Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction of Childhood

by R. Steinberg,Shirley

• ISBN13: 9780813344898
• ISBN10: 0813344891
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-01-11
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

America is a corporatized society defined by our culture of consumerism, and the youth market is one of the groups that corporations target most. By marketing directly to children, through television, movies, radio, video games, toys, books, and fast food, advertisers have produced a "kinderculture." In this eye-opening book, editor Shirley R. Steinberg reveals the profound impact that our purchasing-obsessed culture has on our children and argues that the experience of childhood has been reshaped into something that is prefabricated. Analyzing the pervasive influence of these corporate productions, top experts in the fields of education, sociology, communications, and cultural studies contribute incisive essays that students, parents, educators, and general readers will find insightful and entertaining. Including seven new chapters, this third edition is thoroughly updated with examinations of the icons that shape the values and consciousness of todayrs"s children, includingTwilight, Barbie, hip-hop, Disney, McDonaldrs"s, and many more.

Author Biography

Shirley R. Steinberg is the director of The Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy at McGill University and has been Research Professor at the University of Barcelona. Her most recent books include: Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia; 19 Urban Questions Teaching in the City; Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader; Christotainment: Selling Jesus Through Popular Culture (Westview Press); and the award-winning Contemporary Youth Culture Encyclopedia.

Table of Contents

Kinderculture: Mediating, Simulacralizing, and Pathologizing the New Childhood	p. 1
Teens and Vampires: From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Twilight's Vampire Lovers	p. 55
Is Disney Good for Your Kids? How Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age	p. 73
Selling Subculture: An Examination of Hot Topic	p. 93
Queer Eye for the Straight-Acting Guy: The Performance of Masculinity in Gay Youth Culture and Popular Culture	p. 115
FLUID: Teen and Youth Identity Construction in Cyberspace	p. 135
Tween-Method and the Politics of Studying Kinderculture	p. 153
From Miley Merchandising to Pop Princess Peddling: The Hannah Montana Phenomenon	p. 173
Corporatizing Sports: Fantasy Leagues, the Athlete as Commodity, and Fans as Consumers	p. 187
Hip Hop and Critical Pedagogy: From Tupac to Master P to 50 Cent and Beyond	p. 201
McDonald's, Power, and Children: Ronald McDonald/Ray Kroc Does It All for You	p. 219
The Book of Barbie: After Half a Century, the Bitch Continues to Have Everything	p. 249
Home Alone and Bad to the Bone: The Advent of a Postmodern Childhood	p. 265
About the Contributors and Editor	p. 291
Notes	p. 295
Index	p. 299
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.