History Main / MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication

[[quoteright:278:[[Franchise/LyricalNanoha https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nanoha_988.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:278:And then there are those who use [[AggressiveNegotiations violence to expedite communication]].]]

* 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 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.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': Nanoha Takamachi tends to find herself resorting to violence when communication breaks down (hint: it always does). Especially prevalent in the second season, with quotes like 'Listen... to me!' delivered in the midst of unleashing a [[WaveMotionGun cannon blast.]]

[[folder:Comics]]

-->'''Wonder Woman''': “We have a saying, my people. ’don’t kill if you can wound, don’t wound if you can subdue, don’t subdue if you can pacify, and don’t raise your hand at all until you’ve extended it."

[[folder:Film]]

-->'''Olenna''': "All these kings would do a deal better if they would put down their swords and listen to their mothers."

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

-->'''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)''

-->'''Buffy:''' I wasn't gonna use violence. I don't always use violence. Do I?\\
'''Xander:''' The important thing is ''you'' believe that.
* From ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', Gwen [[GuileHero talks her way out of most of her problems]] while Merlin and Arthur fight. Justified because she is a maid and has no fighting skills, while they are a WarriorPrince and a [[FunctionalMagic Mage.]] For what it's worth, the series ends with [[spoiler:Arthur dying of a wound sustained in combat, Merlin going into self-imposed exile, and Guinevere becoming the sole ruler of Camelot who WordOfGod confirms brought about the Golden Age]].

-->'''Politician A:''' What's going on? Why the hell are you bombing us?!\\
'''Politician B:''' Oh, I think you ''know'' why we're bombing you!\\
'''Politician A:''' Please! We have no idea why you're doing this!\\
'''Politician B:''' Well, if you don't know then ''we're not telling you!!''

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', there are two Master Classes--the Lord, which is Active and AlwaysMale, who are destined to take the Conquest path, and conquer and destroy everything; and the Muse, which is Passive and AlwaysFemale, who are meant to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice them self to bring happiness and good to the entire Universe,]] [[ActualPacifist but are not expected to take part in any battle.]] The only Lord we see in ''Homestuck'' also happens to be the BigBad, while the only Muse we see is the BigGood and through careful planning helps lead the other players to a more concrete win.

* Parodied and Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', where Mabel questions why do guys (mainly [[{{Goth}} Robbie]], her brother, Dipper ''really'' doesn't want to) fight, [[EnforcedColdWar when they can just settle with hating each other quietly]] like girls do. [[DownplayedTrope Granted, it's not fully communication, but it's not violence.]]

* While not to the extent that [[ExecutiveMeddling executives and rating analyzers will say]], according to ratings and demographics, shows and that focus on action, violence, [[{{Gorn}} gore]] and/or [[AllMenArePerverts sex]] are more popular with men, whereas women prefer shows that focus on character development, dialogue and/or relationships, such as TeenDrama, CourtroomDrama or SliceOfLife shows, and reality shows on Creator/{{MTV}} and Creator/VH1 usually score high with women, but low with men. Vice-versa with Professional Sport shows, or combat sports like ProfessionalWrestling, Boxing and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts. Though this is ''far'' from, universal, since a healthy PeripheryDemographic can grow from the [[EstrogenBrigade unintended]] [[TestosteroneBrigade demographic.]]
** This is changing in TheNewTens, especially as some of the top shows typically seen as male-oriented, (such as ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and ''Series/TheWalkingDead'') have grown to have just as large, if not larger, female audiences over time. [[http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/what-women-watch-tv-156621/ As this article tells;]] that the top show with women overall is, ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'', an [[{{Gorn}} ultra-violent]] [[{{Fanservice}} hyper-sexual]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin horror series]] which [[AvertedTrope avoids]] stereotypes associated with female viewers. That's not even including the shows listed here. That being said, [[DoubleStandard oddly enough, the same level doesn't qualify for male fans watching female-oriented shows.]]

* From ''Series/{{Merlin}}'', Gwen [[GuileHero talks her way out of most of her problems]] while Merlin and Arthur fight. Justified because she is a maid and has no fighting skills, while they are a WarriorPrince and a [[FunctionalMagic Mage.]] For what it's worth, the series ends with [[spoiler:Arthur dying of a wound sustained in combat, Merlin going into self-imposed exile, and Guinevere becoming the sole ruler of Camelot who WordOfGod confirms brought about the Golden Age]].

** The series's most prominent {{Chessmaster}}s and smooth-talkers, Varys and Littlefinger, are both male.
-->'''Olenna''': "All these kings would do a deal better if they would put down their swords and listen to their mothers."

