Bratz Archives - Shaping Youth

Bratzillaz, Novi Stars, Monster High: Same Sexualized SnoreFest

July 12, 2012 by Amy Jussel

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...]

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 Tagged With: APA report early sexualization, Barbie, Be Bratz, big 6 media companies, Brattitude, Bratz, Bratzillaz, canted poses, Celebrity worship, coarse culture, cult of celebrity, Dr Jennifer Shewmaker, Etsy, girls self esteem, girls sports, girls-self-worth, Go Go Sports Girls, harm of early sexualization, illusion of choice, indie toys, Jodi Norgaard, lack of toy choice, Lego Friends, Little Bits, maker faire, Mattel, Mattel Monster High, MGA, MGA Entertainment, MGAE, Monster High, Monster High sexualization, Novi Stars, PigTail Pals, Pop-Culture, preteen-health, Reality TV, roominate, ScrapKins, sexist toys, sexualized dolls, Super Tool Lula, top 10 toy manufacturers, vamp tramp toys, who controls the media

Mattel’s Manipulative Monster High Marketing Machine: Unkind.

June 15, 2012 by Amy Jussel

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...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: anti-bullying, Bailey Shoemaker Richards, big media, brandwashed, brandwashing, Bratitude, Brattitude, Bratz, bullying, business ethics, Buyology, CCFC, childrens rights, Clawdeen, corporate accountability, corporate responsibility, crap detection 101, critical thinking, damaging toys, Daughters, Does Monster High Teach kindness?, Dr Jennifer Shewmaker, Emily-Anne Rigal, girls-self-worth, Goodwashing, halo effect, Hasbro, in-school marketing, kids media influence, Kind Campaign, Mattel, mean ghoul, mean girls, media mindfulness, media-literacy, Miss Representation, Monster High Dolls, Monster High's New Low, neuroscience of shopping, objectification, parenting girls, Peggy Orenstein, PigtailPals, preteen-health, preteen-self-esteem, Pro-social product placement, product propaganda, Pussycat Dolls, Sexed Up Toys, Sexualization, sexualized childhood, So Sexy So Soon, SPARK, spark change, spot the spin, targeting tweens, toxic cues to kids, tweens, unhealthy products, WalMart, worst toys

Vamp Tramp Toys: A Monster Problem

March 16, 2011 by Amy Jussel 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...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Damaging Drek, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: Amy-Jussel, Bratitude, Brattitude, Bratz, CCFC, childrens rights, Clawdeen, Daughters, Girls are not for sale, girls-self-worth, Hasbro, hottie factor, kids media influence, Mattel, media-literacy, Monster High Dolls, objectification, parenting girls, preteen-health, Pussycat Dolls, Raising Girls Amidst Meat Marketing, Sesame Streetwalkers, Sexed Up Toys, Sexualization, sexualized childhood, So Sexy So Soon, SPARK, spark change, toxic cues to kids, tweens, Vogue Cadeaux

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

July 21, 2010 by Amy Jussel 9 Comments

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Nutrition & Wellness, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: alcopops, All Things Girl, America the Beautiful, American Apparel, APA, APA Task force, appearance cues, Be the voice for girls, beauty myth, beyonce, boy toys, boys into monsters, Bratz, Capitol Hill, consumer advocacy, corporate pedophilia, dereon divas, dieting, eating-disorders, fashion-beauty-industry-expectations, FCC, FTC, Geena Davis Institute, Gender, gender equity, girl scouts, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, girls inc., GLI, GSA, GSUSA, H.R. 4925, harm of early sexualization, Healthy Media Youth Act, HGHW, hottie factor, HR4925, Huge, Jessica Lawrence, Lyn Mikel-Brown, meat marketing, media-literacy, Melissa Wardy, NCWO, obectification, Oct 22, Packaging-Boyhood, Packaging-Girlhood, parenting girls, PigTail Pals, Pink Think, plastic surgery, Pop culture impact on kids, preteens, raising girls, redefining girly, self-worth, Sesame Streetwalkers, sexism, sexist ads, Sexualization, Shelley Moore Capito, Single Ladies, So Sexy So Soon, SPARK! summit, sparksummit, support healthy media images for girls, surviving media morass, Tammy Baldwin, Tinkerbell, Wisconsin, Youth-advocacy

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 … [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'

New Years Media Messages: Packaging Boyhood Meets The Hangover

December 29, 2009 by Amy Jussel 9 Comments

Dec. 29, 2009 Last night I watched ‘The Hangover’ rated R, which I’d heard described by several YOUNG teens (meaning unable to buy a ticket unless sneaking in via diff. multiplex theater) as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Counter-marketing, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: ad regulations, alcohol, alcohol in the media, alcoholic, alcopops, bartender, beer, bender, binge drinking, Binge to Blackout, boys will be boys, Bratz, breaking cycles, buzz, cads, CAMY, cartoons, CCFC, chug it, Common Sense Media, Counter-marketing, Damaging Drek, date rape drugs, designated driver, dope, drinking, drinking and driving, drunk driving, Frank Baker, frat boy, goofy, Greek, hazings, hit me, jello shots, KoolAid, liquor, lyn mikel, MADD, Marin Institute, Mark Tappan, Media Literacy Clearinghouse, Media-Education-Foundation, Media-Influence-Kids, media-literacy, MEF, MLC, MTV reality shows, Naked Brothers Band, NFL, out of control, Packaging-Boyhood, parTAY, partying, players, roofies, rootbeer, saving our sons, Sharon Lamb, sitcoms, slurred speech, sober, spiked drinks, spin the bottle, suite life of Zack and Cody, teachable moments, teaching your teen how to drink, teen brain development, teens, The Hangover, toxic cues, toys encouraging alcohol use, tweenager, tweens, vanessa van petten, VH1

So Sexy So Soon: Shaping Youth Chats With Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D.

