But nearly all the female animation instructors recently polled at The Art Institutes agree there's still a long way to go to give women characters' parity with their animated male counterparts, especially in the area of video and computer-animated games.

In answer to the question, are there enough young women entering animation, and will these women have enough clout to make real improvements in the way female characters are depicted in animation? -- the answers were mixed.

While nearly all agreed that there's a growing interest among women in studying animation, it's not growing as quickly as they would like. According to Nance Paternoster of The Art Institute of Portland, when she first started in the field, she was usually a lone female among mostly men. Although "there have always been way less women than men, in the last 10 years things are beginning to change," she says. "In hand drawn animation, for example, women were never ever hired as animators. This has changed as well but the ratio is still staggering."

CEO Kevin Kennedy of WebGrrls, an Internet site for women interested in new media and technology to network and exchange job leads, believes that women have a big future in technology because the computer field is changing to suit the way women think. "Women think relationally, and computer jobs are becoming less about building hardware and more about cultivating relationships and connections," says Kennedy.

So, as young women enter the animation field, can they begin to have a significant impact on the way women are portrayed in films, computer or video games? "A resounding maybe," says Angela Love, in the Media Arts & Animation department of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. "Women animators may be able to imbue characters with more complexity and dimension, but can they turn the tide of objectifying them? I'm not too sure. In my opinion, it's not so much a male/female thing as it is the pop culture in which we live."

For example, says Love, "Who doesn't want to be beautiful? When you can literally create anything you want -- and given how acculturated we are to beauty -- lead females (in any medium) are beautiful. Female characters are being portrayed as more capable; they're no shrinking violets - and they all have double D breasts."

Michelle Meeker, animation instructor with The Art Institute of California - San Francisco, says having more women design and draw female animation characters will add subtlety and nuance, character shading that is sometimes lacking when female characters are drawn by male animators. "Women know how women move," Meeker says. "Men think they know, but usually they don't."

Even more important than how a character is drawn is its character development. "As long as the character is compelling, they can be anything -- whiney, annoying, strong, --- a weak female character can be fascinating if there is a depth to their weakness," says Meeker.

But what about female characterization in computer or video games? Are these animated characters lagging behind what's happening on other areas of animation? Almost all agreed that computer games and video animation have perhaps the longest way to go.

"There has been a real challenge in the interactive game industry to make games with female characters that weren't overly violent, or with female characters sporting latex, spikes and perfect figures," says Paternoster.

Or as Love puts it, "When computer games have menu options to turn on or off the breast bounce -'lagging' seems a bit generous."

Almost all the animation instructors were fans of the animated cartoon series, the Powerpuff Girls. Other positive examples female instructors site are Tank Girl, Aeon Flux, Rugrats, and Pepper Ann.

However, Love points out that though a character like Daria is "empowered and strong and very smart," she adds that the positive characterization is not without its limits. "It's almost like we're saying 'remember, kids, if she's very smart, she can't be very pretty,'" says Love.

Even with more female animators working on female characterization, changes may come down to - as with most pop entertainment - a question of economics. "More women actually involved and working on a project will ensure more input, but ultimately though, decisions are really based on who is paying the bill," says Paternoster.

Meeker agrees on the economic motivator, especially with regard to female characters in video and computer games. "Who's buying these games? I think it comes down that - currently, I'm not sure there's as strong a female market of buyers for animation games. Hopefully, that will change."

However, with majority of animators being men, female characterization is still stereotyped. "Animation tends to portray female characters as less than their male counterparts and it's been this way since the beginning. When more women begin to flood the animation field, I believe this will change," says Paternoster.