Why, yes, I am a woman. Just figured I'd get that out of the way for those who were curious. It's strange. I never thought about gender in animation because the animators and artists were all hidden behind cartoon characters. People never think about who drew what when watching a show or film; they simply enjoy the characters as they are, which is what it really is all about. I began hearing about gender in animation a few years ago when I started out.
The group of women pictured above all work on the animated show on Disney XD called Star vs. the Forces of Evil. The woman in the center is the creator, Daron Nefcy. When I first heard about the show and saw the name of the creator, I thought it was a guy because of the name. To my surprise, it turned out to be her! She's a very whimsical painter and I really enjoy her style. I'm mentioning her because she is one of the first women to create an animated television show. Rebecca Sugar is another creator for the show Steven Universe and she created her show before Daron so I have a lot of respect for her as well. I always get really excited when I find a show that's been created by a female because it just means that there's hope for me to be in their position one day.
Let's face it. Animation has always been a boys club. The majority of animators in the early to mid twentieth century were male. Unfortunately women back then weren't viewed ideally as creative or talented and there weren't a lot of women who wanted to go into animation. Walt Disney did have some women artists working on his films. They usually did background art or painting some of the characters, but none of them really did the actual animating part of it. I'm glad to see that women are becoming more involved with it and gaining recognition for their talent.
Still, the factor of inequality remains in the business. It's not just animation, too, but entertainment in general. There are still some men out there who classify women as inferior and don't think they belong in the entertainment business. It's ridiculous. I'm not an extremist when it comes to feminist rights, but sexism needs to stop altogether because it makes things way more difficult than it needs to be. Thankfully, more women are being hired in the animation industry and I heard that a lot of industries are taking in women because there just isn't enough.
I'm hoping to become a storyboard artist for TV animation, but I recently heard that not a lot of women are going into storyboarding because it's an intimidating field to go into and a lot are more comfortable with illustrating for concept or backgrounds and working with color. This is something I don't want to do. I want to work with characters and being able to visualize the set up in my head to later put it down on paper seems more enjoyable. Now they're starting to hire more women storyboard artists so I'm pretty glad for that.
Women weren't very much involved with animation back then or recognized. Now the tables are turning and women are displaying their joy and talent with animation. Props for those girls out there who are rising up and using their visions to create amazing shows and movies. You go, girls! Next topic: Expos and free lance!
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