Boys Will Hire Boys: The Media Is Male and Getting Maler

[redqueen]

9. Your first point is key.

It seems to be part of a vicious cycle. Because most protagonists are male, we learn early, as children, to identify with those characters. As a result women are more able to identify with male protagonists than men are able to identify with female protagonists. So this has to be changed ASAP with more equal representation.

About your second point, this is a bit of a myth. A woman-centric story does not have to be about balancing romance and career and family. A woman can star as the protagonist of many different types of stories, just like men. It just doesn't happen that often, because those telling the stories are mostly men, and producers are afraid of 'scaring away' audiences by using female leads.

There is this persistent idea that there are regular movies, and 'women's movies'... it's a misconception based on the fact that women as main characters are too often limited to those types of roles.

Check this out: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2009/12/the-bechdel-test-for-women-in-movies/