1 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A trope is a common pattern in a story or a recognizable attribute in a character that conveys information to the audience. 2 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A trope becomes a cliche when it’s overused. Sadly, some of these tropes often perpetuate offensive stereotypes. 3 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Does this remind you of a woman? How about this one? Or that one? 4 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Ya me neither.... but somehow these insects have become the inspiration for a whole trope of sexy female characters. 5 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The Evil Demon Seductress is a supernatural creature usually a demon, robot, alien, vampire most often disguised as a sexy human female. 6 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 She uses her sexuality and sexual wiles to manipulate, seduce, and kill and often eat poor, hapless men by luring them into her evil web. 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 One example of this trope shows up in the form of a Deceptacon in Transformers 2, where Isabel Lucas plays an alien robot disguised as a sexy college co-ed sent to kill poor Sam. 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "I can explain" 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Then who can forget back in 1995 when Natasha Henstridge starred in the horror film Species playing the sexy half human/half alien hybrid created by the U.S. government. 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the alien hybrid escapes into the real world she see that women have babies and therefore she wants one too. 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Listen, I want a baby" 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "WHAT!? Excuse me?" 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So she uses her sexual wiles to lure men in and her alien strength to kill them. 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And in the Batman universe Poison Ivy is another example of the Evil Demon Seductress. 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "That feels so much better." 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "And now we'll grow together" 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And this trope even makes a couple of appearances in Buffy the Vampire Slayer first when Xander is seduced by his sexy teacher who is really happens to be a giant preying mantis. 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "I think it's eenie, meenie, miney..." 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then again in the last season when performer Ashanti seduces Xander. 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "It can't just keep happening that demon women find me attractive, there's gotta be a reason" 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "You just seem like a nice guy, that's all, and I wanted to get to know you." 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "And kill me?" 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Sure" 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It might also be worth mentioning at this point that one of the roots of this trope is based on a misconception that dates back to 1886 with a scientist name Leland Ossian Howard. 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Howard made the claim that the female praying mantis cannibalizes the heads of her sexual partner after mating, 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 well... turns out, this isn't exactly true. 27 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 New scientific research that found the vast majority of female Praying Mantis species do not in fact kill their mate. So back to this trope, 28 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the amount of times that this character appears in speculative fiction is kind of astounding, the list goes on and on and on. 29 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In Star Trek's First Contact we have the Borg Queen trying to seduce Data. 30 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Keanu Reeves is taken advantage of by the Brides of Dracula. 31 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then some years later in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilles meets these three sisters. 32 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In the science fiction show Farscape there's the villain Grayza with her enchanting body sweat. 33 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There are the evil mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean 4. 34 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And Mystique in X-Men often fulfills this trope. 35 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In the opening scene of Battlestar Galactica we meet a human looking cylon woman who seduces and kills a man. 36 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Men in Black 2 stars a shapeshifting alien who disguises herself as a Victoria Secret model 37 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And Megan Fox as a man eating demon in Jennifer's Body. 38 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 alright, we get the idea, it's everywhere and you'll notice that there's variations of this trope between mermaids, and sirens and vampires 39 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and their expressions of supernatural evil seductress varies but the basic characteristics remain the same, they're using their sexuality as a weapon. 40 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This trope is closely connected to its counterparts The Vamp, The Black Widow, The Femme Fatale which are human women using their sexuality to manipulate men. 41 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Here I'm only focusing on supernatural creatures but you can see how insidious this trope has become in popular culture. 42 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Let's dig a little deeper into what this means, we have a whole collection of supernatural creatures using their sexuality to manipulate and control men in order to fulfill some nefarious plan of doom. 43 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You'll notice that these supernatural creatures are not necessarily enjoying or exploring their sexuality, they're not even really being genuinely sexual, they are just using it to manipulate and trick men. 44 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So we see over and over again female characters written as The Evil Demon Seductress who are portraying women as manipulative, conniving and controlling, 45 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that these demon women always have ulterior motives, and that there sexuality is dangerous and they'll probably bite your head off. 46 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The harmful misogynist myth that this tropes reinforces is that women primarily use their so-called sexual power as a way to manipulate, trick and control men. 47 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This fallacy is widespread and pervasive and some men even claim that women hold more power in society purely based on this absurd myth. 48 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Thank you Hollywood for encouraging and promoting sexist thinking. 49 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So what do Hollywood, male viewers and even female viewers to a lesser extent get out of the Evil Demon Seductress trope? 50 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, Hollywood is in the business of selling the status quo they use these characters to appeal to a male demographic. 51 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When an Evil Demon Seductress is on screen men get to objectify her while having these sexist preconceived notions reconfirmed that women are in fact manipulative and deceitful. 52 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And there is a danger of real world women internalizing this sexist myth. 53 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Instead of believing that our sexuality is something to be explored and celebrated we are repeatedly told that it is our only form of social power. 54 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Hollywood writers, I don't have a problem with you occasionally making some of your villains female, but you've gotta stop writing women who's primary weapon is her sexuality. 55 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I'll leave you with a clip of Alicia Silverstone in one of the worst movies ever made... saying something kinda cool. 56 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Using feminine wiles to get what you want, trading on your looks? Read a book sister, that passive aggressive number went out long ago, chicks like you give women a bad name" 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Ooooh here she comes, watch out boy she'll chew you up, oooh here she comes she's a maneater.