History Analysis / GirlShowGhetto

** In the early 2000s, Disney started to make noticeably boy-oriented movies, featuring {{Disney/dinosaur}}s, [[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove emperors]], [[Disney/TreasurePlanet pirates in space]], [[Disney/ChickenLittle alien invasions]] and [[Disney/BrotherBear bears]]. This whole run of films constitutes a major DorkAge for the company. ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', a film with two girls as the protagonists, ended up being the most profitable Disney film of this time period.
** Lilo and Stitch's success could have been influenced by the marketing focusing exclusively on Stitch, a presumably-male alien. However, during the 1990s, alleged "girly" films such as ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' were the highest grossing animated films of their times. That said, they were still outgrossed by the clearly male-led ''Disney/TheLionKing''. The exception to Disney princess films breaking the ghetto was ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', which had a myriad of issues: from the use of 'outdated' 2D animation, being released the week before ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' opened, and having ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' and the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' sequel hot on its heels.

** Lilo and Stitch's success could have been influenced by the marketing focusing exclusively on Stitch, a presumably-male alien. However, throughout Disney's lifetime, alleged "girly" films such as ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' were the highest grossing animated films of their times. Clearly there were at least some boys out there watching them. The exception to Disney princess films breaking the ghetto was ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', which had a myriad of issues: from the use of 'outdated' 2D animation, being released the week before ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' opened, and having ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' and the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' sequel hot on its heels.

** Any suggestions that past "girly" Disney films only succeeded because the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise hadn't yet been established were thoroughly jossed when ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' become not only the highest grossing Disney film of all time but the highest grossing animated film of all time.

** Lilo and Stitch's success could have been influenced by the marketing focusing exclusively on Stitch, a presumably-male alien. However, throughout Disney's lifetime, alleged "girly" films such as ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' were the highest grossing animated films of their times. Clearly there were at least some boys out there watching them. The exception to Disney's princess films breaking the ghetto was ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', which had a myriad of issues from the use of 'outdated' 2D animation, being released the week before ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' opened, and having 'Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' and the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' sequel hot on its heels.

** Any suggestions that past "girly" Disney films only succeeded because the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise hadn't yet been established were thoroughly jossed by ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' becoming not only the highest grossing Disney film of all time but the highest grossing animated film of all time.

* Dolls in general were only seen as being for girls. In more modern times however, where toy architecture has evolved beyond plastic, the woman is the most prone to be freaked out by them.

* In the early 2000s, Walt Disney Animation Studios started to make noticeably boy-oriented movies, featuring {{Disney/dinosaur}}s, [[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove emperors]], [[Disney/TreasurePlanet pirates in space]], and [[Disney/BrotherBear bears]]. ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' had a princess in it, though it was more about adventure in undersea caverns than romance; ''Disney/HomeOnTheRange'' had female animals as main protagonists but was the last 2-D animated film for five years and flopped ''badly''. In fact, this whole run of films constitutes a major DorkAge for the company. ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' managed to avoid the ghetto for the most part, despite its female main characters, and was the most profitable Disney film of this period. However, this may be due to the marketing focusing exclusively on Stitch, a presumably-male alien.
** This ignored the fact that alleged "girly" films such as ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' were the highest grossing animated films of their times. Clearly there were at least some boys out there watching them; the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise hadn't yet been established, so boys back then probably didn't associate watching both of those movies as being girly. Also, ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was released the week before ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' opened, with ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' and the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' sequel following on its heels...
*** Not to mention the bad publicity stemming from the leaked early draft of the script, which was loaded down with UnfortunateImplications and a serious case of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor if you've ever thought the Francise/DisneyPrincess line needed an African-American member.

Though its far from the only reason, one of the less discussed factors that plays into maintaining the GirlShowGhetto is the perception created by LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek, and WomenAreWiser. The expectation here is that a show featuring a female lead might be preachy and/or tend to bash men a lot, and this perception is not without merit.

Take the Big Three of Creator/DCComics: {{Franchise/Superman}}, {{Franchise/Batman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman. Superman and Batman, whether their stories have depth or not, tend not to be allegorical or political (at least until Superman's 2011 reboot). But Wonder Woman has strong feminist themes. She comes from an island entirely populated by female rape victims where men are forbidden to set foot and stories focused on her outside her own title (and sometimes in it) will take pot shots at men (though WonderWoman is shown to be above doing so herself, the writer will inject these themes into the narrative).

This creates a clear impression in the minds of potential male readers that if you pick up an issue of Wonder Woman, [[WriterOnBoard you can expect to be preached at]]. [[AudienceAlienatingPremise How many fans do you think are beating down the doors of their local comic book shop on shipping day for that opportunity]]?

* Happens in music quite often. {{Boy band}}s/{{Teen Idol}}s (usually aimed at girls) usually end up gaining a huge PeripheryHatedom, with people sometimes literally sending death threats, but a GirlGroup probably won't have as much of a problem, because of all of the {{fanservice}}.

* This trope and the confusion between {{light novel}}s and {{visual novel}}s (the latter has gameplay, the former doesn't) likely contribute to a significant amount of PeripheryHatedom for visual novel games and their players. Visual novels that have become successful, such as ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' and ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', will immediately attract a flock of players who insist that the games aren't actually visual novels, because visual novel games are a "girl" thing. Ironically, the three most successful visual novel franchises are centered on male playable characters.

