to [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower their heart]]! There's nothing suspicious about one lucky victory.

Then, the next time the group enters a battle, they fight an even bigger monster from dimension Z alongside another group consisting of Mark and Lee.

When the dust clears, Lee and Mark are the only ones standing. Noticing something here?

There wasn't any reason for Stacy and Grace to fail. Their PowerLevels are the same as the boys; maybe even greater, but for some reason (think [[DoubleStandard double standard]], they just can't seem to measure up when the chips are down.

Whether she knows it or not, Grace and her pals have just been bitten by the Gender Incompetence bug; the tendency of one gender in a story/movie/show/game/etc to fail when the going gets tough even though there isn't much reason for it. It wasn't that only one gender could master the DangerousForbiddenTechnique. It wasn't that all the awesome superpowers belonged to the gender that saved the day. Just, for some reason, one sex seems to come out on top all the time. This can take a few forms.

* '''Customary Incompetence:''' For instances where the failure of one gender is due to the way they're treated by members of the other gender. For instance, [[StayInTheKitchen male characters berating equally-capable female ones to stand back and let them handle it]], so that the males don't have to protect them. The women may reluctantly go along with the plan because it's expected, reducing their effectiveness regardless of any spells/techniques/special training they may otherwise have. Depending on how far towards its extreme this is taken, this one has been TruthInTelevision in many periods of history, as out right misogyny was considered the norm back then (and even now.

In all cases, one gender is made effectively useless throughout the course of the fiction, while the other is not. Could be considered a Sub Trope of DoubleStandard. Compare to GenderRestrictedAbility, FauxActionGirl and MostWritersAreMale. Contrast with PositiveDiscrimination.

Stacy, Mark and Grace are wandering through the woods in their quest to defeat Monster X and recover the MacGuffin of the week. All have great weapons, are hailed as seasoned combatants and are generally viewed as heroes. It looks like we may have [[BigDamnHeroes a fantastic fight on our hands.]]

The fight begins as soon as our heroes reach the cave, but Monster X is so tough that he trounces Stacy and Grace without breaking a sweat. Clearly, we're in trouble. Only Mark can save the CityOfAdventure from the monster, and he proceeds to do so with a new technique he learned [[MostWritersAreMen while the girls we're busy getting fighting over their periods and/or boy of the week.]]

There wasn't any reason for Stacy and Grace to fail. Their PowerLevels are the same as the boys; maybe even greater, but for some reason (think [[doublestandard double standard]], they just can't seem to measure up when the chips are down.

* '''Customary Incompetence:''' For instances where the failure of one gender is due to the way they're treated by members of the other gender. For instance, [[StayInTheKitchen male characters encouraging equally-capable female ones to stand back and let them handle it]], so that the males don't have to protect them. The women may reluctantly go along with the plan because it's expected, reducing their effectiveness regardless of any spells/techniques/special training they may otherwise have. Depending on how far towards its extreme this is taken, this one has been TruthInTelevision in many periods of history, as out right misogyny was considered the norm back then (and even now.

In all cases, one gender is made effectively useless throughout the course of the fiction, while the other is not. Could be considered a Sub Trope of DoubleStandard. Compare to GenderRestrictedAbility, FauxActionGirl and WomenAreWiser. Contrast with PositiveDiscrimination.

Of course, we don't think anything of it at first. Mark was lucky to have that new technique, even though the girls each have cool techniques as well (Usually relating to [[theheart their heart!]]! There's nothing suspicious about one lucky victory.

Of course, we don't think anything of it at first. Mark was lucky to have that new technique, even though the girls each have cool techniques as well (Usually relating to [[thepowerofheart their heart!]]! There's nothing suspicious about one lucky victory.

Bob, Jen and Griff are wandering through the woods in their quest to defeat Monster X and recover the MacGuffin of the week. All have great weapons, are hailed as seasoned combatants and are generally viewed as heroes. It looks like we may have [[BigDamnHeroes a fantastic fight on our hands.]]

The fight begins as soon as our heroes reach the cave, but Monster X is so tough that he trounces Bob and Griff without breaking a sweat. Clearly, we're in trouble. Only Jen can save the CityOfAdventure from the monster, and she proceeds to do so with a new technique she learned [[CurbStompBattle in record time.]]

