PLATFORM : Wanted: Girl Heroes

I used to just watch the television shows for kids without thinking much about them. But now I get angry. That’s because I’m a girl and there aren’t enough girl superheroes on TV. On “King Arthur and the Knights of Justice,” there are only princesses and they always need to be saved. On “Woody Woodpecker,” there are no girls. On “X Men,” there are some strong-seeming women, but they always need help and they always look sexy. They’re very thin. They wear short dresses and funny bikini tops. On “Conan,” there’s one girl and she always needs help.

The men on these shows do basically everything. They do the shooting, and they save the girls. If anybody’s in trouble, the girls go and get the good-guy men. If the girls are part of the bad-guy team, they go get the bad-guy men. And then the good-guy men and bad-guy men fight it out. The women just watch and hope that the person who’s on their team wins. The women never get to save anybody.

This makes me feel terrible. The big movies for kids, like “Hawk,” “Home Alone,” all the Ninja Turtles, “Look Who’s Talking” and “Mighty Ducks,” were all about boys. I guess in Hollywood there’s no more Shirley Temple.

Why isn’t there a show called “X Women” or “Queen Guinevere?” Why can’t the men be messenger boys and stand around hoping their team wins? I hope the people who make these shows know that girls like me are watching. We want fairness.