Here’s how I see it; in animation as a business, it’s mostly men. It is basic impulse for somebody to usually make a main character their own gender, because it’s easier for them to relate to the character and figure out how to work with them. Sometimes, a guy will purposefully use a girl lead to do a girl-power bit, but mostly people write their own gender as leads. I mean, look at fandom. The VAST majority of OCs are girls, unless they have to be a boy for a specific reason. This is not a coincidence. II know that I usually write female leads because I am one. That doesn’t mean I’m sexist anymore than Pixar is. I have a secondary character in the novel I’m trying to write that is a very strong male character.
Does that make Pixar sexist? Absolutely not. Lead or not, Pixar has strong female characters in almost every movie they’ve done. Just because they are not the lead doesn’t mean they are not important.
Toy Story 1: Okay, so Bo Peep was REALLY girly. Not the best example of hard core females. She wasn’t stupid though. (Right? My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I’m pretty sue she had a brain)
Toy Story 2: Somebody already mentioned Jessie.
Bugs Life: The princess wasn’t exactly a helpless damsel if I recall correctly.
Monster’s INC: Mike’s girlfriend was anything but a pushover.
Finding Nemo: Dory, while a bit out there, was strong and stood up for things she cared about. Peach was a down to Earth character and was one of the smartest in the tank.
Incredibles: Elastagirl is one of the best examples in the lineup so far. She was like, the anti-sexism icon. “Leave saving the world to the men? I don’t think so!”
Cars: Sally was intelligent and probably one of the smartest people in the cast.
Ratatouille: Collete was hard core, by far the toughest character in the cast.
WALL-E: The supporting character, EVE, is a very strong female character. She’s smart, determined, and good with a plasma blaster to boot to the point that the main male character can sometimes be a bit frightened by it.
To be honest, I find it funny how in our culture, guys can be pushed around by girls or treated stupid and it’s funny, but if a girl isn’t the lead, it’s considered sexist. We need to get over the past and realize that the only times we are not equal in general culture now is when we let ourselves be treated as objects in the media, and PIXAR never does anything like that.
Just my two cents.