Mothers Depicted Worse Than Fathers

1 Trope 1 Movie
Table Of Contents

Explanation of Conservative Trope

Social conservatives believe it is a woman's job to be a mother and care for the children. So, they are to blame if something goes wrong. And more often than not, mothers are depicted worse than fathers on screen maybe partially because of this conservative culture that women are more responsible for raising the children.

Main Description

Movies & TV shows will show bad fathers, bad husbands, bad mothers and bad wives to create drama. One trope is the father that hit his son and/or wife, but this is reflective of real life where domestic violence is a problem much more common with men onto women. Many conservatives believe and want a world where wives are subservient to their husbands and their job is to stay at home and raise kids. And so, when something goes wrong with parenting, they blame the mother for various reasons.

Conservative Trope Examples

  • Home Alone (1990)
    Kate McCallister yells out "Kevin!" on the airplane when she realizes they left their 8 year old son home alone in Chicago. She says, "I'm a bad parent. I'm a bad parent" and is really freaking out while her husband is depicted as calm and says, "If it makes you feel any better, I forgot my reading glasses." On her way to get back to Kevin she also says, "What kind of a mother am I?" And the film depicted losing Kevin as mostly her fault as she banished him to the attic the night before the flight not noticing his brother was the culprit.
    Other Tropes: Women Depicted as Less Responsible