{"id":14192,"date":"2018-04-13T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2018-04-16T09:57:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T13:57:49","slug":"go-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/go-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Go Girl!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kids\u2019 producers and distributors are defying stereotypes with a new wave of children\u2019s shows featuring powerful female characters.<\/em><\/p>\n

Male characters outnumber females three-to-one on television, per the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. It\u2019s a ratio that has remained fairly unchanged for the past several decades. And it\u2019s not just a lack of representation that is of concern. \u201cGender stereotyping is an inherent problem in today\u2019s entertainment landscape, and children are the most vulnerable recipients of depictions that send the message that girls are less valuable and capable than boys,\u201d the organization says on its website.<\/p>\n

But the times they are a-changing, slowly. \u201cIn today\u2019s world, there\u2019s been such a shift in awareness and recalibrating values and trends, and I think the way that girls are looked at and want to be looked at is strong, empowered, aspirational and intelligent,\u201d says Andy Heyward, the chairman and CEO of Genius Brands International.<\/p>\n

According to Dominic Gardiner, the CEO of Jetpack Distribution, it\u2019s important for creators to make sure that female characters are \u201csmart, strong and in the lead, while avoiding any clich\u00e9s\u2014victims, princesses, falling down, twisting their ankles, etc. I know this sounds like something from the \u201970s, but it does [still] happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s more than just the shallow princess stereotype being perpetuated in kids\u2019 programming. \u201cI\u2019ve been working with broadcasters that go, Please, let\u2019s not have the girl being the sensible voice of reason [or] the nagging older sister because it\u2019s boring and we\u2019ve seen that too many times already,\u201d says Tom van Waveren, the CEO and creative director of CAKE. \u201cLet\u2019s have the same kind of diversity in female characters that we have in male characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Michel, the managing director of Federation Kids & Family and president of Cottonwood Media, mentions some other clich\u00e9s: \u201cThere\u2019s a kind of caricature of the valley girl, the bitchy girl, the nerdy girl with glasses…. That\u2019s the negative that should be avoided, but it\u2019s very much still there.\u201d Among the female-led series repped by Federation Kids & Family is The Ollie & Moon Show<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s about two buddies, a girl and a boy, but the girl is really the lead in the show and the boy is kind of the follower,\u201d says Michel. There is also Find Me in Paris<\/em>, centered on a time-traveling ballerina, and Love, Divina<\/em>, a soap opera for teen girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cSociety doesn\u2019t need more shows with girls pictured as either vanilla princesses or tomboys,\u201d adds Claus T\u00f8mming, the managing partner at INK Group. \u201cWe need to introduce a new type of female character, and it doesn\u2019t even take imagination to do that. It\u2019s a great pain to come up with another young duchess or an overachiever because it\u2019s been done so many times before. How about creating a girl as she is in real life: observant, passionate, strong, aspiring\u2014why keep reinventing stereotypes? Just stop and look around!\u201d<\/p>\n

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT<\/strong>
\nMove over, damsel in distress; there\u2019s a new breed of girl characters in kids\u2019 television. Take, for instance, Genius Brands\u2019 Rainbow Rangers<\/em>, which focuses on seven female heroes with the very important jobs of serving as Earth\u2019s first responders. \u201cIt\u2019s about empowerment of young girls,\u201d says Heyward. \u201cOf course there are all the tools of good storytelling that you would expect\u2014crisis, conflict, humor, jeopardy\u2014that make these episodes come alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis business is evolving along with the real world, and girls are [being] given different kinds of leading female characters so they can choose which one they feel closer to,\u201d says Luana Perrero, the head of TV sales at Rainbow. In 2004, the company launched Winx Club<\/em>, which Perrero says encourages female viewers to \u201cembrace the positive values conveyed by the content.\u201d Now a global hit, the fantasy series follows the adventures of six fairies living in a magical land.<\/p>\n

Among other things, Winx Club<\/em> teaches girls about empowerment, friendship and how to empathize with other girls \u201cwho share dreams and must work hard to achieve them\u2014exactly as the heroines do on screen,\u201d notes Perrero. The show is one of several examples of children\u2019s series that portray the power of female camaraderie\u2014girls working together and building each other up instead of tearing one another down as a result of feeling competitive or jealous.<\/p>\n

