‘Dude in Distress’: Post-Feminist Subversion of the ‘Damsel in Distress’ Trope in Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive (2022).

The ‘Damsel in Distress’ is a recurring theme in literature that was first featured in Greek mythology as seen in Andromeda and her savior Perseus. Archetypal characters of helpless young ladies have made their debut in modern fiction and drama up until the 20th century. Deeply rooted in misogyny, the trope was often faced with Feminist criticism that broke the pattern which portrayed women as inherently vulnerable and in constant need to be rescued. By the second half of the 20th century, feminists flipped the narrative and featured empowered women who do not need to be saved by men as they manifest full independence and completion. This paper propounds an innovative trope where gentlemen are in jeopardy and women come to their rescue. The aim of this paper is to apply this Post-feminist theory to American Playwright Selina Fillinger’s Broadway debut POTUS: or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive (2022); with the aim of proving that the ‘Dude in Distress’ theme is an anticipated natural evolution of Post-feminist non-binary thinking. It manifests itself as a reversed narrative that lacks definition and labeling, and as a trope that is becoming more prominent in 21st century literature. The research paper chronicles the notion of distress and its gradual evolution to its contemporary stance.