If sex were irrelevent to the writer's belief in the story, then one of two things would happen. Either one, the protagonist would assume the sex of the writer or of someone on whom the writer based that character, or two, the writer would arbitrarily choose a sex and the distribution would be about random. A quick gloss over the writing lists tells me that the only Pixar films that were written by women at least in part were Toy Story 2 (which features the wonderful Jessie, but only has a small writing credit for the female writer), Monster's Inc. (which has a proiminent female writer, but which features only one major female character out of three, a toddler), and Cars (can't speak, haven't seen it). Notably, Finding Nemo, which has the amazing character of Dory, was written all by men.
The sexism here is that the presence of female cahracters as points of identification for the female writers is absent, and that there are so few female writers. It's almost as if these women have had to masculinize their way of thinking about stories in order to make it in the biz. Furthermore, even their pieces are somewhat lacking in female characters... in some cases, moreso than the male writers'.
Another issue is that the message this gives to children. Children are very important in constructing their own gender concepts becuase they have to interpret what they see. The movies and shows to which we expose them play a part in how they conceive of gender. In all these peices, they see a male character leading and a female character following. What does that tell them that they are supposed to do? It's not inherently or intentionally sexist but it reflects a sexist thread in society that is dangerous. To those of us who are female and realize that most protagonists are male, it's very hurtful, becuase it's basically a smack in the face--it says that society doesn't value us for ourselves, but for our use to men.
So the writers don't mean to be sexist, and aren't themselves sexist, but their natural assumptions and outside factors have turned them as a group into an agent of sexism without their consent.
Re: 129
The sexism here is that the presence of female cahracters as points of identification for the female writers is absent, and that there are so few female writers. It's almost as if these women have had to masculinize their way of thinking about stories in order to make it in the biz. Furthermore, even their pieces are somewhat lacking in female characters... in some cases, moreso than the male writers'.
Another issue is that the message this gives to children. Children are very important in constructing their own gender concepts becuase they have to interpret what they see. The movies and shows to which we expose them play a part in how they conceive of gender. In all these peices, they see a male character leading and a female character following. What does that tell them that they are supposed to do? It's not inherently or intentionally sexist but it reflects a sexist thread in society that is dangerous. To those of us who are female and realize that most protagonists are male, it's very hurtful, becuase it's basically a smack in the face--it says that society doesn't value us for ourselves, but for our use to men.
So the writers don't mean to be sexist, and aren't themselves sexist, but their natural assumptions and outside factors have turned them as a group into an agent of sexism without their consent.