The term was coined by Katha Pollitt in 1991 in The New York Times:[5] Contemporary shows are either essentially all-male, like "Garfield", or are organized on what I call the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined (...) The message is clear.
Girls exist only in relation to boys.Pollitt observed this as what she thought of in terms of a common media practice while shopping for her daughter's Christmas toys.
[8] Steve Rose looks at Eleven's situation in the TV show Stranger Things, where she is essentially replaced (while on her own adventures) by Max, another young girl, who is also teased, then "lusted after," another common reaction to a lone female character.
[10][9] In an article and video for Bitch Magazine, Anita Sarkeesian asserts that the tendency of media from the 1980s and 1990s—which typically adhere to this principle—continuously being remade results in the recurrence of this issue, creating an ongoing cycle.
She also called on the film industry to include more female characters, or even a female-dominated cast, and pass the Bechdel test, stating that after these are kept in mind and actually accomplished, meaningful diversity will be possible.
[11] Rickie Solinger, in a review of some of Pollitt's major works up to 1993, wrote that the Smurfette principle applies to preschoolers and adults alike.