Kids' Media Culture Marsha Kinder 9780822323501 [USED COPY]

Television shows, comic strips, video games, and other forms of media directed at children are the subject of frequent and rancorous debate. In Kids' Media Culture some of the most prominent cultural theorists of children's media join forces with exciting new voices in the field to consider the production and consumption of media aimed at children. What's good for kids and what's merely exploitive? Are shows that attempt to level the socioeconomic playing field by educating children effective? The essays in this anthology tackle these questions and pose provocative new questions of their own.
As part of their argument that children's reactions to mass media are far more complex and dynamic than previously thought, contributors examine the rise of mass media in postwar America. They explore how books, cartoons, and television shows of the 1950s and 1960s-such as Lassie and Dennis the Menace-helped redefine American identity and export an image of a particularly American optimism and innocence worldwide. Other essays take up the controversies surrounding such shows as Sesame Street, My So-Called Life, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. After discussing the differences in how children and adults react to such programs, the collection focuses on television in schools and the ways that mass media convey messages about gender and socialization.
Kids' Media Culture makes clear that children are active, engaged participants in the media culture surrounding them. This volume will be compelling reading for those interested in television and cultural studies as well as anyone interested in children's education and welfare.

Contributors. Heather Gilmour, Sean Griffin, Heather Hendershot, Henry Jenkins, Yasmin B. Kafai, Jyotsna Kapur, Marsha Kinder, Susan Murray, Elissa Rashkin, Ellen Seiter, Lynn Spigel, Karen Orr Vered


Argues that children's reaction to mass media are far more complex and dynamic than previously thought

About the Author

Marsha Kinder is Professor of Critical Studies in the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California. She is the author of a number of books, including Playing with Power in Movies, Television, and Video Games andRefiguring Spain: Cinema/Media/Representation, also published by Duke University Press.

Reviews
"Kids' Media Culture is a significant contribution to one of the most important and fastest growing areas of scholarly concern in media and cultural studies-the theory and history of childhood and adolescence. An extremely impressive range of topics are covered: different media and consumption practices, different historical periods, and considerations of the complexities of gender, class, and race."-Eric Smoodin, author of Animating Culture: Hollywood Cartoons from the Sound Era
"Rich with information and cultural analysis, these essays reveal the inadequacy of the simple binary oppositions that usually plague discussions of television and children." -- Lucy Rollin * Children's Literature Association Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780822323501
Author Marsha Kinder
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Series Console-ing Passions