Oct. 2, 2015 Long before self-proclaimed experts flooded social media with newly minted personas and punditry, women like filmmaker Jean Kilbourne spent decades of devotion upending toxic media … [Read more...]
Toys R Us Throws Mother Nature Under the Bus In Prankvertising
November 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Nov. 8, 2013 Update! Colbert gives a ‘Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger in his Nov. 6 edition, Forbes adds a resource roundup of the backlash among moms, (though I'd add it's not a gender issue as dads … [Read more...]
Ground Hog Day: Super Bowl Sexism Keeps Popping Up
February 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Feb 2, 2013 It's Ground Hog Day and as reliable as Punxsutawney Phil, parents and pundits await to see what shadows will be cast on kids from the Super Bowl media hype blaring at surround sound … [Read more...]
Media Messages and Binge Drinking Influence On Teens
December 31, 2012 by 1 Comment
Dec. 31, 2012 Prequel to New Year's Eve... Long gone are the days when I could host a “New Year's at Noon Bubble Wrap Stomp” and watch little kids gleefully squirt silly string at each other in … [Read more...]
When We Were Free To Be: Revisiting A Classic w/Deesha Philyaw
December 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dec. 18, 2012 This year marks not only the 40th Anniversary of Title IX changing women’s sports forever, it’s also the 40th Anniversary of the cycle-breaking, movement-making pop culture childrens' … [Read more...]
CCFC: A Positive Pick, Even When Calling Out Negative TOADY Toys
December 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dec. 4, 2012 No question I continue to land hard on watchdogs that aren’t woofin’ when it comes to media and marketing’s impact on kids, but nobody does it better than Campaign for a Commercial Free … [Read more...]
Toward The Stars: New Online Marketplace of Goods for Girls to Soar
November 19, 2012 by 5 Comments
Nov. 20, 2012 “To the moon!” was once an iconic working class phrase that 50s TV star Jackie Gleason made famous in mock-threat to his sitcom wife Alice in The Honeymooners. He'd shake his fist, “why, … [Read more...]
Toy Joy or Consumption Junction? Critical Thinking for Holiday Fun
November 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Dec. 7, 2016 Update Why not turn holiday gifting into a media literacy opportunity? Tomorrow I'll be signing up once again for Samaritan House sorting and stocking for kids less fortunate and I … [Read more...]
Who Won the Debate? Kids’ Focus on Appearance Mirrors Our Country
October 4, 2012 by 2 Comments
Oct. 4, 2012 Ask any kindergartener to assess the debates last night and you’d probably hear simple reactions like: “He smiles more” or “He looks nicer” or “He looks like he didn’t study”…and … [Read more...]
Wanted: Female Creative Directors To Change the Media Landscape
September 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Update Oct. 30, 2014 This coming week Nov. 3 & 4, 2014 Kat Gordon's highly successful 3PercentConference circles back to its origins in San Francisco after gaining momentum across the country, … [Read more...]
Stop Texting While Driving: Will People Learn To Steer Clear?
September 19, 2012 by 2 Comments
Feb. 4, 2015 Update! Tomorrow on Blog Talk Radio, impaired survivor of texting and driving Liz Marks shares her truth in a powerful show to get teens to LISTEN about putting down the phone. Lauren … [Read more...]
Bratzillaz, Novi Stars, Monster High: Same Sexualized SnoreFest
July 12, 2012 by
Update April 7, 2015 Toy Joy! New offerings upending the toy industry to send healthier cues to kids: Lottie Dolls, GoGoSportsGirls, and now this new Kickstarter, Ember World adventure dolls, … [Read more...]
Julia Bluhm’s Plea To Curb PhotoShop Sparks Change at Seventeen Mag
July 8, 2012 by 5 Comments
July 8, 2012 No secret the 'world according to teen magazines' is abysmal for girls, and we've seen mega-stats, studies and fact sheets about the impact on tweens and teens, (KFF pdf here) but as the … [Read more...]
Mattel’s Manipulative Monster High Marketing Machine: Unkind.
June 15, 2012 by
June 15, 2012 Last year when I wrote about Mattel’s vampy campy Monster High dolls I purposely didn’t even name their brand, hoping it would quietly fizzle and bury itself in the outcry of parents … [Read more...]
Sexism in Video Games: Tropes, Trolls and Terrific Upstanders
June 13, 2012 by 4 Comments
Update YET AGAIN: Oct. 15, 2014 Reprising Anita Sarkeesian's important words, "The most radical thing you can do to support women online" given the cancellation of her Utah State University event … [Read more...]
Boys, Body Image and Sexualization: An Equal Opportunity Destroyer
June 5, 2012 by 9 Comments
Aug. 8, 2016 Update More new research shows marketing is responsible for creating body image issues with boys, which I've written about here, and certainly here devoted to the impact of 'bigorexia' on … [Read more...]
Graduation, Prom, Pressure, Stress? Keeping Up With The Joneses
June 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
June 1, 2012 Personally, I don’t think 8th grade and ‘cocktail dress’ should be uttered in the same sentence, but alas, there are entire websites ratcheting up the ‘kids getting older younger’ (KGOY) … [Read more...]
Visa Spending Survey Invalidated: Stats Are Bogus, Yet No Retraction?
May 30, 2012 by 1 Comment
May 30, 2012 Before we ramp up with the next surge of ‘graduation spending’ stats or infographics citing what ‘media’ deem to be ‘credible sources’ without diving deeper into fact checking, I’d like … [Read more...]
Prom Spending Surges? Media Panics, Hype & Critical Thinking
May 19, 2012 by 7 Comments
May 15, 2015 Update! Great then/now retrospective in the New York Times that spans proms over 60 years, all the way up to current "promposal" shenanigans, spending surges and social media selfies! … [Read more...]
Miss Travel: Misrepresentation Way Beyond Arm Candy
April 26, 2012 by 5 Comments
April 26, 2012 “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck”… It doesn’t take much inductive reasoning to see Miss Travel is afoul. That said, using critical thinking skills to see why … [Read more...]
