Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes

This is not just one of the best books on gender I've read, it's one of the best books PERIOD. Well-researched, well-considered, astounding statistics, sharp uncompromising analysis, current references, great suggestions... The intro and first chapter alone (Pretty in Pink: What Girls Wear) were worth the price of the book. I recently had someone compliment me on my kids' "matching" pink winter boots. I told her it wasn't planned - I could only find boots for mini-lumberjacks or little ladies. (They have both styles, by the way, but they sure get more comments when they're all pinked out.) About half their wardrobes as babies were pink (gifts). Isn't that excessive? If half their clothes were black, people would notice and comment, but it's just business as usual with all that sweet pink stuff. I was surprised to read the negative review. That reader interpreted things very differently than I did. Maybe something hit too close to home, but you know what they say about the unexamined life. I had a few uncomfortable twinges myself, and finished the book wishing that my parents and other adults had been more interested - or better equipped - in helping me navigate adolescence. I recommend the book to 1) parents of girls, 2) parents of boys who want to understand their sons' peers, 3) teachers and coaches and 4) any woman looking for insight into her upbringing.

I found this book on accident at the library while I was perusing the new books, and I've checked it out 3 times since. Like all parents, I want to prepare my children as best as possible for this world. Already though I see my young daughters being pushed in the wrong direction by well-meaning relatives, friends and not so well meaning marketers. Last summer my mother sent a James Bond type bikini to my 2 year old that she bought at Wal-Mart, and this year for Christmas my girls received matching leopard printed sequined outfits. Since when were 2 year olds and 10 months old supposed to be sexy? It's very disturbing. Fortunately, this book has given me great insight and ideas on how to teach my daughters to avoid marketers traps, discertain sexist media and to become aware of how sexisim pervades our society. It also touches on how boys are suffering from marketing ploys (ie boys being represented as only wanting sex, boys being admired only for their bodies, as if boys too are just shallow, sexual husks!) I wish this book were free so that everyone could own a copy!

I absolutely loved this book. I read it little by little over time and discovered that this book, unlike so many others, is the product of real research, painstaking research... so I don't know how anyone can think these authors are politically correct or what. They talk about the sexualization of girls all right, but so much more -- the invisibility of girls in so many sources of media, the way girls are "dissed" (their word) in lyrics, tv shows, movies, the way girls are getting overwhelmed constantly with messages that they should be stereotypically pink and pretty from a very early age. Anyone looking for a book on sexualization of girls will find plenty of stuff here; but what's more important is that girls are being stereotyped in a whole bunch of ways that narrow their choices for the future not only by being sexualized. And parents will learn that letting their girls grow up all girl, or in that girly girl stereotype, means they will soon be sexualized by the culture -- the two are connected. You have to read the book to see why. I don't think that the authors are against pink or girly things; they just have a thoughtful response to it and plenty of suggestions and conversational material for parents.

This book is one of the best books I've ever read about gender issues. As someone who has read extensively in the are of gender and science and gender roles in our society, Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown's cooperative effort in their book Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketer's Schemes is fantastic. You must read this book. The authors clearly and thoroughly explain the premise of their arguments with carefully researched analysis of what girls watch (both movies and TV), what girls wear, and what girls listen to. Additionally, the authors balance these sometimes shocking revelations with practical, well thought out advice for how to discuss these issues in a straightforward, no nonsense way with the daughters and young women in your lives. What's also wonderful about their approach is that they *don't* advocate restricting girls from TV shows, movies or music as a strategy. Those of us who work with children know that this strategy wouldn't work anyway - marketing driven culture is pervasive! Instead, the authors recommend that mothers and other women who are influential to young women explain that they may enjoy these movies, and this music, but discuss why women are often typecast in very limited roles (the slut or the mean girl) in the music and films and TV shows and whether that truly shows the depth of personality that they as individuals may have. The information included in the book is thorough. At times one can feel a little overwhelmed (as the reviewer who gave a negative review clearly did). However, don't make the mistake of assuming the book is a negative book. In fact, of the 50+ books I have read about gender roles, gender issues, gender and science, gender and (insert subject here) this book is one of the most honest and positive books I have read about gender issues. The authors clearly have a lot of experience talking with girls and give clear and realistic advice about how to discuss topics with the young women in your lives. Additionally, they don't contradict their own arguments nor do they villianize girls who do like to cook, cheerlead, or play with dolls. They just make sure that girls don't feel like those are their only options for activities, sports or toys. Their entire argument is that girls can do anything they want - but in order to make sure that girls honestly feel those options are open to them we have to first understand the messages that are being constantly supplied to us by our culture about gender. For example, they explain that "being sexy" does not mean tallying up the number of times you've "been to third base" with boys, but rather understanding and enjoying what it is to be a woman and perhaps even learning to enjoy intimacy with someone you love. They explain that girls can learn how to be careful consumers of the messages that are given to them by the media. It's a good lesson for each one of us to learn - whether male or female, young or old - in a culture that is satu

My daughter is now on the verge of turning 19 and has just left for college, and though there is no turning back the clock, I really wish that (while she was still living under our roof) we had had more of the kind of discussions that Drs. Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown recommend in their very eye-opening and engaging book, Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketers Schemes. Although I should have known better, as a baby boomer child of the 60s and certainly part of a generation that prided itself in its individualism, its cynicism, and its power to challenge and question the version of truth that was being handed to us by a materialistic, antiquated and male dominated society, I am guilty of naively assuming both that we had come further along in dismantling negative, restrictive female stereotypes, and that my own children would just naturally be born into the world with the same skeptical and critical eye that my own generation actually had to acquire. I realize now, that as enlightened as I thought I had been, I did not do all that I could to help my daughter interpret and critically dissect the narrow image of girlhood and womanhood that has been sold to her by marketers and media. Is it too late now? I'd like to think that is never too late to have these kinds of discussions. I hope that my daughter will read this book before she becomes a parent one day, so she can begin these discussions much earlier with her own daughters. I have already recommended this book to my book club and my colleagues at work, and it is amazing how much interesting conversation it has already elicited. I highly recommend this book to all parents, future parents, and anyone who naively thinks that "pretty in pink" is an old stereotype that we have long gotten rid of. If you feel that changing "pretty in pink" to "sizzling in hot pink" is progress in a positive direction, then maybe this book won't do as much for you as it did for me.