Scooby Doo isn’t bad. I was thrilled that my daughter preferred it to all the princess moview. It’s all about solving mysteries. There are three males, one is a dog and the title charcacter. Being the title character is prime real estate and a girl character rarely wins it unless she’s a princess. Shaggy and Scooby are the stars and role model male friendship. Many kids movies are full of females who hate eachother– wicked stepmother and jealous stepsisters. Scooby Doo is your classic guy buddy movie. Velma is a strong character, the smartest of the bunch. Th eproblem is because she is smart, she seems to be unable to be attractive. daphne is obviously the hot girl– played my Sarah Michelle Gellar in the movie version, and Daphne is always worried about her hair and always wants to go shopping. The rest of the gang is often telling her to get over this and Daphne can come through with solving a riddle or saving someone from a monster. Often the wicked characters are female also. All in all, I’m pretty happy when my kids opt for Scooby Doo.
Reel Girl
Imagining gender equality in the fantasy world
I too spent much of the day snuggling on the sofa with my two-year old daughter, watching Rudolph – at least 3 times in a row! – and, as much as I loved the memories this brought back, I was apalled to hear Rudolph’s father say something like, “we need to get the women (does) to safety” after the misfit dentist and his friend rescued everyone from the abominable snow monster.
On a positive note (sort of), my daughter loved her Thomas the Train train set she got for Christmas, but not only are Thomas, the conducter and the only other human all males, but they are also all white (at least in the box set I bought…maybe that’s not true of all “Thomas” products?). Well, I suppose Thomas is actually blue, so maybe I shouldn’t count him . . .
I am constantly amazed and saddened by the fact that white males still dominate so much of our culture. And what’s even worse, is that so many people, including me at times, don’t even notice. I could go on, but I’m too fried after a day at home with a sick toddler. Great article, thanks.
Hi Michelle–
In the THomas the train set, there is a female trian, she is purple and called “Lady.” I have to do some research to find out if this is correct. Purple seems to be the next best to pink as fas as what toy companies choose to market to girls. Also, lady may be smaller than the other trains, I have to chack this out. All three of my girls loved trains but did not recieve them in abudndance as gifts, stckers, clothing etc as they did princesses from friends and aquaitances (the doctor’s office etc).
Thanks for your comment,
Margot