History Main / MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication

* The Han/Leia and Anakin/Padmé pairings in ''StarWars''. Though both Padme and Leia are definitely action girls and usually hold their own in a fight, they both clearly prefer diplomacy. Han can be quite reasonable at times, too, but never parts with his blaster. Anakin, sadly, was so this he killed most of the cast.

->''"Our females don't lack for spirit. For males, a good show of force sorts things out. But females like to talk about it. And ''think'' about it. (sigh) And then talk about it some more! (...) So sometiems I pretend to listen and... well, let's just say krogan females have tempers too."''

-->-- Urdnot Wrex, '''VideoGame/MassEffect3''

->''"Let this be a lesson, kids. When debating, solve your disagreements not with words, but by screaming [[MemeticMutation "I AM A MAN!"]] and punching them in the guts. (...) Yes, even if you're a woman, you should shout that you are a man, otherwise it doesn't work."''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]''', reviewing ''SupermanAtEarthsEnd''

* Subverted in ''AxisPowersHetalia, with [[OfficialCouple Austria and Hungary]]. Austria prefers to use marriage and alliances to avoid conflict, while Hungary cheerfully will beat up anything that threatens them.

* A very rare superhero / mythology subversion from [[TheMightyThor Thor #300]]: after discovering that [[CosmicEntity The Celestials]] were going to judge the worth of humanity in 1000 years, the male leaders of the [[PhysicalGod gods of Earth]], convinced this was going to end badly, planned to fight them. However the female leaders decided to instead prove humanity's worth by gathering the best example of each human skill or art and making them immortal. Sure enough, when the Norse gods attack them (it was not explained why ALL the pantheons didn't attack together, not that it would have made much difference) they get [[CurbStomp curbstomped]]. Then [[MotherNature Gaia]] shows up with the chosen humans, and convinces The Celestials to spare mankind.

* Subverted in general by the reviewers of [[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Channel Awesome]], who whether male or female, prefer beating their enemies up. In the [[WebVideo/TGWTGBrawlYearOne first year brawl event]], WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, That Girl With the Goggles, ((Marzgurl}}, and Little Miss Gamer cheerfully join in on the fight, and [[spoiler:''Ask that Guy'' of all people ends up quietly talking everyone into getting along.]]

* Subverted in general by the reviewers of [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Channel Awesome]], who whether male or female, prefer beating their enemies up. In the first year brawl event, NostalgiaChick, That Girl With the Goggles, ((Marzgurl}}, and Little Miss Gamer cheerfully join in on the fight, and [[spoiler:''Ask that Guy'' of all people ends up quietly talking everyone into getting along.]]

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* The Freudian superhero team of Id, Superego, and Ego in ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. Superego is a woman who peacefully resolves conflict with an enemy. The others are male monsters that smash things up.
* The Han/Leia and Anakin/Padmé pairings in ''StarWars''. Though both Padme and Leia are definitely action girls and usually hold their own in a fight, they both clearly prefer diplomacy. Han can be quite reasonable at times, too, but never parts with his blaster. Anakin, sadly, was so this he killed most of the cast.
* The Vorin religion practiced by the cultures of most of the main characters in Literature/TheStormlightArchive takes this UpToEleven, to the point where it's considered a sin for women to fight and for men to even learn to read.
* The main cast in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is mostly female but still manages to use this trope through the two resident tomboys, Applejack and Rainbow Dash (''especially'' [[LeeroyJenkins Rainbow Dash]]).
* Played straight in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}: Miracle Day'' with Lynn, who tried to solve the problem with mind games and snark, then subverted by Gwen, who solved the problem of Lynn thusly:
--> '''Lynn:''' If you're the best England has to offer, God help him.
--> '''Gwen:''' I'm Welsh. *[[PunchedAcrossTheRoom punches Lynn across the airplane]], possibly dislocating her arm as Lynn was handcuffed to her seat*
* Also Alien X of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. There are two aliens, Bellicus and Serena. Bellicus is a warlike male whose answer to everything is to smash and destroy. Serena is a peace loving female who would prefer to talk everything out in a loving way. They both agree to immediately kill [[spoiler:Paradox]] on sight, thinking he is violating the restraining order against him.
* Toward the end of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', notice that the males in the party advocate enacting revenge by [[spoiler: throwing Namatame into the TV]] without a second thought, while the females dissent, suspecting that they'd missed a crucial detail somewhere in the investigation and begging the player and Yosuke to think it through more carefully. Though [[{{Bifauxnen}} Naoto]] seemed to be in favor of tossing him in since she was the one who first pointed out that they could do so.

