Junk & Stuff

But the perception currently out there is that, if the main character is a girl, or if a significant portion of the cast is female, it is “for girls” only and exclusively. And usually, if something is planned for both genders, it means most of the characters are boys - and that maybe, if you’re lucky, there are a couple of girls who get to tag along. I long for the day that female characters are not considered novel.

At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the evidence that some specific content will attract mostly women and girls and that other content will mostly attract men and boys. I think that’s okay too - not to mention fun. The problem is the positively ancient issue that a girl will watch a show or a movie about a boy - but a boy won’t watch a show or movie about a girl. The people who profit from media need to protect their investment, and they know they’ll get a larger audience and make more money if they default to “for boys.” It remains the most common reason why girl stuff isn’t made.