Of course, we don't think anything of it at first. Jen was lucky to have that new technique, even though the boys each have cool techniques as well. There's nothing suspicious about one lucky victory.

Then, the next time the group enters a battle, they fight an even bigger monster from dimension Z alongside another group consisting of Mary, Lee and Amy.

When the dust clears, Mary, Amy and Jen are the only ones standing. Noticing something here?

There wasn't any reason for Bob, Griff and Lee to fail. Their PowerLevels are the same as the girls; maybe even greater, but for some reason, they just can't seem to measure up when the chips are down.

Whether he knows it or not, Bob and his pals have just been bitten by the Gender Incompetence bug; the tendency of one gender in a story/movie/show/game/etc to fail when the going gets tough even though there isn't much reason for it. It wasn't that only one gender could master the DangerousForbiddenTechnique. It wasn't that all the awesome superpowers belonged to the gender that saved the day. Just, for some reason, one sex seems to come out on top all the time. This can take a few forms.

* '''Customary Incompetence:''' For instances where the failure of one gender is due to the way they're treated by members of the other gender. For instance, [[StayInTheKitchen male characters encouraging equally-capable female ones to stand back and let them handle it]], so that the males don't have to protect them. The females may go along with the plan because it's expected, reducing their effectiveness regardless of any spells/techniques/special training they may otherwise have. Depending on how far towards its extreme this is taken, this one has been TruthInTelevision in many periods of history.

[[folder: Advertising ]]

* Extemely common in modern advertising, usually with a stupid, immature husband married to a smart, very competent wife who of course uses the product being advertised. Some research shows that this trope, while successful in getting women to buy the product, serves to alienate men who would otherwise buy it.

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* In ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', it seems to be something of a theme to have an all-female society with strange and terrible powers suddenly have to deal with a man with those exact same powers, only several jillion times stronger. According to certain throwaway lines regarding Norma Cenva in ''Literature/GodEmperorOfDune'', there have been genderswapped variants of this in the past as well.

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* In most animated sitcoms, particularly ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' and ''TheSimpsons'', the female characters are depicted as being far more competent than the male ones, to the point where male characters are rendered as bungling idiots (Fry, Bender, Homer, sometimes Bart) while female characters are rendered as innately clever, cunning, wise or even good in a fight (Marge, Lisa, Maggie, Leela.)
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one TheSimpsons episode, where it's revealed that it's a genetic trait for Simpson men to end up as stupid losers. Simpson women, on the other hand, are invariably geniuses.

** Kim's dad and brothers seem perfectly competent (and her brothers' future selves are buff ass-kickers), though.
* Generally averted on ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''. Most, if not all, of the characters are at about the same level of (in)competence. Pretty much everyone is screwed up emotionally or mentally, with no overt correlation between level of competence or emotional state and gender.
** Except Carol. But that's not because she's a woman, that's just because she's [[CloudCuckoolander Carol]].

* Generally averted on {{Archer}}. Most, if not all, of the characters are at about the same level of (in)competence. Pretty much everyone is screwed up emotionally or mentally, with no overt correlation between level of competence or emotional state and gender.

* Shonen anime seems to suffer from this frequently, having any girl being useless in the long run, except for the one or 2 episodes they're given in the spotlight, before they go back to being useless. They often attempt to balance this out by throwing in one tough competent female side character.
** Even a fairly real ActionGirl will almost always wind up fighting another girl when the two teams come up against each other, rendering it 'the girl fight.' It is almost never really important to the plot/battle.
** ''Manga/SoulEater'' being a possible exception in this respect. Even ignoring the Action Girl Heroine, it's harder to name a female character in the cast - main or otherwise - who ''isn't'' either an Action Girl or in some other way competent.
** Series that have an UnwantedHarem component (Such as ''RosarioToVampire'') also avert this, since it'd be bad both if the guy was useless (why would the girls like him if he's TheLoad?) and the only useful one (misogyny, [[TheDulcineaEffect and he'd have less reason to care, too.]]).