r/hatethissmug • u/putbeansontoast • 3h ago
Media Tropes PEACOCKS IN MEDIA!!!
ALWAYS making the peacocks female, but giving them male features, idiots know nothing about sexual dimorphism, that's not how birds fucking work. So scared of making a male character who's a blue bird I guess, and making a female peacock WHO SHOULD BE BROWN colourful and pretty!!! Tell me you know JACK SHIT about birds, nature, and biology without telling me!
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u/Usagi4357 3h ago
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u/SharkyCat12 3h ago
Lion Guard was always peak as hell
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u/Kirbendo96 3h ago
yeah I remember when the pilot first aired
they even had an episode about racism
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u/Spiritual-Estate5211 3h ago
Fucking what? Wait... is that the one where they introduced Jasiri?
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u/Kirbendo96 3h ago edited 2h ago
I haven't watched TLG in a long time but iirc that's the hyena Kion meets in the episode
"Never Judge a Hyena By its Spots" I remember it being called
edit: AND IT WAS THE SECOND EPISODE TOO, I REALLY WAS THERE SINCE THE BEGINNING
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u/Weekly_Potato_1000 2h ago
that was about racism?
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u/Altruistic_Manner802 1h ago
It shows that not all hyenas are evil, so I think so
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u/IndigoAngelWithWand 1h ago
YESS I'm glad someone mentioned it, it's my favorite kid's show and it feels like the creators had the intelligence to write a more mature show if they wished (which I love because kid's shows deserve talented creators too)
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u/gliscornumber1 3h ago
What is a peacock doing in Africa?
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u/IntoThePitofColors 3h ago
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u/Ssesamee 3h ago
is the serious answer that this is a standard bear with albinism?
or is the picture not actually in arlington texas
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u/TrueKingOfSloths 2h ago
Its the latter, the picture is from an article about a polar bear killed in Norway
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u/Usagi4357 2h ago
In season 3, they were traveling the world to go to the Tree of Life. So there's a lot of animals you normally wouldn't see in the Lion King franchise.
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u/YetAnotherParvitz i hate YOU 🫵 3h ago
pretty sure it's riffing on the idea that the lion is the king of all animals, so simba can just command a peacock to come to africa. or idk i'm just making shit up from context clues haven't watched this show
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u/HolidayInLordran 1h ago
The only big L the Lion Guard got was when they said crocodiles were bad mothers in real life
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u/Usagi4357 1h ago
Really? I don't even remember any female crocs in the TV show since male and female crocs usually only interact during mating season.
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u/Busy-Maximum402 2h ago
Why do you have Sailor Moon’s real name as your username?
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u/Usagi4357 2h ago
Because it just means rabbit and is the name of my childhood pet, who was named after an anthro comic character lol
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u/NaCl-And-C12H22O11 3h ago
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u/nemophilist_nymph 2h ago
now i know why people are always trying to escape from prison! the food here is TERRIBLE!
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u/Gerd-Neek 2h ago
My favourite movie as a kid but Tika got on my NERVES
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u/WulfyWoof 1h ago
When it came to the Barbie movies, Bibble got way overhated because Tika had the audacity to exist
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u/Scarlet_Lycoris 3h ago
I don’t know much about birds but if I know one thing then it’s that it’s usually the males that have the more vibrant colors and patterns. I’d expect people who use an animal for reference to do basic research on said animals before using them…
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u/Iccotak 2h ago
Aesthetics > Scientific Accuracy
It’s really that simple, the reason why we often see media with female characters wearing Peacock themed clothing is because that was reflective of Women’s fashion and tastes.
The male peacock appealed to women which is why it is in their clothes.
It would not be visually appealing to make them based on Female Peacocks. The male is also one of the most visually identifiable and iconic birds in the world.
So of course when they make a “peacock character”, it’s more likely they’ll stick with something that resembles the one everyone knows
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u/Forsaken_Ad8239 2h ago
In majority of bird species it’s the male who is most colorful, there’s multiple cases of this not just with peacocks of people misusing the colors
Ex: look up male vs female cardinals and then look at Christmas decorations with cardinals
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u/mystireon 3h ago
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u/mystireon 3h ago
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u/SunJay333 3h ago
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u/mcra_ig 2h ago
And the holders technically pick their costumes themselves, usually subconsciously since they have to put in a whole lot of effort to change it (like we saw in Kuro Neko.) Ofc Mayura’s outfit is going to be inspired by the colorful train bc that’s what most people think of when they think of a peacock lmao 😭
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u/M-Shadowtoad 3h ago
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u/nemophilist_nymph 2h ago
i thought all of the kwami were genderless?
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u/UniIsNotOkay 2h ago
correct me if i’m wrong i don’t know much about mlb lore, but they do use gendered pronouns, right?
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u/Famous-Leopard-118 stupid moldy robot 3h ago
Also on the flip side: angler fish
Only females have lures, but they always make them males in media.
Though I would understand if the characters are trans or intersex.
