Gender gap also for nonhumans in TV for kids

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 28/10/2026

Female representation in new TV programs for kids has declined for two straight years after peaking in 2023 and the gender gap is largest for animated characters that are nonhuman like monsters and animals, according to a new study by Geena Davis Institute for gender in media and measurement firm Nielsen. 

Nonhuman animated characters like animals, monsters and aliens are significantly more likely to be male than animated human characters (64.7% compared with 53.1%), while animated human characters were significantly more likely to be female (46.9% compared with 35.3%), the study says.

“The medium’s most male-skewed characters are nonhuman.”

Key findings:

• In new programming from 2025, 41.3% of all characters were female. This was a 1.3-percentage-point decrease from 2024 (42.6%), and a 3.5-point decrease from 2023 (44.8%).
• Of all leading characters, 43.2% were female. This represented a decline from previous years: In 2024, 48.5% of lead characters were female, and in 2023 46.7% were female.
• Male characters were significantly more likely than female characters to be white (48.7% compared with 33.9%), while female characters were significantly more likely than male characters to be characters of colour (66.1% compared with 51.3%).
• Male characters were significantly more likely than female characters to be fat (8.5% compared with 4.8%).
• Female characters were significantly more likely than male characters to be shown wearing revealing clothing (3.8% compared with 1.7%).
• Female representation is even more limited among animated characters than live-action ones: Only 40.6% of animated characters in 2025 new programming were female — the lowest share since 2020, and down from the record high of 44.2% in 2023.
• Among animated characters, nonhuman characters (animals, monsters, aliens) were significantly more likely to be male than animated human characters (64.7% compared with 53.1%), while animated human characters were significantly more likely to be female (46.9% compared with 35.3%). The medium’s most male-skewed characters are nonhuman.

Among the report’s recommendations is to rethink the default gender of animals and nonhuman creatures. 

“Nonhuman characters are about half of all characters in new programming (51.7%) yet only 35.4% of all nonhuman characters are female. Female representation among human characters has climbed since 2018, while the nonhuman share has barely moved.” 

“Because animals, monsters, and objects carry no real-world demographic, their gender is a purely creative choice, and one that can change overnight. We recommend that writers and character designers make gender an active decision when developing animal and creature characters, starting with leads, rather than defaulting to male.”