Nov. 3, 2009 In diving into media messages targeting boys for my weekly Tuesday Packaging Boyhood posts, my mind snap went to ‘gaming’ pronto. Is this a stereotype? Or did I just do a Malcolm Gladwell style "Blink” in rapid cognition? I flipped to the Packaging Boyhood chapter on “What Boys Do” since we know marketers are tapping a boy’s desire to be ‘powerful’ and admired … [Read more...]
Disney XD: A Case Study on Packaging Boyhood
Halloween Beyond the Cliché: Packaging Boyhood Part Two
Oct. 7, 2014 Update I realize I've been 'deconstructing' Halloween for years with pushback on the societal sexploitation of girls as we fiercely try to "Take Back Halloween" by mythbusting "market demand"...But the little boys' lens of how some of the girls costumes land on them is one to watch too, instilling critical thinking early on...in this case, two posts by SheKnows.com … [Read more...]
Packaging Boyhood: What About BOYS Halloween Costumes?
Oct. 25, 2016 Update: Given that media is slowly giving more coverage to the impact of body image on boys, including wee ones as young as six years old being 'fat-shamed' and toddlers even at age three, it seems sites from WebMD to health platforms are finally beginning to 'get it' that boys are being impacted with buffed boy cues and puffy superhero abs too! Choosing a … [Read more...]
What About the Boys? ‘Packaging Boyhood’ Authors Respond
Oct. 12, 2009 Tomorrow Shaping Youth advisors and authors of Packaging Boyhood launch their sequel book to my favorite media literacy teaching tool on the 'pink think' stereotypes front, Packaging Girlhood. For years I've been asking the 'what about the boys' question in my work, because frankly, boys are getting just as hammered with negative cues about what 'real men' … [Read more...]
Attention KMart Shoppers: Dating Violence on Aisle3
Oct. 11, 2009 This morning I was in a Sunday reflective sprawl, dogs piled atop the bed, newspaper everywhere, family away, foggy S.F. Bay keeping me nuzzled into my comforter, when I checked in on my laptop and almost spewed my coffee seeing this shirt. Our Shaping Youth advisors at Packaging Boyhood.com are launching their new book in 48 hours on saving our sons from … [Read more...]