History Main / GirlShowGhetto

* An AnimatedAdaptation of ''ComicStrip/PhoebeAndHerUnicorn'' [[https://twitter.com/thecartoonnews/status/1608287653761253383?s=46&t=88if7ni0te2nLok-xGNcGw was cancelled]] after a group of new executives feared that boys wouldn't watch a show with a female protagonist.

%%* MagicalGirl series tend to be viewed more critically in [[AmericansHateTingle western territories]]. This especially hits the classical kind or CuteWitch varieties the hardest; most mentions of titles like ''Manga/HimitsuNoAkkoChan'' or ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami'' will be in retrospections on the genre rather than as series in their own right. Because of this, it's usually the MagicalGirlWarrior shows, parodies, or [[MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction darker, more serious]] fare that get translated and exported, causing lighter or less actiony series to be looked down upon as "weaker" in comparison. Some ValuesDissonance also comes into play, as Japanese children's programming is more gendered in comparison to Western children's programming. While Western programming tries to aim at all children's demographics, Japanese children's programming are stricter about marketing to its primary demographic.
* ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' is a quintessential girls show, but when it was released for Creator/KidsWB the dub saw heavy edits to turn Syaoran Li (Li Showron in the dub) into a main protagonist along with Sakura, which included having half the episodes (mainly the ones without him) cut and promoting the show as "Card Captors," removing her name altogether to make it seem more unisex. Broadcasts outside the US aired the remaining episodes (save for two in Canada and the U.K.), thus clearly establishing Sakura as the protagonist. Funny enough, the Creator/{{Toonami}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJTkt14EQxY promo]] made it abundantly clear that Sakura was the protagonist.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' was picked up by 4Kids Entertainment specifically to draw more girls to watch its Saturday morning cartoon block (something it and ''Anime/TokyoMewMew'' succeeded at where ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' failed). Interestingly, after the show was dumped by 4Kids and moved to Nickelodeon it became LighterAndSofter with a focus towards younger demographics and the show became accused of SeasonalRot.

* An AnimatedAdaptation of ''ComicStrip/PhoebeAndHerUnicorn'' [[https://twitter.com/thecartoonnews/status/1608287653761253383?s=46&t=88if7ni0te2nLok-xGNcGw was cancelled]] because Nickelodeon said that boys don't watch shows with female protagonists.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' got hit with the merchandising version, with no female action figures even though girls made up a good half of the cast. What made this even more jarring was that male characters who only appeared in a few episodes, like Jet, got action figures, but Katara, an ActionGirl and a member of the MAIN CAST (appearing in all episodes except [[VillainEpisode "Zuko Alone"]]) never got one, nor did Toph, (also a main character from the second season onward) despite being more of a tomboy, nor the villainess Azula, even though her brother Zuko and his less badass rival Zhao did get figures. The creators of the show were not pleased by this. This is probably the reason why the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', with its female lead, completely lacks any sort of toyline.

* Creator/DisneyChannel commissioned ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', despite various worries about it, because they needed a show to attract young boys. Considering Disney's female-targeted fare currently doesn't seem to be doing nearly as well, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it's just another example of this trope in action.]]

* In the wake of the cancellations of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and other shows, Creator/PaulDini was on Creator/KevinSmith's podcast and revealed that Creator/CartoonNetwork cancelled them since too many girls watched and [[MerchandiseDriven girls don't buy action figures.]] During the interview Smith brings up the FridgeLogic of "why don't they figure out something else to sell girls?" Summary [[http://io9.com/paul-dini-superhero-cartoon-execs-dont-want-largely-f-1483758317 here]] and full podcast [[http://smodcast.com/episodes/paul-dini-shadow-of-the-shadow-of-the-bat/ here]].

* One of the reasons ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'' took a long time to see fruition was because investors kept demanding that the protagonist Molly instead be a boy, though thankfully the original creator refused to budge.

* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' was denied a wide theatrical release ostensibly because of Covid. However, many fans suspect that it was due to this given that the protagonist and the majority of the supporting characters are female.

** This trope in general explains the dearth of female Transformers characters in general until relatively recently. When the toyline first took off, Bob Budiansky, an author of the ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' cartoon and its comicbook counterpart, suggested the inclusion of female Transformers as characters[[note]]for example, Ratchet TheMedic was originally suggested as female[[/note]], but was shot down by Hasbro executives, who felt that girls wouldn't watch the show and boys wouldn't want to play with toys of female characters. This sentiment was also echoed by another major Transformers writer, Simon Furman, who felt that {{fembot}}s made no sense since the Transformers were robots and thus had no biological sex. Eventually, however, it was proven that there were girls who were interested in the Transformers, and thus female Transformers became a thing, first in the form of a small band of female Autobot guerilla fighters on Cybertron in the cartoon, and then in Arcee.[[note]]Simon Furman was not particularly pleased by the change; he gave Arcee an origin story in the Marvel UK comics as a disastrous attempt by Optimus Prime to artificially create a "female" Autobot to try and placate a bunch of angry {{Straw Feminist}}s...[[/note]]

Contrast TestosteroneBrigade, when a work ostensibly aimed at girls has a surprisingly large number of male fans. See also RealMenWearPink.

* It took decades for Franchise/{{Transformers}} to get an action figure for Arcee, one of the most prevalent characters in the long-running franchise. Likewise, she was hardly in the Creator/MichaelBay movies at all. Ironically, her limited screen time didn't stop a whole bunch of toys being released during the course of both sequels, despite her being in only the second. She even got one for the first movie, which she wasn't in! This seems to have put an end to the stigma of female character figures, at least for ''Transformers''.
** The fact Arcee was part of the 2007 movie toy line is partly due to the fact she was supposed to be in the first movie. She was supposed to complete the original quintet of Autobots alongside Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet and Bumblebee. Michael Bay did not like the character though, and she wound up cut from the film and replaced with Ironhide.
** This trope in general explains the dearth of female Transformers characters in general until relatively recently. When the toyline first took off, Bob Budiansky, an author of the ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' cartoon and its comicbook counterpart, suggested the inclusion of female Transformers as characters[[note]]for example, Ratchet TheMedic was originally suggested as female[[/note]], but was shot down by Hasbro executives, who felt that girls wouldn't watch the show and boys wouldn't want to play with female-aspected toys. This sentiment was also echoed by another major Transformers writer, Simon Furman, who felt that {{fembot}}s made no sense since the Transformers were robots and thus had no biological sex. Eventually, however, it was proven that there were girls who were interested in the Transformers, and thus female Transformers became a thing, first in the form of a small band of female Autobot guerilla fighters on Cybertron in the cartoon, and then in Arcee.[[note]]Simon Furman was not particularly pleased by the change; he gave Arcee an origin story in the Marvel UK comics as a disastrous attempt by Optimus Prime to artificially create a "female" Autobot to try and placate a bunch of angry {{Straw Feminist}}s... yeah.[[/note]]

* Inverted example in VideoGame/MetalGear as ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' as Raiden’s entire character was devised when Creator/HideoKojima overhead two teenager girls complaining that military games “were full of old men” and thus created Raiden a Bishonen to appeal to them. Despite his good intentions, Raiden was mainly seen by gamers as a ReplacementScrappy to the better liked and more masculine Snake and it took Raiden TakingALevelInBadass for him to be celebrated by both male and female fans alike. Ironically ''Metal Gear'' had already amassed a female following thanks to the FemaleGaze being just prominent as the MaleGaze and the HoYay shipping of Snake and Octacon and Big Boss and Ocelot, which in turn garners a hatedom from the male fans who mainly enjoy the series for its SpyFiction and RatedMForManly elements.

* Women's sport (especially outside of designated "girl's sports" like tennis, gymnastics and figure skating) rarely recieves the same level of coverage and sponsorship as men's sport. The situation has improved somewhat in recent years, as companies have come to regard sponsoring women's sport as good for PR, but women's leagues still tend to be far less prominent than men's leagues.

There is a prevalent DoubleStandard most people have regarding media: that women's entertainment should only be enjoyed by women with [[PeripheryDemographic no crossover allowed]] -- [[MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial despite it being okay for women to watch shows primarily marketed towards men]] -- keeping in mind [[MostWritersAreMale most media is male-focused.]] Not to mention the stigma that media specifically tailored for women is 100% guaranteed to be of inferior quality, no exceptions. This line of thinking is very clear in most creators and executives' minds. Men and women could watch shows meant for men/starring a man, but only women could like a female-centered, never mind "girly", show. Watching and enjoying a "girl" show would be unmanly and be subject to ridicule, which brings in homophobia to the mix. Most shows with [[TheMerch merchandise]] usually focus on the male characters being represented way more than female characters due to the double standard.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' is not specifically aimed at women, but is one of the few mainstream game franchises from the 90s and 00s that was interested in acknowledging its female fans, and often caters to FemaleGaze. This is enough for HeManWomanHater parts of gamer culture to consider it 'not real games'.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has female playable characters (princesses, to boot!) outnumbering male ones, and a [[LighterAndSofter gentler]] story that is more interested in the relationship between sisters Lenna and Faris and the inner feelings of teenage girl Krile than it is in the main male character, Bartz. Western fandom often criticises ''V'''s plot for being "weak" compared to other entries (despite being the first in the series to move away from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' mythology and originating multiple ''FF'' {{Characteristic Trope}}s), and the first thing these people will bring up is that it's "all princesses".
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' was not aimed at girls, but attracted a large PeripheryDemographic of them focused on its attractive male characters, well-written female characters and [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex themes about self-image insecurity]], and thus gained this kind of hatedom anyway. The "''VI'' vs ''VII''" FandomRivalry often centres around how Kefka is way cooler than the EstrogenBrigade DracoInLeatherPants version of Sephiroth. (The heavy FemaleGaze elements of its spinoffs, especially ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'', didn't help). [[SubvertedTrope That being said]], VII along with plenty of action heavy elements also contains '''a lot''' of MaleGaze, particularly concerning Tifa, which does alienate a certain amount female gamers and critics (who still use Tifa’s design as a mark against VII).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has a loud hatedom due in part to being a ''Final Fantasy''-ised version of a high school romance movie, a genre associated with teenage girls, and having plenty of purposeful FeministFantasy elements.
** This trope is one of the reasons why ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has such a vocal hatedom. The game not only focuses mainly on two of [=FFX=]'s three female leads (plus a new girl named "Paine") but also has a decidedly [[LighterAndSofter lighter and more bubblegummy tone]] than the rather dark and somber X, which many perceive as a blatant attempt to draw more women to the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series[[note]]which, today at least, seems a little strange given that the franchise actually has a pretty large female fanbase[[/note]].
** Even a vague summary of the plot of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' will make it obvious that Ashe is the protagonist, but [[SupportingProtagonist Vaan was made the viewpoint character later in development]] and Ashe hardly appears in marketing or spinoffs at all. If any other member of the game's party is referenced, it's usually [[RatedMForManly Basch]], Gabranth or [[LoveableRogue Balthier]].
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Lightning is already a BaseBreakingCharacter, but a certain portion of her HateDom appears to dislike the concept of having a female EscapistCharacter in an ''FF'' at all, or joking that she's the logical conclusion of ''Final Fantasy'''s attempts to attract women with [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys protagonists who look like women]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' got hit with criticism from male gamers who considered the BoyBand aesthetic of the game to be pandering too much to women, and from female gamers who thought the all-male cast was a way of pandering to male gamers who viewed ''Final Fantasy'' as girly.

* The Puerto Rican versions of the World Wrestling Council and (later) International Wrestling Association are bizarre examples, as they collectively had one of the most badass women's divisions in the world. One of WWC's top baby {{face}}s hitting La Tigresa with [[ShovelStrike the trademark weapon]] of WWC's [[Wrestling/CarlitoColon other top baby face]] only slowed her down for a few seconds before she choke slammed him, initiating a group beating that another woman had to save him from. IWA's first women's champion Amazona meanwhile had already knocked off the violently insane [[Wrestling/DeanAmbrose Moxley Mox]] for their [[GarbageWrestling hardcore]] title. Neither enterprise had any problem portraying its women as threats to nothing less than their top stars and yet, even that unbiased [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} other wiki]] basically said they had one division, as the two rivals seemed to arbitrarily shuffle most of the female wrestlers between themselves (behind the scenes wrestlers jumped ship based on changing paychecks and it was rare for both companies to be paying women well at the same time). By the 2010s, IWA was on its deathbed and WWC lost interest in its women's belt, so women's wrestling was only regularly seen in indie companies like EWO and CWS.

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'', in contrast to ''Panel de Pon'', has this as more of a ZigZaggingTrope. The arcade game received a limited international release that, unlike other localizations of the game, did not outright replace the characters; however, said release was rather odd, had a smattering of AmericanKirbyIsHardcore and changed the angelic-looking female character Harpy into a "Dark Elf" with no wings and a different color palette. When the time came to release the game for the Genesis and Super NES, though, both Sega and Nintendo (just like with ''Panel de Pon'') felt that a female-led game brimming with UsefulNotes/{{Kawaisa}} wouldn't sell with that era's primarily male gaming audience, so the original game was given ''three'' {{Dolled Up Installment}}s: ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'', ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'', and ''Qwirks'' (for PC) respectively. The Game Gear version of the game had a fairly normal localization, with all of the original characters intact, programmed into it - however, said localization was never officially used and was ultimately replaced with a version of ''Mean Bean Machine'' internationally. Things came to a head with the infamous ''Cranky Food Friends'', a DivorcedInstallment of the [=iOS=] ''Puyo Quest'' which replaced the characters, even the Puyos themselves, with generic cartoon food, and received massive amounts of backlash from fans. Some of the other later games were given proper localizations (though the practice remained incredibly rare until the mid 2010s), but the vast majority of the series remains NoExportForYou to this day.

* ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' was targeted primarily at girls - something that "Her interactive" (The developers and publishers) freely admit. Despite being an example of something that made it OutOfTheGhetto and develping into a CultClassic, gaming media largely ignored Nancy Drew throughout TheNineties, the TurnOfTheMillennium, and TheNewTens.

* Creator/AmericanInternationalPictures, makers of countless [[BMovie B-grade]] teen comedies and horror movies in TheFifties and TheSixties, relied on a mix of this and OlderThanTheDemographic as their marketing strategy. They codified it into a formula that they called "Franchise/PeterPan Syndrome": they figured that young children will watch anything that teenagers will but that [[AnimationAgeGhetto teenagers won't watch "kiddie" movies]], and that girls will watch anything that boys will but that boys won't watch "girly" movies, so therefore, to reach the widest possible audience, they should zero in on the 19-year-old male moviegoer as their ostensible target demographic. That way, in practice their ''real'' target demographic will also include his younger siblings and his girlfriend.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' was an attempt to break out of the ghetto that didn't quite take, although its notoriously TroubledProduction may have had something to do with that. The advertising for the film focused nearly as much on Merida's three brothers -- comic relief characters with very little screen time -- as her. While early fears that the first Creator/{{Pixar}} film with a female lead would be a BoxOfficeBomb despite the company's stunning financial track record proved unfounded, it's perceived SoOkayItsAverage quality confirmed the company was in a DorkAge after ''Cars 2'', with a common complaint being TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot by not letting its feisty heroine set off on an epic adventure. Instead, she's involved in a plot that boils down to she and her mother learning to understand each other better in the process of [[spoiler: breaking an enchantment that turned the latter into a bear]] -- bringing up the stereotype that "women's stories" just deal with emotions rather than actions (which isn't always the case, but even so, stories that center on emotional dynamics and internal character growth are not bad or lesser). Its Best Animated Feature Oscar win over the more popular, better-reviewed (and perhaps not coincidentally, male-oriented) ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' was controversial and even accused of being political correctness on the Academy voters' part. To make matters even worse, Merida becoming a Franchise/DisneyPrincess meant that not only is virtually all of the film's merchandising aimed only at girls, but [[MisaimedMarketing misrepresents her by making her appear girly and sparkly]].
* While ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen|2013}}'' broke out of the ghetto, it's found itself repeatedly compared to its successor ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'' over which is 'better'. While some of this is HypeBacklash, a good portion involves the fact that ''Frozen'' has female leads and a large fanbase of young girls.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' was picked up by 4Kids Entertainment specifically to draw more girls to watch its Saturday morning cartoon block (something it and ''Anime/TokyoMewMew'' succeeded at where ''OjamajoDoremi'' failed). Interestingly, after the show was dumped by 4Kids and moved to Nickelodeon it became LighterAndSofter with a focus towards younger demographics and the show became accused of SeasonalRot.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' was picked up by 4Kids Entertainment specifically to draw more girls to watch its Saturday morning cartoon block (something it and ''Anime/TokyoMewMew'' succeeded at where ''Anime/OjamoDoremi'' failed). Interestingly, after the show was dumped by 4Kids and moved to Nickelodeon it became LighterAndSofter with a focus towards younger demographics and the show became accused of SeasonalRot.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' - an Italian MagicalGirlWarrior series received a GirlinessUpgrade around the fifth season, which sparked a lot of complaints of SeasonalRot.

* According to Creator/{{DiC|Entertainment}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEXqoPgbH0c pitch reel]] for ''Manga/SailorMoon'', attempts to sell the show in America included informing networks that the dub was distributed by the studio that made ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'', a show that earned fans of both genders despite its female leads, and also assuring the networks that "boys will love the non-stop action!" Whether or not ''Sailor Moon'' has stayed in the ghetto after being VindicatedByHistory is unanswered. The series has its problems (and the first English dub didn't help), but its longevity and its substantial influence on the anime fandom have taken it out of {{Acceptable Target|s}} territory.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Braceface}}'': While the show is mostly aimed at pre-teen girls and the first season focuses on a lot of girl-related things, later episodes started to shy away from it, becoming more slice of life, character driven and some episodes tackling heavier issues such as relationships (familial and budding), racism, ethical issues, homosexuality (keep in mind this was the early 2000's, one of the earliest animated shows to feature a gay character), and changes one's body goes through in adolescence.

