Dec. 4, 2014 Every year I twist into a cartoon grimace and let out an “AAUGH!” like Charlie Brown when I scan the CCFC contenders on the TOADY "worst toys" list. (TOADY=Toys Oppressive And Destructive … [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...]
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...]
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...]
Public Health: DV Grammys, Too Short Of A Memory, Sexualization
February 29, 2012 by 16 Comments
Update Feb. 12, 2016 With the 2016 Grammys coming up this weekend, I wanted to add two posts by the author of The Achilles Effect and Boys, Sex & Media as a ponderable question about what we're … [Read more...]
Food Marketing to Kids: Occupy Wall Street Applies Here, Too
October 16, 2011 by 6 Comments
Oct. 16, 2011 It's Blog Action Day today which coincides with United Nations' World Food Day, so my contribution among 80 countries participating is about food policy, profiteering and public health. … [Read more...]
Man Down? Girl Up, Rihanna. Own Your Influence.
June 6, 2011 by 12 Comments
June 6, 2011 We interrupt our positive picks programming to hand over a pail and a scrub brush so parents can prep for the latest mop up of "young and the RECKLESS"... This week in Rihanna Redux, … [Read more...]
Using Media With Mindfulness
April 1, 2011 by 31 Comments
Update Jan. 14, 2016 Fame focus...don't bite the hook! Adding this excellent post by Ryan Holiday of the NY Observer calling out the recent Rolling Stone ratings raunch along with a slough of … [Read more...]
Vamp Tramp Toys: A Monster Problem
March 16, 2011 by 18 Comments
Mar. 16, 2011 Show and tell time on this Wordless Wednesday. Not going to give them the pleasure of naming names here to add to their search engine buzz, since research has shown that one of … [Read more...]
Vogue “Cadeaux”-Children ARE Gifts. Not To Be Wrapped & Sold
January 6, 2011 by 19 Comments
Jan 6, 2011 “You have to separate the art from the artist.” How many times have you heard that turn of phrase relating to everything from hotel smashing rockers and hiphop thuggery to mind-bending … [Read more...]
Wordless Wednesday: Not. Gleeful. Spark Change!
October 20, 2010 by 15 Comments
October 20, 2010 Wordless Wednesday photocap: "Why we need to SPARK change: Teens' media messaging" Register now for SPARKSummit to ignite a movement challenging sexualization. Girls' have a right … [Read more...]
KFC’s “Assvertising”–A Double Down of Unhealthy Cues
September 22, 2010 by 3 Comments
September 22, 2010 Would you like a sideorder of sexualization with that heart attack? If the excess sodium from KFC’s Double Down innuendo-laden sat fat monstrosity doesn’t raise your risk factor … [Read more...]
Depravity Gone Viral: A Thin Line For Humanity on Facebook
September 17, 2010 by 18 Comments
Sept 17, 2010 Deep breath. In. Out. Hold. Center. Ommmm… I’m trying REALLY hard to abstain from a kneejerk reaction to the ‘dare to share’ assault and twice-raped (by media) teen in Canada who had … [Read more...]
Sony May Singe Itself: Slimy Innuendo Ignites Backdraft
September 2, 2010 by 6 Comments
September 2, 2010 Without a doubt, guerrilla marketing campaigns can be effective disruptors as well as clever marketing and teaching tools for advertising AND media literacy. But what happens when … [Read more...]
Toxic Teen Messaging In A K-Mart/Alloy Episodic: The First Day
September 1, 2010 by 19 Comments
September 1, 2010 It’s the first of September, as the first day of school angst bubbles up throughout the nation on either side of this ‘premiere’ week. (many have started school already, some are … [Read more...]
Backdraft: DV=”Differing Views” on Dating/Domestic Violence
August 9, 2010 by 13 Comments
August 9, 2010 Consider this a ‘preliminary post’ to address the Eminem/Rihanna video controversy that’s scorching the blogosphere with the Love the Way You Lie lyrics being deconstructed to a … [Read more...]
Predatory Practices as Sport? Boys to Men & Swaggerfests
June 15, 2010 by 9 Comments
June 15, 2010 Forget the fact that my freshman daughter is friends with JV football guys… ...Or that digital reputations flinging about on social media (FB, Formspring, etc) warn of male ‘players’ … [Read more...]
Sexualization Summit: Save the Date Oct 22, 2010 NYC
May 17, 2010 by 22 Comments
May 17, 2010 As irony would have it, on Thurs, May 13, in New York City, a small tribe of thought leaders convened on how to best address rampant sexualization of youth in media and marketing. Each … [Read more...]
