Basic Trope: When faced with some form of conflict, the male characters are more likely to use physical violence, while the female characters are more likely to communicate the problem out.
- Straight: Alice and Betty have a problem, and decide to talk it out. Charlie and Danny, on the other hand, resolve the problem by fighting.
- Exaggerated:
- Charlie and Danny's fight gets so serious that one/both of them ends up seriously injured or even dead. Meanwhile, Alice and Betty easily resolve their issues with one agreement.
- All of the male characters (even the ones who are otherwise very peaceful/friendly) will use violence to solve problems, and all of the female characters (even the ones who apparently are tough enough) will simply talk out problems.
- Downplayed:
- Neither group really gets physical, but Alice and Betty's argument is much more polite than Charlie and Danny's, who end up resorting to having a shouting match.
- Alice and Betty get into some minor fighting as well, but it's not as violent in comparison to Charlie and Danny's fight.
- Justified:
- Alice and Betty are overall more peaceful than Charlie and Danny are.
- Charlie and Danny have more testosterone-induced aggression than Alice and Betty.
- Inverted: Charlie and Danny are the ones resolving their argument by a polite conversation, but Alice and Betty are the ones in a physical fight.
- Subverted:
- Alice and Betty eventually decide to stop their polite conversation and actually fight each other once the issue has gotten serious enough.
- Charlie and Danny stop fighting and realize that their problem can easily just be talked out.
- Double Subverted: ...But when that's over, Alice and Betty resume their communicating, while Charlie and Danny continue to fight.
- Parodied: The issue that is being argued over is a "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate.
- Zig-Zagged: The characters repeatedly switch from fighting to communicating.
- Averted:
- All people involved, regardless of gender, are fighting.
- All people involved, regardless of gender, are communicating.
- There is no argument that occurs.
- Enforced: The fight scenes would require stunt doubles, and they could only find ones for Charlie and Danny.
- Lampshaded:
- "It's kinda weird how men fight so much"
- "I have not seen a single fight here that involved a woman"
- Invoked: The government turns all men's bathrooms into fight clubs and all women's restrooms into debate tables.
- Exploited:
- Ron avoids other men and beats women because this trope prevents them from fighting back.
- The government drafts men as soldiers and uses exclusively women in negotiations.
- Defied:
- Discussed: "If there was a draft, it would be hard for me to get in the millitary. The Army seems to prefer male soldiers, no matter how willing."
- Conversed: "This debate table has not had a single male member ever since the war started.
- Deconstructed:
- Women's superior skills at communication may lead them to become manipulative in order to solver the problems, if violence doesn't seem to be working.
- Ethan had the misfortune of being ill and wheelchair-bound, and Frankie has an intellectual disability and/or language impairment. They're both treated as absolute pariahs in their community.
Back to Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication
