Toxic Teen Messaging In A K-Mart/Alloy Episodic: The First Day

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 about to) A welcoming 'first day?' Hardly. This is classic online product placement meets mean girl drek in "First Day: The Series," an abysmal branding collaboration between  … [Read more...]

Raising Authentic Girls: Rachel Simmons’ “Be You! The Real Girl Tour”

August 31, 2010 “Be you!” Riiiiight. In a media environment that cynically exploits how to act, what to wear, why to buy and who to be, girls are repeatedly told to "be themselves." GirlsHealth has a perky “Be healthy. Be happy. Be You. Be Beautiful” site. Girls Inc is “inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.” Jess Weiner is "Creating A Nation of Confident … [Read more...]

A HUGE Breakthrough for TV: Nuance Trumps Vapid Vixens Aplenty

August 12, 2010 In part one and part two of my posts about ABC Family’s Huge premiere, I hoped to see the show evolve from the hope and promise of some stellar scriptwriter ‘attachments’ to actually being ‘attached.’ I’d like to say they ‘had me at hello’ but frankly they did NOT. I’m not an ABC Family ‘teen soap’ fan of the shallow sniper-fire of frenemies and sexcapade … [Read more...]

Backdraft: DV=”Differing Views” on Dating/Domestic Violence

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 farethewell. (read the comments on EW's music mix, Jezebel, The Guardian, an important one from the Gainesville Sun/GatorSports angle, and  CB, "where escapism can be smart" just to name … [Read more...]

Healthy Youth Media Act Pt 2: Can Change Be Legislated? (interview)

July 21, 2010 Can you hear the drumbeat, Hollywood? It’s getting louder. Girl advocates like Jessica Lawrence head to Capitol Hill to discuss H.R. 4925 tomorrow to share firsthand data about how depictions of women and girls in the media affect youth health and are landing sideways. Small business entities like Melissa Wardy of  Wisconsin based PigtailPals has devoted an … [Read more...]