Hey, On Demand: Girls are 50% of kids, why the niche programming?

Dear On Demand,

My three daughters and I are flummoxed by On Demand’s menu categories. Under “Kids,” subcategories include: Nickelodeon, Disney Junior, Cartoon Network, on and on. Then, you list: “Girls Rule!”

We were wondering why shows with male protagonists are marketed as mainstream while “Girl’s Rule” is one category out of 20? Girls are 50% of the population, so why the niche programming?

ondemand

Regardless of the language you use, attributing 5% of shows to the “girl” category doesn’t feel like ruling. Especially not when the list includes shows like “Bratz” which stereotypes and demeans girls, depicting them with a myopic focus on fashion, appearance, and shopping.

bratz-show

A more accurate label for On Demand’s menu would be “Pink Ghetto.” Here’s Webster’s definition:

ghet·to

[get-oh]

noun, plural ghet·tos, ghet·toes.
a section of a city, especially a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or hardships
Please consider the change.
Thank you,
Margot Magowan
reelgirl.com

 

 

One thought on “Hey, On Demand: Girls are 50% of kids, why the niche programming?

  1. Hmn… I would get it if they were making a distinction between “kids” as in very young children (Nick Jr, Disney Jr, etc.) and girls and boys programming. But apparently they’re not. I don’t know the current lineup of live-action and cartoon programming on the major children’s networks but when I was younger it seemed reasonably balanced to me. Though apparently Disney still skewed so much towards female audiences that they had to come up with Disney XD.

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