Portrayals of Children in Popular Culture

Portrayals of Children in Popular Culture
Author: Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2012-12-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 073917956X

Portrayals of Children in Popular Culture: Fleeting Images, edited by Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic and Debbie Olson, is a collection which examines images of “children” and “childhood” in popular culture, including print, online, television shows, and films. The contributors to this volume explore the constructions of “children” and “childhood” rather than actual children or actual childhoods. In the chapters that are concerned with depictions of actual, individual children, the authors investigate how the images of those children conform or “trouble” current notions of what it means to be a child engaged in a contemporary “childhood.” This is a unique volume, because of the academic discourse which is employed—that of “Childhood Studies.” The Childhood Studies scholars represented in this collection utilize an interdisciplinary approach which draws upon various academic fields—their methodologies, theoretical approaches, and scholarly conventions—for the scholarly research in this collection. Together, the contributions to this collection interrogate classic notions of childhood innocence, knowledge, agency, and the fluid position of the signifier “child” within contemporary media forms. These interdisciplinary works function as a testament to the infectiousness of the child image in print, television, and cinematic contexts, and represent a new avenue of discursive scholarship; the questions raised and connections made provide fresh insights and unique perspectives to topics regarding children and childhood and their representation within multiple media platforms. The growing field of Childhood Studies is enriched by the intellectual originality represented by this volume’s authors who ask new questions about the enduring and captivating image of the child.

Evil Children in the Popular Imagination

Evil Children in the Popular Imagination
Author: Karen J. Renner
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2016-12-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137599634

Focusing on narratives with supernatural components, Karen J. Renner argues that the recent proliferation of stories about evil children demonstrates not a declining faith in the innocence of childhood but a desire to preserve its purity. From novels to music videos, photography to video games, the evil child haunts a range of texts and comes in a variety of forms, including changelings, ferals, and monstrous newborns. In this book, Renner illustrates how each subtype offers a different explanation for the problem of the “evil” child and adapts to changing historical circumstances and ideologies.

The Child in World Cinema

The Child in World Cinema
Author: Debbie Olson
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 515
Release: 2018-02-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1498563813

This collection seeks to broaden the discussion of the child image by close analysis of the child and childhood as depicted in non-Western cinemas. Each essay offers a counter-narrative to Western notions of childhood by looking critically at alternative visions of childhood that does not privilege a Western ideal. Rather, this collection seeks to broaden our ideas about children, childhood, and the child’s place in the global community. This collection features a wide variety of contributors from around the world who offer compelling analyses of non-Western, non-Hollywood films starring children.

The Wiley Handbook of Group Processes in Children and Adolescents

The Wiley Handbook of Group Processes in Children and Adolescents
Author: Adam Rutland
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2017-04-17
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1118773160

A definitive reference on intra- and inter-group processes across a range of age and cultural contexts Children from infancy develop attachments to significant others in their immediate social environment, and over time become aware of other groups (e.g. gender, ethnicity, age, classroom, sports) that they do or do not belong to and why. Recent research shows that children’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours are significantly influenced by these memberships and that the influence increases through childhood. This Handbook delivers the first comprehensive, international reference on this critical topic.

The Story About Ping

The Story About Ping
Author: Marjorie Flack
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2014-09-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0448482339

The Story About Ping covers the concepts Family and Problem Solving. This classic children’s book was first published in 1933 and is still as delightful and relevant as ever. Ping’s owner takes him and his siblings to the river for dinner. When it’s time to go, Ping is the last duck in the water and, as such, will receive a spanking. To avoid punishment, he hides—only to be captured the next morning by a young boy for his family’s dinner. Finally Ping is set free, and when he sees his master’s boat, the last thing he fears is a spanking—he’s just thankful to be home!

How Picturebooks Work

How Picturebooks Work
Author: Maria Nikolajeva
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2013-02-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1136771514

How Picturebooks Work is an innovative and engaging look at the interplay between text and image in picturebooks. The authors explore picturebooks as a specific medium or genre in literature and culture, one that prepares children for other media of communication, and they argue that picturebooks may be the most influential media of all in the socialization and representation of children. Spanning an international range of children's books, this book examine such favorites as Curious George and Frog and Toad Are Friends, along with the works of authors and illustrators including Maurice Sendak and Tove Jansson, among others. With 116 illustrations, How Picturebooks Work offers the student of children's literature a new methodology, new theories, and a new set of critical tools for examining the picturebook form.

