GAH FUCKING EXPANDING ADS...
Anywhoo, I love TVTropes.com and articles like this is why. An article of why men always get their asses kicked in anime by overly violent bitch women and it's supposed to be funny somehow.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male Somewhere down the line, it has been assumed that each and every instance of physical and psychological abuse was absolutely "justified" (and in some cases even
sexy) ... as long as it's a woman dishing it out to a man. There are several reasons to that actually, which makes the trope more complex than it appears.
First and foremost, the
Older Than Dirt assumption that men are tougher, stronger and as in
Made Of Iron, whereas women are weak and fragile as in
Made Of Plasticine and most of all, inherently ineffectual. Consequently, any violence from females performed on males is supposed to be either
comedic, otherwise amounting to nothing and men shouldn't complain since all men are tough enough to sustain a little slap, right?
And in the case where female-on-male violence is supposed to be serious, it is "justified". Because, in many works, women are
morally superior, meaning they only use violence reasonably, as opposed to men's inherent
evil-inclined nature and
love of gratuitous carnage. This is often subtexted in characterization as most
Blood Knights,
Heroic Sociopaths and
Byronic Heroes are male whereas
healers,
Shrinking Violets and other subdued and caring types are mostly females. Consequently, it is assumed that any man being slapped/punched/kicked by a woman somehow "deserved" it.
He Had It Coming is almost invariably the typical audience reaction. In return, men who hit a woman full-force, especially on the face, almost always elicit a
Kick The Dog,
Moral Event Horizon crossing moment.
But not only should a man's body be
Made Of Iron, his mind ought to be as well. In fact, men are supposed to
feel no emotion. At all. Well... okay rage, fury and anger are acceptable.
But sadness?
It's for pussies! With this assumption of complete insensitivity, men are supposed to shrug off and ignore any psychological abuse dealt to them, especially when it's done by a woman, no matter how degrading and insulting it may be. Because it doesn't count. Sure, the woman will be seen as a cantankerous bitch. But a "real man" is not a victim, especially NOT a woman's. It's
Unmanly. On the other hand, women, being emotional and gentle creatures, are free to cry and sob all they want if a man, especially if
their jerkass husbands,
verbally or psychologically abuses them.
Consequently, seldom will anyone feel sympathy for a man admitting to be emotionally scarred by a woman (
What a pansy, hah!), whereas a woman suffering from a man's
Mind Rape or any other psychological/emotional bullying is a poor, defenceless victim and an instant
Woobie. Even worse, more often than not will a male
Domestic Abuser or authority figure engage in abuse
for the sake of it, stepping into
Complete Monster territory. Extremely rarely are women driven by such motives because
Closer To Earth applies there as well.
A blatant
Double Standard and, alas,
Truth In Television because such patterns have carried a very insidious side effect to
Real Life and actually encouraged women into believing that men really have no feelings and just don't care enough to actually be hurt or feel degraded by insults and/or nasty words.
No, there's no reverse sexism in popular media, right? Right? No double standards, right? No expectation of men to have NO emotions and be perverted macho badasses, right? *crickets*