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Did a pink-clad cheerleader run over the authors dog?
“I bought this book thinking it would be an interesting look at consumer culture and children. There's a little of that in there. Mostly though, the book is the authors' 307 page rant against the evils of things like the color pink, cheerleading, and (God forbid!) decorating.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-17.
I'm serious about that last one. The authors actually say it's worthless for girls who have any interest in interior design to pursue those skills because those skills won't "get them into a good design school. If your daughter likes decorating, encourage her to decorate her web page!" (Note the annoying overuse of exclaimation marks all through the book.) Apparently interior design is a useless and stereotypically girly field, even though in the real world it is a respected multi-million dollar industry filled with women AND men. Also, what if my daughter doesn't HAVE a web page?
The irony of this book is that the authors are convinced marketers are trying to force girls' personalities into pre-set and confining molds when it seems more to me that the authors are the ones doing that. According to them pink equals girly and weak, while red is for brave and independant girls. So, if a little girl likes pink she can't be brave. They also frown on little girls wearing skirts because apparently you can't play in them. This is news to me as I wore a skirt almost every day of my childhood and never had trouble playing.
This book isn't about helping girls be themselves free of marketing. This book is about helping girls be who the authors think they should be. If your daughter doesn't reject everything they personally don't like then I guess she's just a lost cause, doomed to forever watch Disney movies and (oh no!) babysitter for pocket money. Do yourself a favor and avoid this book. If you are genuinely concerned about the effect of marketing on your daughter, try instead The Lolita Effect by M. Gigi Durham.
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2 of 8 members found this review helpful.
Not worth it
“It was awful! I felt like it was VERY feminist, VERY slanted, and very repetitive. The authors kept saying the same thing over and over.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-03-10.
One positive takeaway was to have open conversations with your daughters about what they are seeing, watching, and listening to, but the book is NOT worth the purchase. ” -
1 of 2 members found this review helpful.
Eye-opening book
“A great book that opens your eyes to the advertising industry's manipulation of "girl power". A must have for any parent with girl(s).”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-02-25. -
8 of 8 members found this review helpful.
Important Message, Awful Book
“This book needs to be taken with a larger than average dose of salt. The authors have fallen into that trap of making their case too strongly- instead of just letting the examples of lousy stereotypes of girls in the media speak for themselves, they heap on extra. Suddenly every single book, movie, TV show, song, and toy is dripping with gender stereotypes. They can't praise a single one without finding some flaw- everything has a "but." Mia Hamm's book, which teaches kids (and even girls) lessons in sportsmanship gets a parenthetical criticism for emphasizing soccer as if it were the only sport its okay for girls to play. (Hello! It's a book by MIA HAMM, the famous SOCCER player.) Even the American Girl dolls are described as "troublesome."
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-12-23.
Other examples are presented in a very misleading way. For example: the Fearless series is about a character named Gaia who was "born without the fear gene" and is highly trained in basically every type of martial arts there is. She's tall and blonde and a skilled fighter- so as a hobby, she hangs out in seedy areas of New York City at night to lure thugs into attacking the apparently helpless female victim so she can turn around and beat the living daylights out of them. Talk about girl power. Despite the fact that this is basically the PREMISE of the series, the authors don't tell you about it- because it doesn't agree with their hypothesis that EVERYTHING in the media is out to get women. Instead, Gaia is mentioned because she doesn't like math- clearly the whole series is another example of harmful anti-female stereotypes!
I am personally a pretty adamant feminist and even I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the authors' claims.
Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, the book is riddled with factual errors. To add another example to those already listed by previous reviewers: the book claims that Vanessa's mother (from the series Daughters of the Moon) isn't actually her biological mother. This is false- it is a different character (Catty) who is raised by her non-biological mother.
Given the number of factual errors and misleading examples, I'm actually beginning to wonder if the authors actually READ all of these books they cite, or just skimmed them for keyword and phrases they could use to make their case. (I know I focused on book examples, but that's just because that's what I'm most familiar with. But the problems I saw in the passages about books made me wonder about the accuracy of claims regarding books or movies that I wasn't personally familiar with.)
It's really a shame, because girls and women DO get a bad rap in the media, and gender socialization is certainly a big problem and a big danger (for boys and girls alike). This book just doesn't present it in a fair or accurate way.
The advice they give parents is sound: Immerse yourself in the culture of your teen girls- watch the movies, read the books, and listen to the songs she likes and open an honest discussion about them. Ironically, it's also the advice I give parents regarding this book: familiarize yourself with popular culture, rather than depending on the version of it presented in this book.” -
0 of 4 members found this review helpful.
A MUST READ!!!
“Great book! As a Life Coach for women/girls of all ages in recovery from an Eating Disorder or suffereing with body images issues, I highly reccommend this book to parents and kids to read together!! I do coach hover the phone as well! www.innerserenitylifecoaching.com”
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-09-30.
