Ever wondered why your four-year- old son is addicted to the Power Rangers, but your eight-year-old daughter turns her nose up at them?
Even in toonland, pink is for girls and blue is for boys.
Ever wondered why your four-year- old son is addicted to the Power Rangers, but your eight-year-old daughter turns her nose up at them? It's not just the age factor. While most things nowadays (in the adult world anyway) fall under the androgynous tag of 'unisex' in the case of children's programming, girls are girls and boys are boys.
Every children's channel - Nickelodeon, Pogo, Cartoon Network, Hungama and the Disney channels have separate slots of programmes for girls and boys. Says Nashiketh Panth Vaidya, head of programming for Disney and Toon Disney, "Animation appeals to children between two and 12. From two to six years, children of both sexes prefer pre-school animation. Post six years boys drift towards action and adventure while girls prefer live action programming."
Girls tend to prefer 'live action' where the characters have human faces and forms. Think Barbie, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin etc. "Girls mature faster than boys and reject what they perceive as fantasy," insists Vaidya.
While it's clear that animation seems to be more boy-oriented and live action seems to be more girl-skewed, it's not quite clear why. Says a Nick spokesperson, "Most animated shows are action-oriented - perhaps because action is expensive to create in a live action format and therefore more appealing to boys. Live action shows tend to revolve around the family, a theme which tends to appeal to girls."
Zarina Mehta, COO Hungama TV, rejects the maturity argument while admitting that boys and girls are skewed to different types of programmes. "It has nothing to do with maturity. There are segments where we all show girl skewed programming, but there is a lot more for girls on general entertainment channels as compared to children's channels."
Ultimately it comes down to choice and innovation. Children get bored much faster than adults, hence children's programming goes through a re-invention process at an average of 18 months as compared to the saas-bahu sagas that adults watch for years. As Zarina aptly puts it, "Kids are not stupid. You can't lie to kids and expect to get away with it."
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