I agree very much with you Jekyll that toons shouldn't implant the idea that boys are the first thing that should be on their mind. Thankfully though, I haven't seen anything of that type around lately and I think in today's modern media, more then ever, women are evolving past that and becoming independent.
Kim Possible in my opinion created one of the most touching couples out of Ron and Kim. I support them with all my heart mainly because as cliche as it may appear, it's actually quite unique. Ron may be steretyped as the average geek, but the show proves time and time again that he is no such thing.
He has skill, he has talent, and most importantly, he has guts. Ron takes risks and challenges no geeky best friend boyfriend would do and he proves that Kim would be lost without him. He's no half brained Inspector Gadget who unknowingly does the right thing, he really does DO the right thing.
Granted he is a goof up, he's got more talent then people credit him. Plus, Kim is a cheerleader and not some stuck up barbie clone, having 2 polar opposites hook up after being friends for years is quite impressive. As for the Josh Mankey thing, I think that was a kind of a silent nod to Kim's "crushing".
Josh wasn't love, he was lust, I think Kim was into Josh for the sake of him being the pretty boy and fell into the more typical high school girl falling for the hot boy routine. Like you said though with shippers, when people support couples they tend to alienate and destroy any other possible couples.
Some people can do it though without being assholes about it, some can't. Teen Titans for example has a very fickle love set up because so many people pick and choose even though there are some concrete couples. Robin and Starfire for example are VERY much in love, regardless of their youth.
I don't think it's absurd for characters to be in love at a young age, because as they grow up they learn just how complicated love can become and by taking that step at such an early age, they learn to accept it and use it to help strengthen their relationship rather then deteriorate it.
But back to Titans, Raven for example is paired with everyone and their brother. Beast Boy, Robin and Cyborg have all been paired with Raven, yet I personally feel the only person she DID love was Malchoir and after that fiasco, she gave up on love and accepted BB more like a brother then a boyfriend.
Cyborg also never really settled down with anyone, yet he's paired up with Jinx, Bumblebee and Raven. I think the reason people do this is because, like I said, we want people to be happy and see them enjoy the fruits of love, and if they don't "hook up" we tend to think up other ways for them to be happy.
Me for example, I've been upset for years that Sailor Jupiter/Lita from Sailor Moon never got a boyfriend. I think she's the most amazing girlfriend anyone could ask for and I'd give anything to meet someone like her. People write stories with Gary/Mary sues cause they want them to be happy, I can relate.
Hell, I've written like 3 stories on stuff like that. But there's a right way and a wrong way to go about advocating couple shipping, and just because a million people do it the wrong way doesn't mean you should give up Jekyll. Don't let people like that discourage you from liking a couple or a relationship.
I personally always stick to "official couples" or couples that receive more wink, wink; nudge, nudge then others. If the character doesn't really get paired by anyone according to the show, then I say make up whoever you want and hook em up. All is free in love and war, even fan fictional love and war.
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