Due to concerns about low ratings, broadcasters did not always welcome kids\u2019 series with strong female characters. According to Pierre Sissmann, the chairman and CEO of Cyber Group Studios, while there has not necessarily been that much more of a demand for girl-led programming as of late, there is significantly less of an aversion to it when compared with attitudes just ten years ago. \u201cThe big difference between today and yesterday is that people are not reacting negatively when we present a girl-driven show,\u201d he says. \u201cBefore, a number of networks would say, Uh-uh, if it\u2019s girl-driven, don\u2019t even present that to us. That doesn\u2019t happen anymore and that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyber Group houses such girl-empowering series as Mirette Investigates<\/em>, Sadie Sparks <\/em>and Mademoiselle Zazie<\/em>. \u201cWhen we produced Mademoiselle Zazie<\/em>, no one was looking for a female-led show,\u201d says Sissmann. \u201cIt was not that successful until 2014-15, when people turned around and said, We need female-led character shows. And they started buying massively all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

BALANCING THE SCALE<\/strong>
\n\u201cMy generation\u2014people who have children that are going to college right now\u2014grew up in a world where the male perspective was always put front and center, and I think we have evolved into something that is much more balanced,\u201d says CAKE\u2019s van Waveren. \u201cWe have about 12 shows in different stages of development and I would say that we\u2019re exactly at a fifty-fifty split when it comes to girl-led or boy-led. And that\u2019s across different demographics and genres.\u201d<\/p>\n

That balance is not specifically planned, he notes, since the company simply chooses whatever projects it connects with the most. \u201cWe\u2019re being offered more shows that are putting female characters at the center of them not because [creators] feel there is a fashion for it or the market is requiring it, but just because that is the story they want to be telling\u2014and that makes it all the more powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among CAKE\u2019s most successful series featuring strong female characters are My Knight and Me<\/em>, the Total Drama <\/em>franchise and So Awkward<\/em>. The company is also developing a new show, Mama K\u2019s Super 4<\/em>, about four Zambian girls who work together to save the day.<\/p>\n

Jetpack\u2019s Gardiner has noticed a slight uptick in appetite for shows that place girls front and center, but says it\u2019s not \u201ca dramatic, overwhelming demand,\u201d just more \u201crecognition of having more balance than before.\u201d He adds: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot of younger female characters coming through. In the older-kids area, I still think that most broadcasters are either pretty balanced, gender-neutral or they have a slight boy bias.\u201d The company\u2019s portfolio boasts the girl-led animated comedy The Sisters<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Other series on offer from Jetpack, such as Talking Tom and Friends <\/em>and Dennis & Gnasher<\/em> Unleashed!<\/em>, also contain powerful girl characters. In Talking Tom<\/em>, \u201cAngela is a very strong, aspirational, sparky female character that kind of balances out Tom and his slightly egocentric point of view,\u201d says Gardiner, while in Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!<\/em>, the show\u2019s brand-new female characters have been so successful that they\u2019ve actually been added to the comic strip. \u201cThere was a lot of love for them, so they\u2019ve now become little breakout stars of their own. They\u2019ve created a very balanced series. Whereas I think, historically, it\u2019s been very much a boy-led franchise, it\u2019s now got strong aspirational [female] characters, so girls can love it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in 2000, when he was at Marathon Media, Federation Kids & Family\u2019s Michel co-created Totally Spies!<\/em>, which is perhaps one of the first noteworthy girl-empowering kids\u2019 series. \u201cAt the time, it was almost impossible to pitch a show with a girl lead,\u201d he says. \u201cThe answer that we got every single time we would pitch the show was, Boys [have] the most control in the TV room and they will never watch a show with a female hero. And they were proven wrong not only with this show but with a lot of other shows. But I think it\u2019s still something that\u2019s hovering over channel programmers\u2019 heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

LEADING THE WAY<\/strong>
\nAnother series that has helped lead the way for female-driven children\u2019s content is INK\u2019s Masha and the Bear<\/em>. \u201cMasha launched the whole trend when the character was first introduced to the market a decade ago,\u201d says T\u00f8mming. \u201cCele\u00adbrated series with female protagonists like Doc McStuffins<\/em> or Sofia the First<\/em> arrived years later.\u201d The company also has a new show called\u00a0Maouia Princess of Cordoba<\/em>, which will feature a \u201chighly nuanced female lead\u201d who overcomes many challenges, including her own self-doubt, to achieve personal growth. \u201cWe like to think the audience is hungry for role models made of flesh and blood rather than glitter and pixels,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cFemale characters have always been front and center in the My Little Pony <\/em>franchise and in the long-running animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic<\/em>,\u201d notes Nina Scales, the VP of international sales distribution at Hasbro Studios. \u201cThey have become so popular that we grew the Pony<\/em>franchise in 2013 with the launch of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls<\/em>. Dealing with the ups and downs of life in high school, our female characters handle any crisis that is thrown at them.\u201d Hasbro Studios\u2019 catalog also includes Hanazuki: Full of Treasures<\/em>, the company\u2019s newest girl-led animated series.<\/p>\n