The Achilles Effect

The Achilles Effect
Author: Crystal Smith
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2011-02-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1450285007

A discussion of pop culture messages about masculinity, their impact on boys, and the benefits of introducing more gender balance to boys lives. When most people think about gender stereotypes and children, they envision princesses, dolls, and pink clothing. Few consider the warriors, muscle-bound action figures, and T-shirts covered in graffiti and skulls that are assumed to signify masculinity. The pop culture environment that surrounds boys introduces them to a world where traditionally masculine traitslike toughness, aggression, and stoicismare highly esteemed and where female influence is all but absent. The Achilles Effect explores gender bias in the entertainment aimed at primary school boys, focusing on the dominant themes in childrens TV shows, toy advertising, movies, and books: gender stereotypes of both sexes, male dominance, negative portrayals of fathers, breaking of the mother/son bond, and the devaluing of femininity. It examines the gender messages sent by pop culture, provides strategies for countering these messages, and encourages discussion of a vitally important issue that is rarely talked aboutboys and their often skewed understanding of gender. The Achilles Effect is a guide for parents, educators, and students who want to learn more about male and female stereotypes, their continued strong presence in kids pop culture, and their effect on young boys.

The Five Chinese Brothers

The Five Chinese Brothers
Author: Claire Huchet Bishop
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Total Pages: 64
Release: 1996-06-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780833529985

Five brothers who look just alike outwit the executioner by using their extraordinary individual talents.

Women in Popular Culture

Women in Popular Culture
Author: Marian Meyers
Publisher: Hampton Press (NJ)
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2008
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

"Marian Meyers's latest anthology takes a new look at a wide range of contemporary images of women within the media to examine the meanings behind the representations of women in popular culture. This book explores what the representation of women says about their positions in society, the factors that shape representation, and the roles that gender, race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation play within the mediated portrayal of women." "Drawing primarily on qualitative textual analysis of film, reality TV, advertising, the news, children's programming, soap operas, TV drama, and more, this book situates the representation of women in popular culture along a continuum ranging from stereotypical portrayals that underscore women's bodies as pornographic spectacle to more positive and hopeful depictions. And it argues that the contemporary portrayals of women within popular culture are shaped by two major trends: the mainstreaming of pornography and its resultant hypersexualization of women and girls, and the commodification of those images for a global market."--BOOK JACKET.

Children and Television

Children and Television
Author: Gordon L. Berry
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 343
Release: 1993-05-25
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1452253749

A worthwhile effort. --The Hindustan Times "Children and Television provides a detailed description of the patterns of representation of different groups on children′s television programs (including commercial broadcast, public broadcast, and cable) and their potential consequences for the development of people′s worldviews. . . . Children and Television is a readable and interesting introduction to research on children and television by scholars in a variety of social science disciplines as well as media professions." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media "There is much in this collection of 22 essays which will be of interest to anyone concerned with understanding children′s interaction with television." --Media Development "The issues addressed in Children and Television, are of critical importance to us at PBS. Congratulations on completing this thoughtful work. We are forwarding copies to those public television programs that on occasion review books or address these topics in their programming. . . . Works like Children and Television provide useful food for thought for those of us who care about children, whether as parents, citizens, educators or media professionals." --Jennifer Lawson, Executive Vice President, National Programming and Promotion Services, PBS "A thought provoking publication." --Educational Media International "This is an impressive and wide-ranging collection, especially given current policy discussions about enforcement of the Children′s Television Act." --Communication Booknotes Today, children grow up in a media-driven society. While children of every generation face new demands and difficulties, the media explosion represents special challenges because television now plays a role in the child′s socialization process. Set within a multicultural context, Gordon L. Berry and Joy Keiko Asamen explore how television influences our children. Children and Television identifies the social and cultural impact of television on the psychosocial development of children who are growing up in an ever-changing, multicultural world. A thought-provoking and challenging book, it analyzes major media organizations and projects policies, practices, and research directions for the future. Contributors discuss various forms of television and its effect on attention, comprehension, and behavior; television′s effects on imaginative and creative capabilities of children; and the medium′s influence on the socialization of youth. They also cover the cultural content of Saturday morning television; the portrayal of major ethnic and racial minority populations in the United States and the effects these portrayals have on children′s attitudes toward these populations; and the portrayal of women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.