Growing up too soon

Sexualization Summit: Save the Date Oct 22, 2010 NYC

May 17, 2010 by Amy Jussel 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 invitee of this diverse group was hand-selected for the purpose of "bringing their entire communities" into the conversation and sharing next steps, best practices, and public … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values, Viral & Buzz Media Tagged With: 10-22-10, 2010, 7 year olds, academic rockstars, adolescence, adults behaving badly, All the Scholar Ladies, APA sexualization study, appearance cues, behavior, beyonce, boy toys, Bratz, children, Consuming kids, corporate pedophilia, Damaging Drek, dancing, dereon divas, desensitized, desire, Dr. Robyn, eating-disorders, emotional health, Empowering girls, harm, HGHW, hostile takeover of childhood, HR4925, Hunter College, hypersexualized, Jean Kilbourne, Kids, kidvid, Killing Us Softly 4, lapdancing, Lyn Mikel-Brown, media influence, mental health, Miley Cyrus, Oct 22, Packaging-Girlhood, PigTail Pals, pole dancing, poptarts, Pornification, preteens, public health policy, Pussycat Dolls, Robyn-Silverman, Sesame Streetwalkers, sexploitation, sexual-health-teens, sexualized childhood, Single Ladies, Susan Linn, Teen Choice Awards, true child, tweens, women's media center, Womens'

What Does a 13-Year Old Boy Know About DATING Violence?

May 9, 2010 by Amy Jussel 14 Comments

Feb. 2013 update: First and foremost, yesterday's US Senate/VAWA vote overwhelmingly passed reauthorization and now moves on to the House of Representatives. What IS the Violence Against Women Act, specifically? Here's a comprehensive snapshot of content and history, from the National Domestic Violence Hotline. In recapping these vast resources and Twitter handles at the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: 2010, A Thin Line, abuse, AllyKatzz, APA, Bom411, Boy to man, boys to men, boyz to men, break the cycle, Buffed-Boys, coercion, controlling behavior, dating violence, DV, Elin Stebbins Waldal, Elin Waldal, emotional abuse, enlightenment, Gandhi, healthy dating, Jackson Katz, Jess Weiner, Kodiak Waldal, LiveStrong, Love is respect, misogyny, Mothers Day, NCADV, non-violence, Packaging-Boyhood, peace, perfect gift for a man, reach and teach, recovery, reinventing manhood, relationships, Respect Rx, teen dating violence, teen power, teens, The Good Men Project, The Pixel Project, Tornado Warning, turning boys into monsters, verbal abuse, violence, violence against women, what about the boys, Women2Follow

Media Hypefest: Is Prom the New Wedding? A Teen’s Perspective

May 7, 2010 by Amy Jussel 7 Comments

May 7, 2010 As the last vestiges of prom wind down along with Girls Rights Week, I wanted to land one last post in the queue exploring media and marketing’s impact on kids' expectations, reality show distortions, and 'over the top' depictions of celebratory fetes. From ‘proma-a drama,’ lavish limos and fantasy night fairytales (e.g. akin to the amped up MTV My Super Sweet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: adolescence, Alice in Wonderland, asked to prom, commercialism, consumption, couples, dateless, devalue girls, Facebook prom groups, formals, girlpower, Girls Bill of Rights, girls inc., girls self esteem, Girls' Rights Week, gowns, graduation parties, high school rituals, keeping up with the jones', Kelsie Morales, kid culture, Lilly, limos, matchmaking, mean girls, milestones, Noah's ark, peer influence, pink is the new black, platonic dates, Pop-Culture, princess project, Project Green Prom, prom, prom date, Prom drama, prom themes 2010, Proma, reality shows, Respect Rx, self rescuing princess, self-esteem, self-worth, social norming, teens, the dame domain, Twilight, Unwritten, women's leadership

Redefining Girly: Girls Rights Week W/Founder of Pigtail Pals

May 6, 2010 by Amy Jussel 3 Comments

May 6, 2010 Call her a mompreneur, entrepreneurista, or "the original PigTail Pal," Melissa Wardy is a mama bear with a mission and a voice that roars when it comes to changing the way our society thinks about girls. What better way to celebrate Girls Inc's Girls Rights Week than to honor the first year anniversary of a "stay-at-home mom turned work-at-home activist" … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: acid on their innocence, APA, bikinis, Candies, children, corporate ethics, empowerment, exploitation, G-string, girls inc., Girls' Rights Week, Human-billboards, innuendo, Kohls, Let her dream in every color, Melissa Wardy, panties, paper bag princess, PigTail Pals, preteens, redefining girly, self rescuing princess, sexuality, Sexualization, So Sexy So Soon, social justice, Tee shirts, thongs, undies, Wisconsin

Girls Are Not Candies. Tweens Are Not Teens. Thongs Are Not Undies.

May 4, 2010 by Amy Jussel 22 Comments

May 4, 2010 A few years back I commented on the post Confessions of a Lingerie Lover by Fae Goodman on Alternet and copped to being “one and the same.” Fae uncorked a doozy of a conversation that brought out the best/worst in femme debates as she pithily contrasted the difference between adult media messages and ‘costuming’ cues and the marketer’s desire to target adolescents, … [Read more...]