The same people who criticised the firdge wives trope remade it

Kuato2012 · 2025-07-28T16:51:29+00:00

"Fridging" women is a spinoff of the damsel in distress (except the peril is a foregone conclusion in the case of fridging).

It works because men and women both have sympathy for women. We feel bad when bad things happen to them, so lazy writers can use that shortcut to access our emotions. Feminists complain about damsels in distress and fridging, but those are both consequences of the fact that people intrinsically care about women. I can only imagine how awful that must be...

The same thing doesn't work as well with men, because empathy for men is practically nil. Human nature says that gender flipping it won't work (at least not very well), but that won't stop ideologically motivated writers from trying it.

SidewaysGiraffe · 2025-07-28T16:38:14+00:00

"Trope" is just "problematic" for people who aren't middle-class white women.

That quibble aside, though, you're kinda grasping at straws here: removing parental figures is removing the single biggest obstacle to a young character's freedom of movement and action. Since fathers, in the pan-cultural zeitgeist, represent a source not merely of restriction but protection, a bigger sense of danger can be gained by removing them, so if only one parent goes, it's more likely to be them, if only for the sake of drama.

We saw this in Varney the Vampyre, and that was years BEFORE Seneca Falls. No shortage of heroes from other literature or mythology, either; if you ever plan to argue with a Feminist that, say, Cuchulain was the product of "very feminist leading media", please let me know; I'll make a fortune selling tickets.

TrainingGap2103 · 2025-07-29T00:12:37+00:00

I really don't mind this. In an entertainment industry full of either evil/dangerous or incompetent/stupid men, it's nice to see a man be recognized as a victim and have their life hold enough value to be the cause of woman's actions.

There's no shortage of men's issues but this ain't really one of them.

On the other hand, if this post is about feminist double standards, I totally get it and actually agree that it's an issue.

No_Leather3994 · 2025-07-30T13:32:47+00:00

I don't mind it. I don't like it especially since it's becoming harder and harder to find movies where the male character isn't portrayed as incompetent, needing to be taught a lesson or is just dumb but at least it shows they have value.

I think one way to bridge the empathy gap would show it's OK to like men this seems similar enough to that. And I do mean it, I've seen lots of women essentially bullied out of caring for men even a little bit. It's so bizarre to see a woman genuinely hate another woman because she shows a level of care for men in her life.

So whilst I don't like it and I frequently find it suspicious that all male role models are being stripped of what makes them good or turned into jokes it's better than nothing.

Title	The same people who criticised the firdge wives trope remade it
Author	Thal-creates
Upvotes	37
Comments	4
Date	July 28, 2025 4:07 PM UTC (11 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1mbkbyz/the_same_people_who_criticised_the_firdge_wives/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/the-same-people-who-criticised-the-firdge-wives.1558327 https://theredarchive.com/post/1558327

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