Fridging, sometimes referred to as the“women in refrigerators”trope, is a controversial plot device that has become synonymous with superhero stories, and has appeared acrossDC Comics,Marvel, and other major IPs. And now it has officially earned a place in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. So, what exactly is ‘fridging,’ and why is it so controversial?
Merriam-Webster now officially defines the verb fridge as“the act of killing or harming a character (in a movie, show, etc.) to motivate another.”Historically, this term has been used to describe female characterswho often serve as collateral in male superhero stories, existing solely to motivate the male lead.
This is why the trope is commonly referred to as“women in refrigerators,”since it is much rarer for male characters to be created solely to be killed off in order to motivate a female character. Beyond the intricacies of the term, the fact that Merriam-Webster has added it to the dictionarysuggests that this trope is unlikely to fall out of use anytime soon.
Gail Simone’s Fridging Trope Earns Spot in Merriam-Webster
A Defining Moment for a Term That Exposed a Pattern of Violence Against Female Characters
The news of fridge being added to the dictionary comes via the social media accounts ofMerriam-Webster and Gail Simone, who is credited with creating the concept. Simone is a legendary comics, television, and novel writer“who in 1999 published a list of over 100 comic book characters, all women, who were killed, injured, tortured, etc., on a website called ‘Women in Refrigerators.’”The name of the website was inspired byGreen Lantern#54 (1994) by Ron Marz, which featuresGreen Lantern Kyle Rayner coming home to find that his girlfriend, Alex DeWitt, had been killed by the villain Major Force and stuffed into a refrigerator.
As Simone’s list demonstrated, fridging is an overused trope that is particularly problematic because it typically targets women, using them as cannon fodder in narratives that exist solely to further the development of a male character. As a result, fridging is widely criticized today and considered a storytelling cliché.Simone reacted to Merriam-Webster’sacknowledgment by posting on X, thanking them for the accreditation and commenting,“That is surprising and cool.”It’s encouraging to see Simone receive the credit she deserves, as she played a major role in bringing attention to this harmful over-reliance on killing female characters.
What Are Other Examples of Women Being ‘Fridged’ in Comics?
From Gwen Stacey to Sue Dibny, Fridging Is Rampant in Marvel & DC Comics
Some of the other most infamous examples of women being fridged includePeter Parker’s love interest Gwen Stacy, who was thrown from a bridge by the Green Goblin inThe Amazing Spider-Man#121 (1973). Spider-Man failed to save her, and her death served as a defining moment in his character arc. Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph“Elongated Man”Dibny, is one of the most controversial and dark examples of the trope. She was brutally assaulted and murdered inIdentity Crisis#1 (2004), with her death driving the entire plot and centering Ralph’s emotional unraveling. The list of women killed off solely to serve another character’s storyline is nearly endless and spans bothDC ComicsandMarvel.
