Recent female characters like Shrek's Fiona are physically empowered, reflecting how the roles of women in society have evolved. ™ & © 2007 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

The Media's Acceptance
"Female characters in [6- to 12-year-old-targeted] animation tend to be overlooked," says Sorensen. "The higher-profile shows tend to showcase females that are 'nerdy' or 'needy.' This is because boys tend to drive the 6-12 animation." She says boys drive the 6-12 programs because girls tend to start watching live-action shows while boys are still watching cartoons. This makes boys a prime target for advertisers on animated shows.

According to Sorensen, there are exceptions to the rule, such as Powerpuff Girls. But she hasn't seen anything like these characters in quite a while. "We are seeing the major broadcasters now look to females in The Mighty B and Chowder and I think the progression is great, but time will tell if a show like SpongeBob would ever cast a female in the lead," she said.

Young sees a new future for gender and audience with new media and convergence. Old TV technology and the belief that a girl will watch a boy's show but a boy will not watch a girl's show has stymied programmers until now. "Kabillion, VOD and Online are changing all that," according to Young. Kabillion -- a partnership between Comcast cable and Taffy Entertainment -- is the first multi-platform kids network built around today's hottest TV audience viewing trends -- broadband and video on demand.

"If any gender does not like a particular program, then, unlike the linear channel, which loses one or the other gender to another channel, the new platforms need one click and there is a choice of many, many shows. Thus there should be no fear in driving anyone away, which in turn will lead to a great variety and change in program making," says Young.

What's Next?
Historically, there are multiple reasons why female lead characters are less abundant than males in the television, film, and animation industries. Male writers and/or creative talent were the predominant architects in the building of the animation industry; and, as many writers do, they wrote from the perspective they knew, observes Helppie. Dr. Smith and the GDIGM team came to a similar conclusion.

"Women's role in society has undergone seismic changes over the past 40 years, which has been reflected in an ongoing opening up of creative opportunities for female characters," said Helppie. "And as more female executives came to the forefront with the power to greenlight productions or oversee creative storylines, stronger female identities and less stereotypic portrayals were encouraged. The networks and children's broadcasters also pushed to have more engaging, leadership-driven, and less stereotypic, female roles in their programming."

In her recommendations, Smith suggests that a collaborative effort among entertainment executives, creators, scholars, parents and teachers is needed. While a few women executives have broken through the glass ceiling in the entertainment industry, their influence has had limited results with respect to gender parity and portrayal. Her report shows that, as of 2004, only 18% of WGA-employed film writers and only 27% of TV writers were women. In 2006, female membership in the Animation Guild was only 17.3%, and of these only 8% were producers, 14.9% directors and 10.8% writers. "Maybe the answer is that for change to occur even more women are needed in the creative process where key decision-making occurs at the pitch and story development level," writes Smith.

Or, as she writes in the introduction: "Clearly, along the entire creative and marketing process, participants can develop, design and engage in practical solutions to the problem of gender under-representation aimed at children. As balance and portrayals improve, children now, and the next generation of children, will be the winners. They will be exposed to entertainment in which females take up half the space and both females and males are active, diverse and complex."

Jan Nagel, the Entertainment Marketing Diva, is a consultant who has been involved in the business of animation and visual effects since 1991. She represents creative producers and production companies worldwide, including Small World Animation, Santo Domingo Films, and Jim Keeshen Productions, as well as being a frequent guest lecturer on the subject of the business of animation. She is also a founding member and president emeritus of Women in Animation International.