Hey Star Wars -- Where The Hell Are The Women?

Why Aren't There More Women In The Star Wars Cast?
FILE - In this Oct. 5, 1978 file photo, actors featured in the "Star Wars" movie, from left, Harrison Ford who played Han Solo, Anthony Daniels who played the robot C3P0, Carrie Fisher who played the princess, and Peter Mayhew who played the Wookie, Chewbacca, are shown during a break from the filming of a television special presentation in Los Angeles. Mayhew has had double knee-replacement surgery at a Texas hospital. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 5, 1978 file photo, actors featured in the "Star Wars" movie, from left, Harrison Ford who played Han Solo, Anthony Daniels who played the robot C3P0, Carrie Fisher who played the princess, and Peter Mayhew who played the Wookie, Chewbacca, are shown during a break from the filming of a television special presentation in Los Angeles. Mayhew has had double knee-replacement surgery at a Texas hospital. (AP Photo, File)

This morning we all delighted in the casting announcement for Star Wars VII. And then the reality set in: There is only one new female character being added to what is arguably the world's most beloved mythic series. It's as if 51 percent of the population cried out in pain, and was suddenly silenced.

Let me tell you about my seven-year-old niece, Hannah. She's one of those girly girls who wears pink sparkly boots and does ballet. She also has a pink toy sword, a pink shield, and does karate. And when she talks about princesses, which happens a lot, one of her models is the "fighting princess" Leia. Hannah is part of a generation of kids growing up in the Star Wars/Disney universe, and already the Star Wars part of that equation has changed the way she plays princess games and the way she imagines herself in superheroic form. Leia gives Hannah options that Ariel doesn't. And vice-versa.

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