Packaging Boyhood

“If you read one book this year about how to be a better parent to your son, then it must be Packaging Boyhood. Unlike other parenting or ‘boys books,’ it reveals that boys do not naturally or biologically like violent images, don’t have to do poorly at school; but rather that a bath of hurtful media images are overtaking them—and that you can help save them, teaching them methods for resisting this gender mediocrity so they can grow into the unique, successful young men they truly wish to become!”—William S. Pollack, Ph.D., author of Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood

"Parents, look no further: Packaging Boyhood is your one-stop shop for how to guide your son through the media maelstrom that he loves—and that drives you crazy. This book offers realistic conversation starters, whip-smart insights about twenty-first-century boyhood, and the strategies you need to parent intelligently."—Rachel Simmons, author of The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls With Courage and Confidence and the national bestseller Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls

"Their subtle and nuanced analysis goes way beyond the usual focus on sex and violence, and their examples are compelling. Best of all, they offer practical and realisitc advice and strategies for change. Parents of boys will treasure this book."—Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., author of Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do To Protect Their Kids

"Parents of young boys constantly ask me, Where do boys get these crazy ideas about masculinity, girls, and the world they live in? Packaging Boyhoodanswers that question. Brown, Lamb, and Tappan reveal how when one definition of masculinity is packaged and sold, others are taken off the market—and how we all lose in the process."—Michael Kimmel, Professor of Sociology, SUNY Stony Brook, and author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men

“I love Packaging Boyhood for professional and personal reasons. As an educator, I am impressed by the depth of its social critique . . . As the father of a young son, I learned practical tips about how to talk to and with him about these narrow definitions. And as a grown man . . . I am grateful for the empathy the authors show in these pages for all the boys and men who struggle daily in this culture to be happy, healthy, and socially responsible human beings, despite all the pressures to the contrary.”—Jackson Katz, author of The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help.

“Packaging Boyhood is one of the most important books ever written about the inner world of boys. Sharon Lamb, Lyn Mikel Brown, and Mark Tappan challenge all caring adults to educate our sons about the pervasive power of the media and to give our boys strategies for countering the harmful images of boyhood and masculinity that they receive on a daily basis.”—Mark S. Kiselica, Ph.D.,  Past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, coauthor of Counseling Troubled Boys

“The authors of Packaging Boyhood make a strong case that the media is selling our sons a steady diet of distorted dreams:  power, domination, misogyny, pornography and self-mutilation. I found Packaging Boyhood to be a well researched, thought-provoking study of the media’s attempts to stereotype boys.  As someone who worries about the academic underachievement of boys, I was particular interested in the marketing of the “slacker” image to a generation of our sons.”—Michael Thompson, Ph.D., author of Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys and It’s a Boy! Your Son’s Development from Birth to Eighteen

"An eagerly welcomed sibling to Packaging Girlhood, Packaging Boyhood is informative, accessible, and above all a must-read for any parent, educator, and caring adult concerned with our boys’ well-being."—Dafna Lemish, Ph.D., editor of Journal of Children and Media

“Every parent of a son needs to know about the world of boys in twenty-first century America.  It is a world in which boys are bombarded with harmful, damaging messages that come to them via movies, advertisements, music, fashion, and a host of other pop culture sources.  The desire of every parent is to help our children enjoy childhood and grow into responsible, balanced adults.  But to do so today we need to help boys deal with the stereotypes of the superhero, the playa, the slacker, and other roles that can harm our sons.  In Packaging Boyhood, Lyn Mikel Brown, Sharon Lamb and Mark Tappan give parents—and grandparents—exactly the information and guidance we need in order to help our boys make their way safely through the pop culture minefields."—Carmine Sarracino, Ph.D., author of The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What It Means, and Where We Go from Here

“A thoughtful and provocative look at just how ruthlessly the media and marketing industries target boys, the negative consequences of that targeting, and what we can do about it.  Essential reading for parents and anyone who cares about how childhood shapes the adults our children become.”—Susan Linn, Ed.D., author of Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children from the Onslaught of Marketing and Advertising and The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World