* Not all hunter-gatherer tribes had men as the hunters and women as the gatherers; many of them had the roles reversed, or both genders working in both fields. Tribes where women hunt alongside the men still exist to this day, like in Africa, for example.

* This trope sums up the difference in philosophy between Alm and Celica in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes]]''. At the climax of act two, their reunion is soured when they spat over how to proceed: Alm wants to continue military action against the invading forces, Celica wants to hold a truce while she locates the [[HaveYouSeenMyGod absent god Mila]] and the renegotiate to resort the Divine Accord. The story is actually extremely even-handed about this, showing that Alm is aware of the devastating consequences of war, but has a point that some sort of counterattack is the only way to make the militaristic Rigel reconsider their actions. Meanwhile Celica's goals and methods are noble in themselves, but the fact she thinks anyone willing to parley with her is a sign of good faith in and of itself makes things a lot worse for everyone.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' inverts this with the Mithra race, who are only playable as females. This is in contrast to the Galkas (who take this to the extreme by ''only'' being male; they simply reincarnate after death) and to the other playable races in the Hume, Elvaan and Tarutaru, who can be played as either gender. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' initially did the same for their respective {{exp|y}}ies, with Miqo'te only playable as females and Roegadyn only playable as males (and with a small handful of [=NPCs=] of the non-playable genders at least existing), though with the 2.0 relaunch as ''A Realm Reborn'', the two races were brought in-line with the others and have both genders playable.

[[caption-width-right:278:And then there are those who use [[DefeatMeansFriendship violence to expedite communication]].]]

* Studies have shown that when two men get together, they tend to position themselves so that they're both facing the same way, whereas when two women get together, they tend to position themselves so that they're facing each other. This has commonly been interpreted to mean that women are more social, each orienting herself so that the other is the center of her attention. However, [[AlternateAesopInterpretation the findings can be interpreted many other ways as well]]: maybe women are more combative, physically orienting themselves in opposition to one another, while men are more cooperative, orienting themselves toward a common goal. Men are biologically more violent than women by virtue of their hormonal composition. Furthermore, decades of cross-cultural personality studies by psycholigists such as McCrae and Costa have demonstrated that women are more interested in people (talking, communicating, being social) whereas men are more interested in ideas. So the notion of men being more violence-oriented and women more communication-oriented is well established within the literature.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', there are two Master Classes, the Lord, which is Active is AlwaysMale, who are destined to take the Conquest path, and conquer and destroy everything. The Lord in ''Homestuck'' also happens to be the BigBad. The Muse, which is Passive, is AlwaysFemale, who are meant to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice them self to bring happiness and good to the entire Universe,]] [[ActualPacifist but are not expected to take part in any battle.]]

* This trope sums up the difference in philosophy between Alm and Celica in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes]]''. At the climax of act two, their reunion is soured when they spat over how to proceed: Alm wants to continue military action against the invading forces, Celica wants to hold a truce while she locates the [[HaveYouSeenMyGod absent god Mila]] and the renegotiate to resort the Divine Accord. The story is actually extremely even-handed about this, showing that Alm is aware of the devastating consequences of war, but has a point that some sort of counterattack is the only way to make the militaristic Rigel reconsider their actions. Meanwhile Celica's goals and methods are noble in themselves, but her willingness to consider what someone says to her solely because they were willing to parley in the first place, combined with her willingness to put everyone ahead of herself being highlights as her FatalFlaw, ends up making the whole situation ''much'' worse for everyone.

* This trope sums up the difference in philosophy between Alm and Celica in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes''. At the climax of act two, their reunion is soured when they spat over how to proceed: Alm wants to continue military action against the invading forces, Celica wants to hold a truce while she locates the [[HaveYouSeenMyGod absent god Mila]] and the renegotiate to resort the Divine Accord. The story is actually extremely even-handed about this, showing that Alm is aware of the devastating consequences of war, but has a point that some sort of counterattack is the only way to make the militaristic Rigel reconsider their actions. Meanwhile Celica's goals and methods are noble in themselves, but her willingness to consider what someone says to her solely because they were willing to parley in the first place, combined with her willingness to put everyone ahead of herself being highlights as her FatalFlaw, ends up making the whole situation ''much'' worse for everyone.

