Peggy Orenstein

Guardian Princesses: Prosocial Planet Protectors?

September 1, 2014 by Amy Jussel 5 Comments

Sept. 1, 2014 I admit, my first reaction to The Guardian Princesses was wince-worthy...“Oh please, NOT more freakin’ princesses!”Followed by, “Here we go with the chocolate covered broccoli bit embedding a stealth health “better for you” media message into the junk food genre of princess pablum.” Finally, I settled into a more measured,“Well, if they're upending kid lit to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM Tagged With: #WeNeedDiverseBooks, Anti-Disney princess, Ashanti McMillon, body-positive, Brave Girls Alliance, character education, children's books, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, connecting kids to nature, diversity in kidlit, eco warriors, educational children's books, environmental stewards, Guardian Princesses, Keep Merida Brave, kidlit, kids and nature, Packaging-Girlhood, Peggy Orenstein, planet stewards, princess culture, Princess Free Zone, Princess Merida, reach and teach, Setsu Shigematsu, Sexualization & Body Image, teaching eco literacy, The Princess Problem

Brave Girls Want: A Movement, Not a Moment.

September 10, 2013 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

Sept. 11, 2013 Grand Finale Tally for IndieGoGo campaign ended at 11:59PT: $26,673 Sept. 9, 2013 Today marks the triumph of a grassroots groundswell over colossal corporate branding, with the tipping point to “take back the media” coming from individuals, en masse! Tomorrow, the Brave Girls Invade Times Square campaign will be featured as the IndieGoGo crowdfunding … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM Tagged With: #KeepMeridaBrave, adolescent body image, Amy Jussel Partner, Amy-Jussel, APA task force sexualization girls, BGW, brain plasticity, Bratzillaz, Brave, Brave director Brenda Chapman, Brave Girls Alliance, Brave Girls Invade Times Square, Brave Girls Want, Brenda Chapman, change the channel of influence, child development, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Consumerism, consumption, corporate social responsibility, CSR, Disney, Disney-Princesses, diversity, gender equity, gender parity, girls leadership, hypersexualized, If you had the chance to change your fate, Ines Almeida, International Day of the Girl, Let Toys Be Toys, Media and Perception of Reality, media-literacy, Media-Makeovers, Melissa Wardy, merchandising, Merida makeover, Merida petition, Monster High, Packaging-Girlhood, parenting, Peggy Orenstein, PigTail Pals, preteen body image, Princess Free Zone, Princess Merida, Rebecca Hains, redefining girly, Sexualization, sexualized dolls, SheHeroes, So Sexy So Soon, stereotypes, That's Not Merida, Toward the Stars, toy industry

When We Were Free To Be: Revisiting A Classic w/Deesha Philyaw

December 18, 2012 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

Dec. 18, 2012 This year marks not only the 40th Anniversary of Title IX changing women’s sports forever, it’s also the 40th Anniversary of the cycle-breaking, movement-making pop culture childrens' classic Free to Be, You and Me created by one of my very first childhood ‘sheroes’ Marlo Thomas. Marlo Thomas’ Free to Be Gold record and '70s era bestseller flipped the script on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: 40th Anniversary Free to Be, 40th Anniversary Title IX, 70s sitcoms, African American sitcoms, Amy-Jussel, black sitcoms, children's classics, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Co-Parenting 101, cultural literacy, Deesha Philyaw, feminine versus feminist, Free to Be, Free to Be at 40, Geena Davis Institute, gender and media portrayals, Gender neutral toys, Gender Portrayal, gender research, Girl Child Press, Glee, kids free to be kids, Laura Lovett, Lego Friends, Lori Rotskoff, Marlo Thomas, media-literacy, Michael Jackson Grew Up, Modern Family, Nancy-Gruver, New Moon Girls, Norman Lear Center, Packaging-Boyhood, Packaging-Girlhood, Peggy Orenstein, Pop culture impact on kids, Pop-Culture, race and class stereotypes, SEL, Self-worth-kids, Social Emotional Learning, Title IX, When We Were Free to Be

A Mighty Girl: Healthier Media Messaging, One Click Convenience

December 10, 2012 by Amy Jussel Leave a Comment

April 11, 2013 Update: Check out A Mighty Girl pics for Environmental Books and movies for green kidlit and Earth Day 2013! Dec. 10, 2012 What to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature “Hey!” and some REAL Christmas cheer! A Mighty Girl holiday story: I’ve written about rampant sexualization and gendered absurdity narrowing choices in the toy aisle many times … [Read more...]

Filed Under: EcoKids-Environment, Emerging trends & STEM, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, People Shaping Youth, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: A Mighty Girl, Amy-Jussel, antidote to sexualization, Brave, Carolyn Danckaert, Early-Sexualization, encouraging STEM, Geena Davis Institute, Gender, gender and media portrayals, gender literacy, girl-empowerment, girlpower, girls leadership, girls-self-worth, graphic novels, healthy choices, healthy girls toys, healthy media, media-literacy, Monster High, multicultural kids books, Packaging-Girlhood, Peggy Orenstein, pink and blue, positive messages about girls, positive role models for girls, Shero, sheroes, STEM for girls, strong female characters, SuperGirl, supershero, top books on bullying prevention for girls, Ultimate guide to the independent princess, winx, women and girls lead

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 tired of sexploitation, sassy, rude, mean behavioral cues sent to kids, blatant consumerism and vapid values.When Mattel tried to backpedal from the toxic messages in their webisodes … [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