As you may have gathered from the never-ending screeches coming from the worst corners of the internet, pop culture is getting more progressive by the day. We're starting to see more minority representation, LGBTQ+ characters who aren't raging stereotypes, and actually well-written female characters. Or at least, mostly well-written female characters. As it turns out, some particularly dumb storytelling tropes have managed to keep flying under the cultural radar and still need to be shot down.

5 The Disposable Object Who Only Exists To Make A Man Saaad

You're probably aware that women don't get a great deal in superhero comics -- and not just because of the skintight unitards with boob windows. Female characters have a habit of winding up dead, kidnapped, de-powered, tortured, dead (again), and/or sexually assaulted, all for no other reason than to provide an excuse for their male love interests or friends to go punch someone.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

It's a phenomenon called "women in refrigerators," after a particularly gruesome comic in which Green Lantern returns home to find his girlfriend bundled up in the refrigerators like leftovers, ostensibly as part of a supervillainous plot to make him feel sad ... or constipated. There's a lot going on in that panel.

DC Comics

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

In response, writer Gail Simone and a couple of other comic readers started drafting a list of female comic book characters who'd suffered similar or worse fates. They found over one-freaking-hundred examples, ranging from that Green Lantern issue to Batman to Spider-Man to Superman. As much crap as Bruce Wayne gets for treating Robin as disposable, that's nothing compared to how many female sidekicks he burns through, from Batwoman / Kathy Kane (murdered) to Robin / Stephanie Brown (tortured with a power drill and murdered) to Batgirl / Barbara Gordon (shot, sexually assaulted, and paralyzed).

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

As it's been noted, the issue lies in how their deaths are framed. When Robin got his in the A Death In The Family Batman arc, for instance, it was a huge multi-issue affair that changed the dynamic of the entire series. Meanwhile, when Batgirl got shot in The Killing Joke, it was sudden, brutal ...