Riley does not look like a "typical" little girl character.

Riley's five emotions are both male and female.

Inside Out was Pixar's second film to feature a female protagonist, with the first being Brave in 2012. Prior to Brave, Pixar was criticized for its lack of female characters, even in minor roles. According to Ebrahim, “although both Brave and the ‘Mind’  film are to be welcomed for their focus on girls, a review of the little girls who appear— with varying amounts of screen time—in the Toy Story trilogy, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo suggests that the boys at Pixar may be just a tad afraid of little girls!” She is claiming that the little girls who have appeared in Pixar films before Brave and Inside Out were minor characters who were not central to the story. Ebrahim goes on to say that many of the children in Pixar films, not only girls, are used in what is called a "demon-child trope.” She cites Sid in Toy Story and Darla in Finding Nemo as examples of the demon-child. 

Inside Out is Pixar’s first film to feature a protagonist who is both a female and a child. However, none of the traditional gender roles of a little girl applies to Riley. She is never dressed in “girly” clothes, she wears mostly dark and neutral colors except for a rainbow striped sweater at the beginning of the film, she plays hockey, which is a typically male-dominated sport, and she has a name that could be used for either a male or a female. By making Riley almost gender-neutral, it is much easier for boys and girls to relate to her, and it also makes it easier for adult audiences to see Riley as either their son or their daughter or both. 

By making Riley a child rather than an adult, Docter is able to appeal to children who are facing similar trials in their life, but, perhaps more importantly, he is able to appeal to adults who are raising children facing similar problems. Tasha Robinson states, "[Inside Out] draws on recognizable, relatable experiences and feelings cleverly, in a way that isn’t entirely tied to a single age or experience." She is arguing that Inside Out  is a film for anyone and everyone. 

Docter also created the emotions in Riley’s head to be both male and female, with 2 of them being male and 3 of them being female. All of the other characters whose minds the viewer sees into have emotions whose genders match those of the person’s. Riley’s dad has male emotions, and her mom has female, etc. This further proves the point that Riley can be seen as a gender-neutral character whose experiences can be adapted for boys or girls. Though Riley's mind is female-dominated, it does still have the male influences from Anger and Fear. 

It is interesting that there are very few other children throughout the film. Riley lives with her parents and she does not have any siblings, her new teacher becomes an important part in one of her core memories, and her emotions appear to be adults. The only other children the viewer sees are either in Riley’s memories or brief appearances of classmates and teammates.

Ebrahim pointed out that the fact that Riley was a little girl rather than a little boy or an adult did not affect who went to see the film. People of all age groups and genders went out to see Inside Out. Children, adults, families, couples, boys, and girls were all ther to look into an 11-year old's mind. The gender-neutrality of Riley did not seem to effect either positively or negatively the critical reception of the film.