This one annoyed me today!
DS's new favourite thing is a DVD which DP got him: "Mona the Vampire".
It's a cartoon - Mona and her friends (one girl, one boy) fight ghouls, goblins, aliens etc. To an adult viewer, it's clear it's all in their imagination, it's nicely done IMO. It's good fun and DS loves it.
It's an American cartoon, but the British marketing which comes with it has an incentive to buy more Mona DVDs - makeup.
It didn't even occur to me that it was aimed specifically at girls! DS is too young to pick up on this, but a "makeup" offer might make older boys decide it's not for them. And even if it doen't, it's clear the company marketing it see it as a girls thing.
I'm fed up with male leads being the default but female leads being a special girls/women's thing - even in children's programs! CBeebies is sadly guilty of this too sometimes isn't it? (Thinking of Tree Fu Tom for example - all the main characters are male, except one token female).
I can think of very few programs / films where the lead is female but it's aimed at a mixed audience. Can you think of any?
The wonderful Fargo springs to mind, can you think of any more to cheer me up? This is depressing!