Mondo TV Group also houses a number of series with female leads, among them Sissi The Young Empress<\/em>, the Heidi Bienvenida<\/em> franchise and Angel\u2019s Friends<\/em>. \u201cToday, the girls\u2019 empowerment topic is important and a message that we need to start teaching girls\u2014and boys\u2014from a very young age,\u201d says Micheline Azoury, the company\u2019s head of acquisitions and TV sales. \u201cIn some previous shows dedicated to girls, we used to see a big focus on beauty. The trend today is geared more towards a different direction, [including] inner beauty rather than outside\u2026but also being smart and contributing equally to boys in any situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiva Can Do!<\/em>, in Lacey Entertainment\u2019s portfolio, is another example of a children\u2019s show telling young girls that they are capable of accomplishing whatever they set their minds to. The titular character is \u201ccaring, nurturing and follows her heart, but she also can do anything that a boy can do,\u201d says Brian Lacey, the company\u2019s president. \u201cKiva Can Do!<\/em> represents a significant departure from other girls\u2019 content in that Kiva does not conform to a male stereotype to be empowered. Kiva tips these gender stereotypes on their heads and gently reminds children that anything they can dream, they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

STORYTELLING FIRST<\/strong>
\nWhile it is, of course, important for there to be gender-balanced kids\u2019 programming\u2014after all, there are just as many little girls in the world as boys\u2014storytelling must still be the main priority for a show to cut through in the crowded children\u2019s television marketplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any difference whether it\u2019s a girls\u2019 show or a boys\u2019 show; it has to be a good series,\u201d says Cyber Group\u2019s Sissmann. \u201cOne of our biggest developments today is our first superhero show featuring two girls as the heroes; it\u2019s a\u00a0 good story and that\u2019s why we picked it up. I think that ten years ago, we would have said, Well, nobody\u2019s going to buy this. That\u2019s not even a thought today. So we\u2019re looking at boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 series irrespective of the gender.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI look for things that are enriching to kids and that still have very strong characters and strong stories,\u201d notes Genius Brands\u2019 Heyward. \u201cIt\u2019s not girls per se or boys per se\u2014I\u2019m just looking to find good characters and good stories and see wherever they take us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A good way to achieve rich storytelling that avoids repetition and stereotypes is having more of a gender balance in the writers\u2019 room, adds CAKE\u2019s van Waveren. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean that you need to be a woman to write about girls or a man to write about boys, but if you\u2019re going to have a series with characters of mixed genders, it makes total sense to have a writers\u2019 team that has mixed genders as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

WAKE-UP CALL<\/strong>
\nIn line with the demand for greater representation for women across the media industry, it\u2019s likely that there will be more girl-led kids\u2019 shows in the future. \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d says INK\u2019s T\u00f8mming. \u201cIt\u2019s about time to not just \u2018respond to demand\u2019 but to redress the balance. Wake up, people!\u201d<\/p>\n

In a perfect world, there would be fifty-fifty balance, says Jetpack\u2019s Gardiner. \u201cThe equilibrium is what we\u2019re aiming for. Sometimes the way the market works is we have these swings from one extreme to another, and so if somebody identifies a gap, then you\u2019ll suddenly see a rush of series. Ultimately, the audiences are deciding what\u2019s going to stick around, but I do think there are certainly plenty of people trying to create not just token female characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously girls tended to be portrayed as playing second fiddle to the male lead, whereas now we have [more] series featuring females that are fearless, smart and strong,\u201d says Hasbro\u2019s Scales. \u201cThis generation of kids will grow up with positive female role models and an understanding that girls can do anything and be anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

As long as there is enough of a gender balance, children don\u2019t mind if a show\u2019s star is male or female. \u201cI don\u2019t think kids care about the gender of the characters; I think they care about the type of storytelling,\u201d Federation\u2019s Michel says. \u201cYou can have 100-percent female storytelling that\u2019s very emotion-based [or] you can have very male storytelling with more action, etc., but if you have a little bit of both, they don\u2019t care that the hero is a boy or a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, it seems that compelling storytelling is a sure-fire way to make a successful kids\u2019 show that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of gender\u2014except, perhaps, when young boys are going through their infamous \u201cgirls have cooties\u201d phase, which, although there\u2019s no cure for it, is almost always temporary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kids\u2019 producers and distributors are defying stereotypes with a new wave of children\u2019s shows featuring powerful female characters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":14193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nGo Girl! - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/go-girl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Go Girl! - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kids\u2019 producers and distributors are defying stereotypes with a new wave of children\u2019s shows featuring powerful female characters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/go-girl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-13T13:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-16T13:57:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/04\/rabbit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joanna Padovano Tong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joanna Padovano Tong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/go-girl\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/go-girl\/\",\"name\":\"Go Girl! 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