Is There a Possibility the FCC Hasn’t Seen The Irony Here?

Dec. 6, 2009 Samuel Johnson once said, “Our aspirations are our possibilities.” I love the limitless empowerment in the short phrase, so when I heard there was going to be a new online DIY craft show called ‘The Possibility Shop’ with Jim Henson’s name attached, I thought perhaps there would be a “possibility” that media would be used to create a sort of eco-Etsy style … [Read more...]

FCC Chair Receives Our Coalition Letter on Product Placement

Sept. 24, 2009 Shaping Youth is part of this coalition (15pp pdf here) joining over 50 signatories on "FCC Docket 08-90." As a nonpartisan, non-censorship, nonprofit recall I support two key coalitions impacting children, the other being eco-literacy, NCLI. You can get a glimpse of my reasoning here, but I'll focus fully on "'why this is important" deconstructing the … [Read more...]

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

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 from full use with youth and parent ed groups ever since its release last year. I broke bread with these two research pioneers at Susan Linn’s house when she hosted all of the … [Read more...]

Consuming Kids: Selling Value As A Virtue

July 28, 2009 In another ‘silver lining’ of our economy’s challenging moments, seems “consuming kids” are self-reining and prioritizing the value of purchases, with fashion taking a nosedive and techno-media holding steady. (Reminder, we’re screening Consuming Kids again at my place on Friday, so RSVP, it’s free!) When I interviewed Mike Berenstain of Berenstain Bears, he … [Read more...]

Raising Girls Amidst Meat Marketing: Carls Jr., Burger King Raunch

Jan. 27, 2015 Update:  It's achingly sad that I can reprise my own prose about "meat marketing" women with gobsmacking sexualization and objectification commodifying bodies as edible objects to be consumed, but alas Carl's Jr. is using the same stale crass-en masse trash for outrage baiting buzz in 2015 as they did five years ago.Guess they're consistent in their sexist tripe, … [Read more...]