Dec. 9, 2009 And now for the GOOD news! Yesterday for I wrote about ‘boys being turned into monsters’ with toxic marketing proliferation about what it means to be masculine, rolling out narrowcast perceptions and gender roles thinner than a crepe. Today, meet 30 men who donated their stories, time and talent to author The Perfect Gift for a Man: 30 stories about reinventing … [Read more...]
Turning Boys Into Monsters: Energy Drink Leaves A Foul Taste (Again)
Dec. 8, 2009 It’s Tuesday, time for our weekly “Packaging Boyhood” focus, so what better time than the holiday season to sound the 'red' siren on the 'green' brand that tween and teen boys are sucking up to...Monster energy drink. With everything from motocross and macho madness to the thumping, screaming, ‘over the top’ rebel yell, Monster ‘packs a vicious punch’ by … [Read more...]
Who’s Your Fave Fictional Male Rodel Model & Why?
Update June 14, 2014 With Father's Day approaching I thought I'd add Common Sense Media's "Favorite Film Fathers" just for fun...and reprise my post about "Media's Portrayal of Father Figures On TV" ......But truth be told, I'm most excited that HUGE gains are coming with excellent books and films uncorking important conversations about healthy masculinity, including The … [Read more...]
Disney XD: A Case Study on Packaging Boyhood
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...]
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...]