August 17, 2009 by Amy Jussel 30 Comments

August 17, 2009 Last month So Sexy So Soon hit the market in paperback, though my hand-signed hardback by academic rockstars Diane Levin, Ph.D. and Jean Kilbourne Ed.D is frayed, highlighted, and worn … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Misogyny & Racism, Sexualization & Body Image, Stereotypes & Diversity, Vapid Values Tagged With: age compression, APA, APA report early sexualization, Beauty, Body-Dysmorphia, Bratz, buffed boy, CCFC, children, commercialism, commodification, compassion deficit disorder, controversy, Diane Levin, gender equity, girls, Girls Gone Wild, girls-self-worth, hooking up, ideals, impersonal sex, Isis-Inc, Jean Kilbourne, Kids, Killing Us Softly, MEF, Miley Cyrus, numbing, objectification, Packaging-Girlhood, pole dancing, Pornification, provocative clothes, Pussycat Dolls, self-worth, Sesame Streetwalkers, sex objects, Sexual Media, Sexual Teens, sexuality, Sexualization, sexualized childhood, Slim Hopes, slut-ho, So Sexy So Soon, strippers, Teen Choice Awards, teens, thong, tweens, Vanity Fair, violence, War Play, youth

SmartyCard’s Summer Challenge With Scholastic: Heads Up for Fall!

May 28, 2009 by Amy Jussel 18 Comments

May 28, 2009 I was just about to post an in-depth review and analysis of the merits and watch-worthy aspects of the new SmartyCard.com "learn and earn" kids' program for 3rd-6th graders, when I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Interactive Games, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Product Placement, Shaping Youth Tagged With: ad-creep, Advertising, anti-rewards, backdoor branding, Book Fairs, branding, brandwashing, Bratz, cause marketing, CCFC, childhood, Chris Carvalho, Club-Penguin, commercial free, commercialism, consumption, Dizzywood, education, elementary, Elf-Island, Gazillion, Goodwashing, Ignite Learning, itunes, Kids, kids-media, learn and earn, learning, LearnStar, Lego Universe, MMORPG, motivation, non-book products, nonprofit-cause-marketing, parenting, quizzes, Raising Digital Kids, rewards, Save the Children, Scholastic, Scholastic Summer challenge, schools, Shape Up Scholastic, SmartyCard, summer slide, teachers, TechMama, Trojan Horse, Virtual-Worlds, Webkinz

Smart Girls At the Party.TV: Interview with SNL’s Amy Poehler

December 2, 2008 by Amy Jussel 16 Comments

With eight seasons of Saturday Night Live under her belt, I automatically thought SNL actress Amy Poehler's new digital TV series would be a spoof or a sketch by the screenshot alone! I mean, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: All Things Girl, Amy Poehler, Amy-Jussel, Axe, Barbie, Barbie Girls, Be Bratz, Bratz, Danica McKellar, digital TV, Dove, EcoMall, empowerment, Fem2.0, feminist, girl power, girls, Hollywood, identity, indie, Kids, Kiss My Math, Marianne Schnall, Math Doesn't Suck, Mattel, MGA, On Network, positive media, preteen, preteens, Saturday Night Live, self-esteem, self-worth, smart girls, Smart Girls at the Party, smart is the new cool, SNL, Unilever

CCFC Successfully Knocks Sense Into Scholastic Re: Bratz Books

September 17, 2008 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

As an anti-censorship media maven, I’m always reticent about ‘book bans’ of any sort, except when they’ve devolved into sexualized slop like Bratz diva doll toxic commercialism … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth Tagged With: activism, book bans, Book Fairs, branding, Bratz, Bratz book fairs, CCFC, commercialism, corporate responsibility, dads and daughters, girls self esteem, hasbro pussycat dolls, Marketing in schools, objectification, Packaging-Girlhood, parent mobilization, preteen-health, Scholastic, sexualization of children, Susan Linn, toxic media, unethical marketing

New Moon’s Rising For Girls Media: Orb28 For Teens 13-15+ (Part 1)

June 19, 2008 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Orb28 Let's see: Orb: "A sphere of influence, a collective body"...28: numeral referring to the moon's cycle...New Moon: lunar phase when the moon orbits between the Earth and the Sun; Moon: a symbol … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Branding & Consumerism, Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth Tagged With: adolescence, Barbie, Bratz, eating-disorders, feminism, feminist, girl-created, girl-empowerment, girls-confidence, girls-dreams, Lacey-Louwagie, Media-Kids, Nancy-Gruver, New-Moon-Girl-Media, Online-Teens, Orb28, preteens, puberty, self-esteem, self-worth, social-media, stereotypes-girls, teens, UGC, YPulse-National-Mashup

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