Does 'femme fatale' have a negative connotation?

[Dbt25677]

I've seen this phrase around this site a bit, and was wondering if has a positive or a negative meaning.

[12hearts]

this might be an unrelated frame of reference now, but I believe the phrase comes from 19th century opera. the "femme fatale" was a stock character in operas who was overtly sexual and would seduce men into their "destruction" (often death). Examples are Carmen (from the opera French opera, you would probably know the song "Habanera"), and Musetta from La Boheme and Rent.

I think on the surface, these characters can seem to be negative, but they often have positive sides to them. Like Carmen is the protagonist, and she can be interpreted as a strong woman who knows how to survive on her own. And Musetta is ultimately selfless when she asks God to save Mimi, and we know that she has true emotional feelings for Marcello even while she revels in the attention from other men

[EyeSeaYew]

Definition of femme fatale: "an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her."

A synonym of it is seductress: "a woman who seduces someone, especially one who entices a man into sexual activity."

It basically involves a woman who manipulates men. Being manipulative is a negative quality so femme fatale isn't too positive.

[Cj4TheWin]

A femme fatale does have a bit of a negative tinge on it.
Literally it means, "A fatal woman". So a woman who will seduca you, but eventually she will be fatal to you.

[jointhepatriarchy]

Well in Hollywood movies the femme fatale is like an anti-hero that a lot of women want to be, and a lot of men want to be with. In reality though your interactions with the femme fatale are going to span longer than two hours. And she'll end up cheating on you, stealing from you, lying about you, etc. So yeah, femme fatales are great when it comes to comic books and anime and stuff, not so great when it comes to reality. I'd personally like to see more truly feminine characters that aren't just a sexy love interest or unrealistically perfect.

[BertMacklinFBI]

you can google it and get a good description of what it means.

[Yellowbone]

I have the femme fatale personality. A lot of people would say it's negative but I don't think so. It refers to a seductive female who knows how to get what she wants out of men.

[keloeer]

I wouldn't say negative , its more like a mysterious girl that's seductive which is not a bad thing

[zombiebabe]

not a really positive connotation

[ihatethiswebsite]

I don't even know what that means