Mild feminist rant

Since Max has been old enough to watch movies, we'll watch half a movie on a Friday or Saturday night. It's been a fun movie night, occassionally spiced up with a bowl of popcorn. And we've had a chance to see some of the fun and amazing animated movies that are out there. Which leads me to the question...

"WHERE ARE ALL THE GIRLS?"

It's safe to say that about 50% of the world's populations of humans and animals are female. So, why on cartoons do they make up less than 10%? I understand that TV cartoons are getting better with this, but the movies are ridiculous. Think of the major animated movies of the last few years: Shrek, Toy Story, Madagascar, Ice Age, Veggie Tales, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Shark Tale, Cars...they have one token female, maybe two if you're lucky. Can you imagine that many movies with almost entirely female casts? Bug's Life and The Incredibles were a little more evenly weighted, there are exceptions, thank goodness. But the majority are No Girls Allowed. I have to wonder what movie makers are thinking. Do they think mass audiences don't want female main characters...or any females at all? Irk.

Now I grew up on Winnie-the-Pooh (Kanga). This sort of setup is familiar to all of us. But aren't we tired of it? Can't the little girls have female characters to cheer for? Can't the little boys grow up believing that girls can be heroes, too? I don't think of myself as a rampaging feminist, but this is really starting to bother me.

It was refreshing to watch March of the Penguins and finally see a show where about half of the characters were female.