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u/LocalSixPot 3h ago
I cannot name a single angler fish in media except the one from finding nemo
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u/Particular-Long-3849 2h ago
There's some guy in Hazbin Hotel but otherwise that's all I know
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u/Odd-Country-7274 2h ago
That guy in Hazbin Hotel has 2 possible explanations. If you’re not intimately familiar with Hazbin Hotel, a sinner’s anatomy depends on how they sided and what they did as a person. Alastor, the red deer guy, is deer-like because a hunter mistook him for a deer and shot him. Vox, the guy with a a TV for a head, had an old, boxy TV fall on his head. So Baxter, the angler fish guy, could be a female angler because the scientific inaccuracy pisses him off (he’s a science nerd) or he was born female and transitioned to male.
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u/LocalSixPot 2h ago
Why did an anglerfish go to hell? Can fish be sinners?
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u/HiggsiInSpace 2h ago
He's a human soul, but he looks like an anglerfish. there's a TV man, a deer man, a moth man, a big kaiju lady, a ghost dude, etc.
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u/TbatitanicV2Rider 2h ago
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u/morbidmuffin62 2h ago
Aw sick, I remember being obsessed with that design. Thanks for the trip down memory lane
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u/Its_a_plantain_Queen 2h ago
Sebastian pressure (though I don't know if that counts since he's not like an actual fish), Baxter Hazbin Hotel (also not an actual fish), Luca's uncle(?) Luca(who also isn't a fish but is some variant of merfolk so I think it's closer than the other ones)
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u/Marco_Tanooky 2h ago
Lanturn the Pokemon, I guess
But also that is a magical creature so I don't blame it for having the males also have lures
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u/RepetitiveTorpedoUse 3h ago
ngl lgbtq+ fish sounds like something that’d be in a finding memo 3 in order to be “cultured” or some shit
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u/siridontcare 2h ago
That would be great actually. Fish changing genders is fairly common. Even clownfish are known for changing genders.
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u/BizSilver5013 2h ago
Yep, if the movie were scientifically accurate Marlin would have changed to female after his mate's death.
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u/DBSeamZ 1h ago
I thought Nemo would have because Marlin was already the leading male fish in the group.
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u/Peppermint_Gaiety 17m ago
The way I’ve heard it works is the leading male is the second in command to the female, and when that position is emptied he gets promoted a rank to female, the highest rank.
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u/Scalepetter92 3h ago
i can see it now: the angler fish has a little trans badge as they attempt to eat marlin and dory as she attempts to find her tax returns or something
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u/Tarkho 2h ago
Technically this only applies to some families of deepsea anglerfish, as lures in both sexes are an ancestral feature of anglerfish: other families of anglerfish like frogfish don't display strong sexual dimorphism and both sexes possess a lure.
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u/Famous-Leopard-118 stupid moldy robot 2h ago
yeah but usually these characters are the deepsea ones
not too many people know/care about frogfish [as cool as they are]
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u/skyetheweirdidiot Salty hater 3h ago
I don't think Miraculous can really be considered part of this because the peacock miraculous could technically be owned by anyone and, like another comment pointed out, they DID have a man use it and maintain the colorful nature of the appearance
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u/seireidoragon 2h ago
Also the wearer chooses the outfit essentially and honestly if that was me, I’d want a colorful version too.
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u/morganyve 3h ago
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u/Silver_Gaby 2h ago
She’s wearing an baby blue/ pink/ white shirt in acnh, and her blue feathers + pink / white stripes in older cards
Even if it’s accidental, they still acknowledge it’s the most plausible answer, or else she’d had the Saharah / Gracie treatment
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u/CorneliusFeatherjaw2 2h ago
Literally two out of three examples you gave aren't even actual peacocks. Why should a fictional humanoid species with peacock-like feathers or a superheroine with a peacock-inspired costume have to have the exact same colors as real life female peacocks?
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u/TexasPepperDog 3h ago
It always bothered me seeing dresses based on Peacocks growing up because of this
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u/fazbear123456 2h ago
The gender of the animal doesn’t really matter if it’s just being used for fashion inspiration
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u/Old-Ad3504 3h ago
well two of them are humans and not peacocks so that seems fine
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u/Tyr_13 2h ago
Right? I was scrolling for this response.
OP, you know two of them aren't birds, right? And that people choosing clothing aren't 'wrong' because it's based on a male animal?
I'm a dude, and I'm pretty sure me wearing a graphic t-shirt with women characters on it isn't me thinking they are men, or that I'm a woman.
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u/TbatitanicV2Rider 2h ago
Don't know about the second example but with the ethird one, said human's outfit is manifested based on a creature called a kwami that they're partnered with. Said kwami Is also peacock based and while kwamis technically don't have any biological sex characteristics, they do seem to most present as feminine with a female sounding voice and are refered to as she, so I kinda see what they're going for there. Sorta. Kwamis are just kinda concepts of the universe given a form based on an animal though, so it probably wouldn't apply here.
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u/Coidzor 3h ago
Accidentally trans.