* Averted by the Doctor in ''Series/DoctorWho''. Sometimes inverted when he has an ActionGirl companion like Leela or Ace.
* [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]: "I wasn't gonna use violence. I don't always use violence. Do I?"
-->'''Xander:''' "The important thing is ''you'' believe that."
* Flat-out inverted in ''[[LegendOfHeroesVI Trails in the Sky]]''. Joshua is the one with the "silver tongue" (as Estelle pointed out), while Estelle would rather beat people up with her staff.
* In the episode "Romeo Must Wed" from ''TheProudFamily'', Penny developed a crush on Kwok while rehearsing for their school's production of Romeo & Juliet. After a while, Kwok's parents, the Wongs, politely asked Penny's parents, Oscar and Trudy, that they not allow Penny and Kwok to see each other anymore. While Trudy remained civil in her inquiry, Oscar immediately jumped to conclusions, thinking that the Wongs didn't approve of their son having a relationship with Penny because she wasn't "good enough" for them. This prompted both Oscar and Mr. Wong to imply the other was a racist. It turned out the [[MistakenForRacist real reason]] was that Kwok had an arranged bride, who was coming to town for a visit.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' suggests that the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]] work this way, although we only meet one female krogan in the entire series due to genophage-induced GenderRarityValue. It's also a relative value, since the first thing we see her do under her own power is gun down two enemy soldiers without a second thought.
** Made more obvious during the Tuchanka mission. During a meeting, some of the Krogan begin to squabble and appear seconds away from tearing each other limb from limb, only for "Eve" to appear, immediately order ''everyone'' to shut the hell up, before convincing them to work together.
** Eve admits that after the Genophage is cured, the Krogan women are going to gain a more political clout in their society and hints that they are also not above using a LysistrataGambit to keep the men in line and attempt to curb the worst of their BloodKnight tencendies.
** Mordin relates that the first time he met Eve, she was in great pain and clearly distraught by her ordeal as one of [[MadScientist Maelon's]] experiments. While he was treating her injuries, she managed to break out of one of her restraints and grabbed him. She could have easily killed him... but instead, all she said was, "''[[TearJerker Please]]''". This small act of kindness made Mordin regain his faith in the Krogan and vow to cure the genophage.
* Averted in Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick, especially with Haley and Celia. While Celia fits the female half of this trope perfectly, Haley (another woman) is more content to shoot her way through the Theives' Guild scene.
** Also, the main character most likely to use diplomacy is Elan, a male.

* MobileFighterGGundam subverts the trope rather masterfully: "fighters communicate through their fists!"

* In a story arc of the ''Overman'' brazilian newspaper comic, he's searching for someone who can destroy electronic objects by looking at them. He's certain that the villain is a woman because as a man, he would just break stuff with his fists.

** Mordin relates that the first time he met Eve, she was in great pain and clearly distraught by her ordeal as one of [[MadScientist Maelon's]] experiments. While he was treating her injuries, she managed to break out of one of her restraints and grabbed him. She could have easily killed him... but instead, all she said was, "''[[TearJerker Please]]''".

* [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]: "I wasn't gonna use violence. I don't always use violence. Do I?"

The main bulk of any narrative is that whatever conflict exists gets resolved, in either the hero's or villain's way. An action show would typically showcase some form of violence as a method of solving conflict, while a more dialogue based show would showcase a form of compromise to have it resolved. Though there's a mindset out there that dictates that the process of conflict resolution is usually based on gender, with men being associated with violence and aggression and women being aligned with reason and this is applied ''regardless'' of what the show's genre is, which results in any of the following scenarios:

* Men getting praised for using either violence or reason, and women getting booed at for not using the latter.
* Women being lauded regardless of what method of conflict resolution is being used, and men being considered pansies unless they solely focus on using violence.
* Violent men putting a permanent end to the conflict, while reasonable women, for all the mudslinging and underhanded tactics that they use, end up prolonging the feud, sometimes to the point where it goes on forever. The scenario that's most likely to be considered offensive.

* Completely inverted in ''BlackLagoon''.

-->Xander: "The important thing is ''you'' believe that."

** Also, the main character most likely to use diplomacy is Elan, a male.

* Men getting praised for using either violence or reason, and women getting booed at for not using the latter.

* The main cast in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'' is mostly female but still manages to use this trope through the two resident tomboys, Applejack and Rainbow Dash (''especially'' [[LeeroyJenkins Rainbow Dash]]).

* Averted in TheOrderOfTheStick, especially with Haley and Celia. While Celia fits the female half of this trope perfectly, Haley (another woman) is more content to shoot her way through the Theives' Guild scene.

* The main cast in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'' is mostly female but still manages to use this trope through the two resident tomboys.

-->-- '''[[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]''', reviewing ''SupermanAtEarthsEnd''

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' suggests that the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]] work this way, although we only meet one female krogan in the entire series due to genophage-induced GenderRarityValue. It's also a relative value, since the first thing we see her do under her own power is gun down two enemy soldiers without a second thought.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' suggests that the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]] work this way, although we only meet one female krogan in the entire series due to genophage-induced GenderRarityValue.

* Also Alien X of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. There are two aliens, Bellicus and Serena. Bellicus is a warlike male whose answer to everything is to smash and destroy. Serena is a peace loving female who would prefer to talk everything out in a loving way.

* Played straight in ''{{Torchwood}}: Miracle Day'' with Lynn, who tried to solve the problem with mind games and snark, then subverted by Gwen, who solved the problem of Lynn thusly:

* Also Alien X of ''Ben10AlienForce'' and ''Ben10UltimateAlien''. There are two aliens, Bellicus and Serena. Bellicus is a warlike male whose answer to everything is to smash and destroy. Serena is a peace loving female who would prefer to talk everything out in a loving way.
* Toward the end of ''{{Persona 4}}'', notice that the males in the party advocate enacting revenge by [[spoiler: throwing Namatame into the TV]] without a second thought, while the females dissent, suspecting that they'd missed a crucial detail somewhere in the investigation and begging the player and Yosuke to think it through more carefully. Though [[{{Bifauxnen}} Naoto]] seemed to be in favor of tossing him in since she was the one who first pointed out that they could do so.

* The Freudian superhero team of Id, Superego, and Ego in ''{{Animaniacs}}''. Superego is a woman who peacefully resolves conflict with an enemy. The others are male monsters that smash things up.