* Gender flipped in ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': men always try to talk things out rationally before resorting to sword fights, women usually respond with immediate violence.
* Gender flipped in ''Webcomic/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.
* Gender flipped by most {{Tsundere}}, who prefer to use a MegatonPunch instead of letting their LoveInterest explain the compromising situation she finds him.
* In the ''Mazinger'' trilogy -''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer''- male characters tend to resort quickly to violence to solve a conflict whereas female characters tend to look for alternate, peaceful means to solve it or regret when a peaceful outcome seems out of reach:
** In ''Anime/MazingerZ'' episode 3 Sayaka tested [[FemBot Aphrodite-A's]] new weapons and stated that she wished that Aphrodite was only used for peaceful purposes. In the prior episode Koji swore that he would use his SuperRobot to fight [[MadScientist Dr.]] [[BigBad Hell]].
** ''[[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer King Vega]]'' was convinced that [[AlienInvasion invading and conquering other planets]] was the only way to find a new home to his subjects after their homeworld's demise. [[TheHero Duke]] was convinced that the only way to stop them from invading Earth was fighting them. Rubina -daughter of the former and [[spoiler:ex-fiancee]] of the latter- thought that mutual annihilation was the only possible result of that war. So that she ''did'' find an alternative option and tried to talk both into a ceasefire. [[spoiler:It did not work.]]
** In a manga story, Duke has to fight [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] Kouji and ''[[Anime/GreatMazinger Tetsuya]]''. Meanwhile, Hikaru laments that there is no way that peace can result from that battle, not matter who wins.

* ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'': "fighters communicate through their fists!" It just so happens that there are only two female gundam pilots.

* The Han/Leia and Anakin/Padmé pairings in ''Franchise/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.

--> '''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*

-->'''Buffy:''' I wasn't gonna use violence. I don't always use violence. Do I?
-->'''Xander:''' The important thing is ''you'' believe that.

-->'''Politician A:''' "What's going on? Why the hell are you bombing us?!"
-->'''Politician B:''' "Oh, I think you ''know'' why we're bombing you!"
-->'''Politician A:''' "Please! We have no idea why you're doing this!"
-->'''Politician B:''' "Well, if you don't know then ''we're not telling you!!''"

*** They're monogendered (all female), and are considered flighty, promiscuous alien space babes who want to sleep their way around the galaxy (we later learn there is a ''very'' good reason why asari choose to mate with other races and not other asari). However, they are also considered top-notch diplomats and their long lifespans tolerate a degree of debate and inertia most other races can't. (As Renegade Shepherd puts it, "If you want an issue talked to death, ask an asari"). They are also the most adept at wielding [[PsychicPowers biotic abilities]], however, and their commandos are just as deadly as anything else in the galaxy.

* Inverted in ShinMegamiTenseiI. The male main character is the only one who can negotiate with demons, while his female companion (and his two male companions) cannot. This is because the main character is the only one who can use the portable computer with the translating program; if he is incapacitated, then his companions can't use the Talk option until he's revived.

* In the ''Series/OnceUponATime'' episode "We Are Both," Charming says that's he better at fighting while Snow White was better with words.

** [[MagicalGirlWarrior Magical Girl Warriors]] tend to avert this trope in general, although an IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight is common.

* Averted in ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' where most conflicts are resolved with violence and both sexes participate.

[[folder:Mythology]]
* Averted in any polytheistic religion with a WarGoddess or a female deity with a violent domain or temperament. Some examples being [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Athena]], Bellona, [[Myth/HinduMythology Kali]], Nane, Oya and Guabancex. (Though played straight in that Athena is generally portrayed as more level-headed than Ares, the other war god of the pantheon)
[[/folder]]

* Averted in any polytheistic religion with a WarGoddess or a female deity with a violent domain or temperament. Some examples being [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Athena]], Bellona, [[Myth/HinduMythology Kali]], Nane, Oya and Guabancex.

* Studies have shown that when two men get together, they tend to position themselves so that they're both facing the same way, whereas when two women get together, they tend to position themselves so that they're facing each other. This has commonly been interpreted to mean that women are more social, each orienting herself so that the other is the center of her attention. However, [[AlternateAesopInterpretation the findings can be interpreted many other ways as well]]: maybe women are more combative, physically orienting themselves in opposition to one another, while men are more cooperative, orienting themselves toward a common goal. [[AnAesop The real moral of the story?]] [[HardOnSoftScience Sociological studies are bunk]] and interpreting them is a bunch of WildMassGuessing.
** Yes and no; while pure sociology relies on a lot of conjecture, we do know that men are biologically more violent than women by virtue of their hormonal composition. Furthermore, decades of cross-cultural personality studies by psycholigists such as McCrae and Costa have demonstrated that women are more interested in people (talking, communicating, being social) whereas men are more interested in ideas. So the notion of men being more violence-oriented and women more communication-oriented is well established within the literature.

