Roll Red Roll: Sexual Assault Does Not Just Go Away, Neither Should This Story

June 16, 2019 “I can’t wait for this story to go away…” is uttered by a radio personality towards the end of the film Roll Red Roll, the true crime documentary exposing over 400 texts and digital data loops of evidence in the 2012 rape case involving small town football all-stars amidst the “Go Red” fan furor Steubenville, Ohio. As much as this very human reaction to trauma … [Read more...]

Media Literacy Week 2016 Spotlight: Camp Reel Stories

Oct. 31, 2016 Official first day of Media Literacy week which runs Oct. 31-Nov.4! Please share critical thinking tips and tools to create a more informed public, so we don't have a plague of fake news, and bogus social media 'shares' sans fact checking and journalism reduced to content marketing! NAMLE has tons of resources and activities to make the week fun, festive and full … [Read more...]

Gender Stereotypes: Part 2 with Dr. Elizabeth Sweet

April 28, 2016 The dismissive wails from the Twittersphere and social media mavens were almost audible: "Oh please, not another pink and blue gender in the toy aisle post..." To coin a phrase from Part One of the White House convening on Breaking Gender Stereotypes in Media and Toys, "Yes, And..." I’ve been writing about media and marketing’s impact on kids for ten years … [Read more...]

Beyond Merida: Toy Industry Complicity in Marketing Vapid Values

Update May 11, 2015 Could the caped crusader cavalry be coming in the form of sheroes and indie offerings like IAmElemental and Roominate and Lottie Dolls? Sure hope so! If you need a bit of joy juice, here's a glimpse of some positive progress with brands avenging gender stereotypes in the toy aisle. And here's an overview of 'where we are now'...Two short videos I created for … [Read more...]

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

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...]