Topic: sons

The Force Versus The Yellow Brick Road: How Movies Teach And Don’t Teach Manhood

The Force Versus The Yellow Brick Road: How Movies Teach And Don't Teach Manhood

There is an excellent new Ted talk given by parent and former actor Colin Stokes about how children’s movies aren’t teaching our sons how to think about and treat women. He compares his two children and how both of them, around the ages of 4, became equally obsessed with two different movies. For his daughter, it was The Wizard Of Oz, for his son, it was Star Wars. If you have kids I think that both these movies are something that you have shown them at some point, if they both weren’t two of the very first movies you exposed them to. More »

Gawking At Women Is Not Healthy Father-Son Bonding Time

Gawking At Women Is Not Healthy Father-Son Bonding Time

We talk a lot about the sexualization of young girls on this site. From spray tanning and padded bras for little ones on Toddlers & Tiaras to young models who are being photographed and styled as adult women. We discuss the problems this creates for young girls who are constantly subjected to the idea that their value is based on how attractive they are. And we hope to protect girls from the idea that their natural appearance needs to be altered to fit into a specific sexy mold. We talk a lot about girls and sexualization, but we tend to look past the early stress put on young boys to objectify females before they can even understand what attractiveness and sexuality are. More »

Where Is The Blame For The Boys In 14-Year-Old Amber Cole’s Sex Tape?

Where Is The Blame For The Boys In 14-Year-Old Amber Cole's Sex Tape?

Fourteen year old Amber Cole had a trying couple of weeks when video of her performing oral sex on student went viral over the interwebs. The teenager had no idea that she was being filmed by two other students, but nevertheless logged on to find her name all over internet. And while there was a wealth of people on Twitter coming to girl’s defense, the general narrative is that the girl is the problem, the criminal, and the one who needs a stern talking to.

But what about the boys who filmed and thus exploited this young girl by sharing the video? Why aren’t their actions part of our discussion when responding to this story? More »

Lady Of The Manor: I Hate To Play And I Don’t Care Who Knows It

Lady Of The Manor: I Hate To Play And I Don't Care Who Knows It

It’s a given that little kids love – and need – to play. But what about their parents? Sure, channeling your inner child and “playing” apparently does marvels for your health and longevity. But how do you reconcile your inner child – a girl child – with the realities of raising three young boys?

In my case, you don’t. I hate to play.

Stacking rings, ball ‘n’ hammer and shape sorters are mind-numbing. Building intricate railway lines and racecar tracks, only to have them demolished by Spiderman and Batman, is an exercise in futility. And light saber battles always get a little too out of hand for this mother. More »