UPDATE (4/10/2015, 3:30pm PT): See comment from Springs Creative below.
Veronica is a mother in Washington. She wanted to buy some Big Hero 6 themed fabric to make pillows for her kids. She found some, manufactured by Springs Creative, but noticed that the pattern contained only the boy characters, not the two girl members of Big Hero 6, Gogo and Honey Lemon.
At Pigtail Pals Blog, Melissa Atkins Wardy reports that when Veronica wrote the company to ask why, she received this answer, from Springs Creative’s licensing manager:
Disney’s target audience for Big Hero 6 is boys 5-12 and secondary are girls 5-12 and teens. Since this is geared toward boys, we chose to focus either on the main characters (in this case Baymax and Hiro), or on just the boy characters. We have found boys do not want girl characters on their things (eeeww girls! Yuck! Haha).
Veronica’s reply to Springs Creative is excellent:
First off, it’s Big Hero 6. Not Big Hero 4 and two others.
Women have just as much of a right to be here, be represented, acknowledged and idolized as men. Women have a place in this world too, and are capable of achieving greatness in math and science as well.
By eliminating the women in your fabric design, you are telling boys that it’s OK to think girls are yucky, unworthy and less than a boy. You are also telling girls they are unworthy, unwanted and that it’s un-cool to be smart and confident.
It’s not just your one design. It’s your design, with all of the other designs in the industry, in our daily lives, that tell girls and women that they are not worth it, they are not as important or capable. And even more dangerously telling boys that girls are worthless and yucky.
Colors, math, science, music and art are for everyone. Not just some for boys, and not just some for girls. For everyone!
But as for this design it’s a total failure, despite your target audience approach. It’s called Big Hero 6, and you are missing two of the heroes. And I truly don’t think you will find many objections from any boy or girl to having ALL of the hero’s represented.
I will have to make my own designs for now,
Veronica
UPDATE: Springs Creative posted the following in the comments:
Big Hero 6 fans, we at Springs Creative have heard you loud and clear!
First of all, thank you all for your feedback about our products. It is sometimes difficult to hear negative feedback but the message was clear and we intend to act upon your message.
Most importantly, Springs Creative does not condone sexism in any shape or form and does not design products to shine a negative light on females OR males. In fact, the majority of our licensed properties highlight strong female figures. We value the contributions of women greatly and are proud to say that over half of our corporate employees are indeed female. We are well represented by females in our leadership and executive positions. This issue is not something we take lightly and this is not how we operate our business as a good corporate citizen.
Our Licensing Manager is a highly professional, competent and strong woman and we stand behind her as we do all of our associates.
The good news for you is that we will be talking with our valued long term licensing partner Disney immediately about additional designs for Big Hero 6 that in fact incorporate all of the characters you know and love. We would never intentionally offend any segment of the population. We are a strong company with positive morals and values and we respect and see both genders equally.
Thank you for your support, time and attention. We sincerely believe you will be happy with the results coming your way soon.
Mom Contacts Company Over Missing Girl Characters, Company Responds It Is Because Boys Think Girls Are Gross [Pigtail Pals Blog] (Thanks, Andreas!)