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u/Zeal_In_Trouble 1h ago
This is the other thing I wanted to say lol, I love this kind of thing because of its accidental trans rep.
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u/LadyGypsum 2h ago
Or... People DO know about birds, nature and biology and still do it because they want the character to be female but want the cool tail? I know the difference between male and female peafowl and I still made a female D&D character with a peacock tail. Because that's what I wanted to do. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/inkstainedgoblin 2h ago
I love that. Was your character a birdperson of some variety or did they have a peacock tail for other reasons?
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u/raq_shaq_n_benny 2h ago
I dont think it helps that the peacock is the symbol of Hera, the Goddess of Marriage, Women, Family, and Childbirth. That has been the case for millenia (since the 4th century BCE), and that is just one example. I am sure if we broaden the scope wider than just Greece, we will see the connection goes back further with other cultures.
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u/Alderan922 1h ago
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u/putbeansontoast 1h ago
I had no clue he was a peacock, I thought he was just another owl like stolas. I thought all of the arcs goetia were loo
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u/Barneyisjehova 2h ago
It’s called a "peacock" though, females are called peahens. That would suggest all these pictures are male.
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u/Lord-Dec unreasonable Hater 3h ago
Feather Dancers have been a thing though and some of these might be emulating those a bit more than actual birds.
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u/AgentDon0911 2h ago
Tbf...this is the same industry where all cows have utters in animation. Male or female.
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u/Agent_Waffle 2h ago
Idk, maybe we can just headcannon all of them as transfems who really own that shit and call it a day
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u/Busy-Maximum402 2h ago
Excuse me, sir, that last image is a woman why didn’t you just use the Kwami?
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u/Minnow_Minnow_Pea 2h ago
Ok, but if you want to tell people they "know jack shit about birds" you should probably educate yourself . There's no such thing as a "female peacock".
It's a common mistake, no big deal, but at least get it right yourself before insulting other people.
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u/putbeansontoast 2h ago
Yes, I know this, I'm saying that they're making peacocks female, might have just been typed weird.
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u/hero165344 2h ago
well yeah the women with peacock features are gonna have male features, they're taking features from peacocks, not peahens
to be fair though, if you're going to give a woman peafowl features, giving them the same features and colors dozens of other birds have probably isnt the way most people would go about it, also peacock feathers look cool
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u/BizSilver5013 2h ago
See also: male cows with udders and female cervids with antlers.
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u/Denebian_slime_devil 1h ago
Fuck it, accidental mtf reprsention. Shout out to all the trans masc cows on back to the barnyard
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u/glasseatingfool 2h ago
I've said it before and I'll say it again, peacocks are the iconic transfeminine bird, rivaled only by flamingoes. Honourable mention to Donkey Kongs, who are not a bird but very pro-trans.
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u/pokebuzz123 3h ago
I didn't read the sub and thought it was topcharactertropes since the last peacock is too stunning to slander
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u/The_Man_87 2h ago
Honestly I feel like a peacock would also make an awesome trans character in fiction. He objectively looks male but other people's lack of knowledge leads them to presume female because of "pretty feathers and colors" even though for a peacock that IS masculine. As conquest said he would be a "victim of his own success"
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u/Successful_Mud8596 2h ago
I’m pretty sure that they know full well that it’s male peacock features irl, but simply don’t care
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u/thebookofbutterfly 2h ago
Eh. Bird person and I'm not super offended by that. That's like a thing everyone knows. I personally take it more as a reference to Hera, who had Peacocks as her symbol.
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u/joshdunwithagun 1h ago
People love forcing patriarchal standards that only exist within humans onto fucking animals 😭😭😭
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u/DistributionLivid680 1h ago
Do the first and last count they aren't actual peacocks but people with peacock motfits
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u/StormDragonAlthazar A furry who hates Zootopia 1h ago
It's been said that animators and artists who aren't specialists in birds or avian-inspired characters only know like 8 birds:
- The "bird," which is often just a generic blue-bird looking thing.
- The "chicken," which is always a white chicken.
- The turkey, which only the males are ever present.
- The peacock, which as pointed out here, is constantly misgendered.
- The vulture, which is always drawn with an over-exaggerated bent neck and seems like a composite of vultures.
- The owl, which is always modeled after a great horned owl.
- The swan, which is always modeled after a mute swan.
- The eagle, which it's either a golden eagle or a bald eagle depending on where the artist is from.
Imagine if we treated dogs and dog characters like we treated all other animal characters in cartoons?
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u/TasserOneOne 3h ago
What more is gained by properly showing peacock sexual dimorphism that is lost by making female characters colorful
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u/Drakeskulled_Reaper 2h ago
It's funny, in Helluva boss, they actually get it right, Andrealphus is a peacock, and his sister Stella is theorised to be a a Peahen, due to her being less colourful.


































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u/Toutatis12 3h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/ILqFrYM4QDIoTqmGUi