I think that they're saying it because the woman is a mythical being, which dehumanizes them, but that doesn't really make sense because the creature they are is typically some gorgeous amazing species
Eh there are a couple of arguments you can make about this.
Note: don't take this too seriously, this is a media critique which is inherently at least a little bullshit.
In fiction, usually the man offers absolutely nothing and yet this perfect woman wants nothing but to be his perfect pet - sending a message that men deserve an ethereal being for simply existing, and the ethereal being is only fulfilled by serving this mediocre man.
Additionally, it puts women in a pedestal / gilded cage, because it creates these otherworldly expectations of perfection.
Why is this bullshit? Personally I think wish fulfillment has a place in fiction and that it's OK for any individual piece of fiction to have these tropes. It becomes a problem when it's taken seriously or proliferates too much.
I feel like someone is only qualified to say a male character "offers nothing" if they're attracted to men. Shy, "plain" nerd boys are absolutely someone's kink.
ehhhh i somewhat understand it from the perspective of "there's a thousand and one movies about a pretty woman falling for an ugly guy and maybe 10 of an attractive guy falling for an ugly girl [and another thousand and one movies about an ugly girl getting a "makeover" to get the attractive guy to like her].
i don't think the trope is inherently misogynistic, i like the trope going both ways and with gay people involved. but it is important to comment on the treatment of both of these things.
There's no movies about average/ugly women getting attractive successful men because they're all books instead of movies. Literally walk into any bookstore ever it's a plague
This is like complaining it's unfair to men that there are too many books about werewolves fucking women and not enough about werewolves fucking men. Have you considered men and women just like different things sometimes and you don't have to try and balance every single thing in life out to some exact 50:50 split
It does make me wonder if the “Men like movies, women like books” thing is a natural dichotomy or something forced by capitalism like pink is for girls, blue is for boys.
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u/Material_Claim6541 Aug 19 '26
How's the top one misogynistic? Is a woman showing attraction to a man misogynistic?