History

• Betty Boop was produced by Paramount Pictures and was very popular in movie theaters and still remains so today. She was portrayed to bring back the good times of the 1920s when American life faced great challenges in the 1930s. Popeye's very witty girlfriend, Olive Oyl, was first a comic strip character in about 1920. She had a daughter, Swee'Pea, and often made Popeye jealous with her relationship with Bluto. Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, became a star in 1928. Although she did not have her own show, she "acted" in 73 cartoons with Mickey and Pluto. In the 1960s, both the Flintstones and Jetsons portrayed housewives of the times who kept their husbands on a short leash. When the Smurfs first came on TV, there was no female. Then Smurfette arrived as the enemy of Gargamel, which caused disharmony in the community. For whatever reason, this role changed and she became an important character in the Smurf village.
  
  

Types

• Not all the female cartoons were girlfriends and wives. When the male action characters became popular for boys, so did the female super characters become enjoyed by girls. Wonder Woman of the Justice League became a "wonder" for both girls and women with her beauty, intelligence, strength and independence. She wore the invincible Bracelets of Victory, the Lasso of Truth and gilded battle armor. She-Ra was created as the twin and counterpart of He-Man. She was another liberated and super strong female with the ability to heal and talk to animals. Cheetara, the first female Thundercat, was a warrior based on a cheetah. Friendly and caring and often having a premonition of danger, Cheetara sometimes was the only one who could think rationally. Perhaps Miss Piggy belongs here, as well, with her brazen ways and strong desire to be number one, yet frequent soft heart.
  
  

Effects

• The terms liberated and independent do not describe nearly all of the Disney female characters. Snow White and Cinderella lived or "waited in a trance for" their prince charming. Ariel in the"Little Mermaid" is more assertive with her father, but sacrifices herself for Eric. One could say that Belle, in "Beauty and the Beast," and Jasmine, in "Aladdin," are stronger characters, but guess what "happily ever after" happens at the end of both movies? Pocohantas does not go back to England with John Smith, but how could he have explained bringing back this native girl? These are the female characters that many feminists believe have a negative influence on girls while growing up. Many critics state that Disney's characters, especially the females, were stereotyped and normally seen as subservient to the male hero.
  
  

Considerations

• The female cartoon characters of the 1990s, most of them for the youngest girls, also fell into a specific category. These included the female Care Bears, The Care Bears, Popples, Rainbow Bright, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake and Jem. Compare this list to the boys' cartoons during the same time: Transformers, Voltron, He-Man and GI Joe, and a pattern appears. Of course, each of these characters, for both the boys and the girls, came with their own set of toys. Granted, it would have been difficult for the marketers to promote a female GI Joe to the girls and a male Rainbow Bright to boys.
  
  

Theories/Speculation

• Some proponents say that the cartoons for girls are better now, because females in the 21st century are more independent. Apparently it is how you look at it. For example, some of the characters of the 1980s are redesigned. Strawberry Shortcake has tighter clothes, longer hair, wider eyes, and lipstick. She carries a cell phone instead of a cat. The Care Bears have less fat and longer eyelashes, and Angelina Ballerina, who was never overweight to begin with, is drawn thinner. What kind of role models are these characters for today's girls?