** Yes and no; while pure sociology relies on a lot of conjecture, we do know that men are biologically more violent than women by virtue of their hormonal composition. Furthermore, decades of cross-cultural personality studies by psycholigists such as R. R. McCrae and P. T. Costa have demonstrated that women are more interested in people (talking, communicating, being social) whereas men are more interested in ideas.

* Averted in any polytheistic religion with a WarGoddess or a female deity with a violent domain or temperament. Some examples being [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Athena]], Nane, Oya, [[Myth/HinduMythology Kali]] and Guabancex.

* While not to the extent that [[ExecutiveMeddling executives and rating analyzers will say]] According to ratings and demographics, shows and that focus on action, violence, [[{{Gorn}} gore]] and/or [[AllMenArePerverts sex]] are more popular with men, whereas women prefer shows that focus on character development, dialogue and/or relationships, such as TeenDrama, CourtroomDrama or SliceOfLife shows, and reality shows on Creator/{{MTV}} and Creator/VH1 usually score high with women, but low with men. Vice-versa with Professional Sport shows, or combat sports like ProfessionalWrestling, Boxing and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, but poorly with women. Though this is ''far'' from, universal, since a healthy PeripheryDemographic can grow from the [[EstrogenBrigade unintended]] [[TestosteroneBrigade demographic.]]
** This is being heavily [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] [[DiscreditedTrope into the last few years]], especially as some of the top shows typically seen as male-oriented, (such as ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and ''Series/TheWalkingDead'') have grown to have just as large, if not larger, female audiences over time. [[http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/what-women-watch-tv-156621/ As this article tells;]] that the top show with women overall is, ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'', an [[{{Gorn}} ultra-violent]] [[{{Fanservice}} hyper-sexual]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin horror series]] which [[AvertedTrope avoids]] [[UnfortunateImplications stereotypes associated with female viewers.]] And that's not even including the shows listed here. That being said, [[DoubleStandard oddly enough, the same level doesn't qualify for male fans watching female-oriented shows.]]

** Par for the course for any SilkHidingSteel woman hoping to find ways to obtain and assert power heavily patriarchal society. Plenty of its prominent female characters use manipulation and/or sweet words to avoid conflict in the middle of a civil war mostly fought by the men.

* ''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.
** The Krogan in ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' have managed to largely overcome their Genophage problem. With GenderRarityValue no longer really an issue, they've settled into more of a GenderIsNoObject situation and their current warlord is female.
** It's also played with on the asari. They're monogendered (all female), and are considered flighty, promiscuous alien space babes who want to sleep their way around the galaxy (we later learn there is a ''very'' good reason why asari choose to mate with other races and not other asari). However, they are also considered top-notch diplomats and their long lifespans tolerate a degree of debate and inertia most other races can't. (If you want an issue talked to death, ask an asari). They are also the most adept at wielding [[PsychicPowers biotic abilities]], however, and their commandos are just as deadly as anything else in the galaxy.
** Their views do bite them in the arse when the Reapers hit Thessia. The open, debate-heavy asari political system is unable to present a co-ordinated defense in time, and while asari are born Spec Ops-operators, they are too few, and not of much use in defensive battles that require massive levels of firepower. While the human and turian homeworlds held out for months, Thessia fell in days.

** This is being heavily [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] [[DiscreditedTrope into the last few years]], especially as some of the top shows typically seen as male-oriented, (such as ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and ''Series/TheWalkingDead'') have grown to have just as large, if not larger, female audiences over time. [[http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/what-women-watch-tv-156621/ As this article tells;]] that the top show with women overall is, ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'', an [[{{Gorn}} ultra-violent]] [[{{Fanservice}} hyper-sexual]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin horror series]] which [[AvertedTrope avoids]] [[UnfortunateImplications stereotypes associated with female viewers.]] And that's not even including the shows listed here.

** This is being heavily [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] [[DiscreditedTrope into the last few years]], especially as some of the top shows typically seen as male-oriented, (such as ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and ''Series/TheWalkingDead'') have grown to have just as large, if not larger, female audiences over time. [[http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/what-women-watch-tv-156621/ As this article tells;]] that the top show with women overall is, ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'', an [[{{Gorn}} ultra-violent]] [[{{Fanservice}} hyper-sexual]] which [[AvertedTrope avoids]] [[UnfortunateImplications stereotypes associated with female viewers.]] And that's not even including the shows listed here.