To think it would've killed the producers to make one of the principle Octonauts female?

[lookingforthecorkscrew]

There ARE two female Octonauts but they're v much secondary characters, and does make me a bit miffed*. Thought we'd come a bit further than this.

*obvs I don't stay awake all night being angry about this, it just irritates me

really half of them should be female

I'm sure we could all name the handful of women on the panel show list........

A comment from susan calman i think, about how happy they are to get a black woman as that means they can hVe 5 white men

Tweak is so feckin typical. She is, obviously, far more interesting and able than any of the male characters but she still plays second bloody fiddle. Hermoine Grainger - and every other more-able-than-the-main-kick female sidekick - take a seat and weep.

"A comment from susan calman i think, about how happy they are to get a black woman as that means they can hVe 5 white men"

It might also have been Susan Colman who said when she asked why she was the only woman on something was told that Sarah Millican was on holiday.....

With you all the way OP!

She-Ra was good

Powderpuff Girls

Kim Possible

DC & I enjoy watching these but we did have to really rack our brains to think of them

Oh - Astrid from dragons.

I agree. It was only after about the hundredth time of reading 'Dear Zoo' that it dawned on me that all the animals were male.

It's the default male assumption that's annoying.

Look at The Clangers for an example of something that started broadcasting in 1969 but still managed to have more than one active female character:
Female: Tiny, Soup Dragon, Iron Chicken, Mother, Granny.
Male: Small, Major, baby Soupdragon, baby Iron Chicken.

Was Tiny female in the original?
I agree though that, in general it is something which does not seem to have improved much (remakes seem to add female characters but new stuff often has very imbalanced male/female ratios). Diversity in general in kids TV is better than it used to be, but they still have a way to go.

With regards to My Little Pony, there are large amounts of important, male characters. There's no token male, the male characters, though not as central, are properly developed, have their own personality and opinions. Unlike a lot of the sole female characters in male mostly male casts. You get so many token females who are smart and a bit of a know it all, or ditzy and super girly. That's about it.

Looking at male characters in My Little Pony, they have a vast range of personalities and are allowed to be emotionally expressive which is something male characters often aren't shown to be. Like shining armour is often seen crying, it's not made fun of, or looked down on, he's just shown as a very emotional character. You've got Big Mac who is a bit shy and struggles to express himself, but is much more confident around his family. There's Discord, who was bad but realising how lonely that was ends up becoming good and learns a lot of lessons about loyalty and how to be a good friend throughout the show.

Basically there may not be main male characters in My Little Pony, but my son loves it and I'm glad he does as it's filled with healthy role models for him, male and female.

I watch far too much of it can you tell?

@DeleteOrDecay

"After all they receive the same training and have to meet the same standards as male fire fighters."

Same training, yes. Not the same standards. That was 'sexist'. 10 seconds googling would tell you that.

My brother (working for Surry Fire Service) will attest to how a woman who was allowed to pass out did so without passing fitness tests; this spurred the downgrading of certain tests such as the minimum lift. Rather than a strike, the Service promoted her off the pumps so that the stronger fire fighters could work safely.

HTH.

@BertrandRussell

"Life shouldn't show fair representation of sex, gender and so on? Good Lord, really? Why not?"

I know you didn't quote me as such, but swapping 'perfect balance' for fair was quite telling.

I believe that the UK is about 2 percent of my people (Jewish). I don't get all angsty if not every 100 people in the media is Jewish. Why would I?

A selection of drawings or characters doesn't need to absolutely match the demographics of a country.

Right, we need 3 2/3 lesbians. 1 1/2 of them needs to be 1/3 Polish and 1/3 French with a father who marched against Thatcher but hated punk music and attended Cambridge on a scholarship; they're to be lead characters for a new comedy about growing up in the 90s in inner-city Sheffield. We needs to be fair here!

@backOffSunshine I can't find anything online that states that women don't have to pass the same tests as men? Perhaps you can tell me what you were looking at that outlines this?

backOffSunshine Perfect balance - no.
Fair representation - yes!

And btw I would be pretty angsty if TV programs for pre-schoolers featured caricatured versions of Jewish characters, who nearly always fitted the same stereotype (even if it was a positive one).

Backoffsunshine- you would (I hope) be pretty pissed off if Jewish people in cartoons were represented as hook nosed shady financiers.......

@BertrandRussell

Why?

I think Tweak is a main Octonaut. She gets quite a bit to do and builds the gups. Professor Inkling is a much smaller role