Resources

Miss Representation is a non-profit social action campaign and media organization established to shift people’s consciousness, inspire individual and community action, and ultimately transform culture so everyone, regardless of gender, age or circumstance can fulfill their potential.

Women In Media & News, a media analysis, education and advocacy group, works to increase women’s presence and power in the public debate. WIMN’s POWER Sources Project provides journalists with a diverse network of female experts.

Dr. Jennifer Shewmaker‘s website is dedicated to exploring the sexualized media messages that are sent to children. Her goal is to help both parents and children learn to deal with these messages by recognizing, planning, talking, acting and cooperating. She believes that we have the power to choose our response to the media, rather than just mindlessly adopting their values.

Reel Girl:  “Imagining gender equality in the fantasy world.”

Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.

The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media is the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate, and influence the need for gender balance, reducing stereotyping and creating a wide variety of female characters for entertainment targeting children 11 and under.

“Cinderella Ate my Daughter” As a new mother, Peggy Orenstein was blindsided by the persistent ultra-feminine messages being sent to a new generation of little girls—from “princess-mania” to endless permutations of pink. How many times can you say no when your daughter begs for a pint-sized wedding gown, she wondered. How dangerous is pink and pretty anyway? Being a princess is just make-believe, isn’t it? Does playing Cinderella shield little girls from early sexualization—or prime them for it?

Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. Her films, lectures and television appearances have been seen by millions of people throughout the world. Kilbourne was named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses. She is the creator of the renowned Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women film series and the author of the award-winning book 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 (with Diane E. Levin). She also has one of the most comprehensive resource guides on the web!

So Sexy So Soon is an invaluable and practical guide for parents who are fed up, confused, and even scared by what their kids–or their kids’ friends–do and say. Diane E. Levin, Ph.D., and Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., internationally recognized experts in early childhood development and the impact of the media on children and teens, understand that saying no to commercial culture–TV, movies, toys, Internet access, and video games–isn’t a realistic or viable option for most families. Instead, they offer parents essential, age-appropriate strategies to counter the assault.

Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the health and well being of girls and women. Our vision is that all girls and women experience equality, independence, and safety in their everyday lives. To that end, our mission is to create opportunities, develop programs, and provide services that empower them.

Dr. Deborah Tolman is a developmental psychologist whose research has focused on adolescent sexuality, gender development, gender equity and research methods.

Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D., is Professor of Education and Human Development at Colby College in Maine. She writes extensively on the relational life of girls; the influences of race, class and gender on girls’ lives; the impact of media, and girls’ feelings of anger, self-knowledge, loss, hope, and desire.

Sharon Lamb, Ed.D. has published eight books and won two awards: the Books for a Better Life Award, for Packaging Girlhood, and the Society for Sex Therapy and Research’s book award for Sex, Therapy, and Kids. She is a co-author of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls and speaks to journalists, parents, educators, and girls and boys about sexualization and the media and marketers’ packaging of girlhood and boyhood

SPARK’s leadership team exists to create the scaffolding for Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge. We are a growing list of thought leaders, progressive organizations, media experts, and policy makers committed to creating the enabling conditions for healthy sexuality by pushing back on media sexualization of girls and young women.

Lindsay Kite and Lexie Kite, are identical twin sisters finishing Ph.D.s in Communication, studying representations of female bodies in popular media. They have a passion for helping girls and women recognize and reject harmful messages about their bodies and what “beauty” means and looks like. Take back beauty for girls and women everywhere through continuing the discussion about body image, women’s potential and media influence.

New Moon is the place where girls connect & support each other while creating poetry, artwork, stories, videos, and more. All fully moderated and proven to build confidence and healthy online behavior.

Rachel Simmons is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, and The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence. As an educator, Rachel works internationally to develop strategies to reduce bullying and empower girls.

The Girls Leadership Institute inspires girls to be true to themselves. They teach the practices of emotional intelligence, assertive self-expression and healthy relationships, giving girls the skills and confidence to live as leaders

Girls Inc. is inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold!

OTHER FANTASTIC WEBSITES/FACEBOOK PAGES:

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Center on Media and Child Health

Go! Go! Sports Girls

Kids Can Do Anything

Role/Reboot

Marketing, Media and Childhood

Pigtail Pals

Pink Stinks

Princess Free Zone

SheHeroes

The Achilles Effect

The Girl Revolution

The Good Men Project

Toward the Stars

Adios Barbie

Healthy is the New Skinny

The Body Project

Feminist.com

StopBullying.gov

Free Range Kids

Girls on the Run

Dr. Jen Hartstein

BrainCake

ARTICLES

The Sexualization of Girls and Mental Health Problems: Is There a Connection?, The Child Study Center, by Anita Gurian, Ph.D.