* The lack of faith in shows with a female protagonist, [[ShoujoDemographic yet alone a show explicitly aimed at girls]], may have been why ''Anime/SallyTheWitch'', despite being practically tailor made for American tastes of the time, was one of the few anime of the 1960s (that weren't too violent, contreversial, or overtly Japanese) to not receive an English dub. Outside of theatrical animation like ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'' and the various Creator/{{Disney}} heroines, American television cartoons with female leads were not really a thing until the turn of the 1970s with titles like ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' and ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussyCats'', and by then ''Sally'' might have been a tough sell due to being partly in black and white.

* While all branches of ''Franchise/TheIdolMaster'' remained popular with both girls and boys, it's the female-oriented ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM'' that got less attention than its peers. Its rhythm game, ''Live on [=St@ge=]!'', had noticeably inferior production values compared to ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterMillionLive Million Live! Theater Days]]'', which were aimed at a mostly male audience. It even lacked representation outside of cameos as non-playable rivals in ''THE [=iDOLM@STER=]: Starlit Season'' obstenibly about celebrating all main branches of the franchise, which caused speculation that the ''[=SideM=]'' cast was skipped because of fears their "girl game" background would have deterred fans of the [=PlayStation=] games. Granted, there's the practical reason that it would be difficult to implement the shared costumes if some of the characters were male, but they could have at least put [[WholesomeCrossdresser Saki]] in there. Thankfully, Bandai Namco at least prominently featured ''[=SideM=]'' in the 15th anniversary celebrations, and made up for their snubbing by showing them alongside everyone else in ''THE [=iDOLM@STER:=] Poplinks''. ''Live on Stage'' was eventually shut down and replaced with a new game ''Growing Stars'', and while the gameplay, live2d portraits, and full voice acting was much better received, the mostly 2d visuals during the concerts caused some backlash.

* While all branches of ''Franchise/TheIdolMaster'' remained popular with both girls and boys, it's the female-oriented ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM'' that got less attention than its peers. Its rhythm game, ''Live on [=St@ge=]!'', had noticeably inferior production values compared to ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterMillionLive Million Live! Theater Days]]'', which were aimed at a mostly male audience. It even lacked representation in ''THE [=iDOLM@STER=]: Starlit Season'', obstenibly about celebrating all main branches of the franchise, which caused speculation that the ''[=SideM=]'' cast was skipped because of fears their "girl game" background would have deterred fans of the [=PlayStation=] games. Granted, there's the practical reason that it would be difficult to implement the shared costumes if some of the characters were male, but they could have at least put [[WholesomeCrossdresser Saki]] in there. Thankfully, Bandai Namco at least prominently featured ''[=SideM=]'' in the 15th anniversary celebrations, and made up for their snubbing by showing them alongside everyone else in ''THE [=iDOLM@STER:=] Poplinks''. ''Live on Stage'' was eventually shut down and replaced with a new game ''Growing Stars'', and while the gameplay, live2d portraits, and full voice acting was much better received, the mostly 2d visuals during the concerts caused some backlash.

* While all branches of ''Franchise/TheIdolMaster'' remained popular with both girls and boys, it's the female-oriented ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM'' that got less attention than its peers. Its rhythm game, ''Live on [=St@ge=]!'', had noticeably inferior production values compared to ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmasterMillionLive Million Live! Theater Days]]'', which were aimed at a mostly male audience. It even lacked representation in ''THE [=iDOLM@STER=]: Starlit Season'', obstenibly about celebrating all main branches of the franchise, which caused speculation that the ''[=SideM=]'' cast was skipped because of fears their "girl game" background would have deterred fans of the [=PlayStation=] games. Granted, there's the practical reason that it would be difficult to implement the shared costumes if some of the characters were male, but they could have at least put [[WholesomeCrossdresser Saki]] in there. Thankfully, Bandai Namco at least prominently featured ''[=SideM=]'' in the 15th anniversary celebrations, and made up for their snubbing by showing them alongside everyone else in ''THE [=iDOLM@STER:=] Poplinks'' and managed to WinBackTheCrowd with the new ''[=SideM=]'' rhythm game ''Growing Stars'', which was much better received than ''Live on Stage'', although it only features 2d animation for most of its songs.