Even though they're pill-shaped yellow creatures with the inability to reproduce, the three main stars of the Minions film all have Y chromosomes.

Yep: The film's three main characters, Stuart, Kevin and Bob are all male, and all voiced by co-director Pierre Coffin. Once you get over the surprising realization that Minions even have a gender, you can listen to Coffin's explanation for that the choice.

“Seeing how dumb and stupid they often are, I just couldn’t imagine Minions being girls,” he told TheWrap this month.

Let's take a closer look at this response. No one can speak for Coffin except for Coffin — but his reply reads like some combination of a Hail Mary and a mea culpa, delivered when he realized after the fact that he and co-director Kyle Balda had omitted female Minions from the film. Because at this point, the movie and its stars are impossible to avoid. Minions are everywhere: They're on our phones, in our stores, even on our food.

The reason Coffin's response is disappointing (relatively speaking, since this is a children's film about tiny yellow monsters) is because so many films make male characters the default, while female characters are a secondary add-on. Minions is a film about little yellow creatures who are seemingly genderless — but even so, they're still male. Males are the norm; females are a special case. This mentality persists at every level of Hollywood, and Minions turns out to be no exception.

The lady Minion problem also speaks to an ongoing trend of female characters being eliminated from films, especially when it comes to marketing. Even if a female character appears in a movie — particularly one about a group of superheroes or one aimed at children — she's suddenly difficult or impossible to find among its barrage of merchandise. Over $593 million has been spent so far to market Minions, making the lack of female-identified yellow creatures taking over McDonalds, Snapchat and Amazon, among others, even more depressing.

Finally: Would it really have been so hard to make one female Minion? Sure, Coffin says they're all "dumb and stupid," but how funny would it have been to have one smart, sophisticated Minion? (We realize we just used the words "smart" and "sophisticated" in the same sentence as "Minion." Let us live. This is a Serious™ critique.)

Actually, wait a minute. Female characters should be allowed to have a range of emotion and personality. Just because Coffin can't imagine Minions as female doesn't mean women aren't fun and silly. Female characters tossed into a mainly male movie casts are often restrained, drawn up as tight-lipped and rational, reining everything in while the boys have all the fun. Don't our female characters deserve more?

Anyway, Coffin: Your response left much to be desired. The next time you and Balda take over our world with the second coming of the Minion apocalypse (because this film will totally have a sequel), toss in a few female Minions. The legions of little girls who watch the film — and the parents forced to watch along with them — will thank you.