** This ignored the fact that alleged "girly" films such as ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' were the highest grossing animated films of their times. Clearly there were at least some boys out there watching them; the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise hadn't yet been established, so boys back then probably didn't associate watching both of those movies as being girly. Also, ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was released the week before ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' opened, with ''Film/SherlockHolmes'' and the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' sequel following on its heels...

* This trope and the confusion between {{light novel}}s and {{visual novel}}s (the latter has gameplay, the former doesn't) likely contribute to a significant amount of PeripheryHatedom for visual novel games and their players. Visual novels that have become successful, such as ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' and ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', will immediately attract a flock of players who insist that the games aren't actually visual novels, because visual novel games are a "girl" thing. Ironically, the two most successful visual novel franchises are centered on male playable characters.

* Disney Comics are traditionally centered around male characters, with female characters generally being second bananas or somehow related to WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck and WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}; for example, Minnie Mouse is Mickey's girlfriend.

* Disney Comics are traditionally centered around male characters, with female characters generally being second bananas or somehow related to MickeyMouse, DonaldDuck and {{Goofy}}; for example, Minnie Mouse is Mickey's girlfriend.

** This ignored the fact that alleged "girly" films such as ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' and ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' were the highest grossing animated films of their times. Clearly there were at least some boys out there watching them; the Franchise/DisneyPrincess franchise hadn't yet been established, so boys back then probably didn't associate watching both of those movies as being girly. Also, ''Princess and the Frog'' was released the week before ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' opened, with ''Film/SherlockHolmes'' and the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' sequel following on its heels...

This creates a clear impression in the minds of potential male readers that if you pick up an issue of Wonder Woman, you can expect to be preached at. How many fans do you think are beating down the doors of their local comic book shop on shipping day for that opportunity?

* The one machine that might shake the industry out of the ghetto would be ''Pinball/WhoaNellieBigJuicyMelons'', a game with an incredibly strong MaleGaze element, as it received a tremendous backlash, enough for Creator/{{Stern}} to issue a PaletteSwap with a complete overhaul of the theme, changing it to the more gender-neutral Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (though still thoroughly rooted in pinball's association with bar culture). The main movers and shakers in pinball are all white males, however, and have little interest or understanding in selling to female players.

* The one machine that might shake the industry out of the ghetto would be ''Pinball/WhoaNellieBigJuicyMelons'', a game with an incredibly strong MaleGaze element, as it received a tremendous backlash, enough for Creator/{{Stern}} to issue a PaletteSwap with a complete overhaul of the theme, changing it to the more gender-neutral Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (though still thoroughly rooted in pinball's association with bar culture).

** It helps that, in North America at least, [[GirlGroup girl groups]] tend to have a much shorter run, whereas pop idol soloists are often women. Hence: [[ContractualPurity contractual purity]] and associated tropes. Male pop singers face backlash from AManIsNotAVirgin and are expected to transition from "cute" to "adult" without losing their audience, much in the same way female pop idols are required to become HotterAndSexier. It's then that [[DoubleStandard double standards]] kick in, as the male musician who sheds his "cute" image will be praised, while women will be accused of relying on their body, abandoning their values, etc.

Take the Big Three of Creator/DCComics: {{Franchise/Superman}}, {{Franchise/Batman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman. Superman and Batman, whether their stories have depth or not, tend not to be allegorical or political (at least until Superman's 2011 reboot). But WonderWoman has strong feminist themes. She comes from an island entirely populated by female rape victims where men are forbidden to set foot and stories focused on her outside her own title (and sometimes in it) will take pot shots at men (though WonderWoman is shown to be above doing so herself, the writer will inject these themes into the narrative).

* Over at Creator/MarvelComics, there are no female characters that are as well-known as Franchise/WonderWoman.

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBears'' is assumed as being for girls and very little boys despite being unisex.

* The young adult and middle grade (eight-twelve years old) demographics mostly consists of young girls. Part of this is because boys have a tendency to refuse to read anything with a female protagonists.

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBears'' is assumed as being for girls and very little boys despite being unisex.

* Dolls in general are only seen as being for girls.

* Video games may perhaps be the hardest one to have been hit by the ghetto, mainly due to many of the founders of the video game being male. This extended itself to the sheer idea that while a girl could play a game, she could never program one. This assumption was considered true until 1989, when the very first video game companies with female programmers started appearing and begun programming video games. The (Western) game industry is ''notorious'' for refusing to break out of the idea that all gamers are 18-25 year old heterosexual white men, at least if you're planning on making a non-casual title.

This creates a clear impression in the minds of potential male readers that if you pick up an issue of Wonder Woman, you can expect to be preached at. How many fans do you think are beating down the doors of their local comic book shop on shipping day for that opportunity?

Take the Big Three of DC Comics: Superman, Batman and WonderWoman. Superman and Batman, whether their stories have depth or not, tend not to be allegorical or political (at least until Superman's 2011 reboot). But WonderWoman has strong feminist themes. She comes from an island entirely populated by female rape victims where men are forbidden to set foot and stories focused on her outside her own title (and sometimes in it) will take pot shots at men (though WonderWoman is shown to be above doing so herself, the writer will inject these themes into the narrative).

Take the Big Three of DC Comics: Superman, Batman and WonderWoman. Superman and Batman, whether their stories have depth or not, tend not to be allegorical or political (at least until Superman's 2011 reboot). But WonderWoman has strong feminist themes. She comes from an island entirely populated by female rape victims where men are forbidden to set foot and stories focused on her outside her own title (and sometimes in it) will take pot shots at men (though WonderWoman herself is shown to be above doing so herself, the writer will inject these themes into the narrative itself).