Today, I'm gonna talk about a trend that's been bothering me for some time, and it relates to how things are going today. In order to tell you this, I need to relay a story.
Back in DuckTales, the character of Webby Vanderquack dressed in a similar manner to the boys, but with girl versions of each part. These two examples served to illustrate that Tertiary Sexual Characteristics also apply to boys, with the boys having baseball caps and t-shirts, and Webby wearing pink and having a bow. The two were very much equivalent.
This would happen again in The Powerpuff Girls, with humans this time. The female Powerpuff Girls were given evil male counterparts in the form of the Rowdyruff Boys, who dressed in boy versions of the Girls' clothes. The best example of this is Brick compared to Blossom. Blossom, the girl, wears pink, while Brick, the boy, wears red. Blossom has a dress and Mary Janes, while Brick has a long-sleeve shirt, slacks, and sneakers. Most importantly, Blossom has a bow, while Brick has a baseball cap. They're all prime examples of how to do this well.
How do you not do this well, you may ask? Well, DuckTales, like most cartoons from the older era, was rebooted recently. Of all the characters, one was redesigned completely: Webby. She's been made more "modern" which means not being girly at all, having hair, and dressing more conservatively. The boys weren't given pants, so why does Webby need the skirt if she didn't before? Also note that she is the only character who doesn't resemble her original comic design, something the other characters do.
I'll get more into this next time, but let me tell you, things don't get pretty.