Growing Up Girls: Popular Culture and the Construction of Identity (Paperback)

by Sharon R. Mazzarella (Editor), Norma Odom Pecora (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Growing Up Girls: Popular Culture and the Construction of Identity is must reading for anyone who seeks to understand the complex relationship of girls to popular culture. Questions of identity are explored from the perspectives of women of diverse cultures, and in several essays, the girls themselves. What emerges from these very well-written essays are portraits of end-of-the-century femininities that disturb, haunt, and inspire hope in those ready to work with young women for social change." -- Linda K. Christian-Smith, The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Product Description
In today's society, more and more mass media and popular culture is being produced for, about, and by pre-adolescent and adolescent girls than ever before. The intent of this book is to help us better understand the complex relationship between girls and their culture. Informed by a broad range of theoretical perspectives and employing a variety of methodologies, the essays in this collection address the ways that mainstream culture "instructs" girls on how to become a woman-the ways in which the culture approves of "growing up girls." Specifically, these essays examine the messages mainstream culture gives girls about romance, sexuality, life experiences, body image, gender and culture identity, and the way girls themselves negotiate these messages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820440213
• ISBN-13: 978-0820440217
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #985,402 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How the media influences our girls' sense of self., April 17, 2002

By	Rebecca (Salem, MA) - See all my reviews

This collection offers a variety of compelling essays, all exploring how pop culture is shaping American girls. These writers succeed in providing an evocative overview of the complex ways in which girls respond to the world around them, and how they see themselves within it.

As all parents know, girls are unpredictably diverse, and so the authors' analyses won't apply to every girl in America. But I'd argue that this is one of the rare cases in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: Each essay is unique and self-contained, but taken altogether, they speak volumes about the state of girls today and the dire need for social change.

Perticularly noteworthy are:

- an essay written by mother and daughter together, exploring what Barbie represents;

- an essay on reactions to Disney's "Pocahontas," based on focus group interviews with three groups of adolescent girls: whites, reservation-based Native Americans, and city-based Native Americans;

- and an essay about the phenomenon of girl bands and the liberation teenage girls experience when they play "male" instruments, like guitars.

Read this book -- you'll learn a lot!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Then and Now, July 9, 2005

By	HLR (Plum Village) - See all my reviews

As the title suggests, this compilation of essays and conversations (between or about mothers and daughters, for example) examines the lives and experiences of adolescent girls at the crossroads of popular culture and the construction of identity. The texts chosen by the editors, Sharon R. Mazzarella and Norma Odom Pecora, are diverse and fairly interesting. While not all chapters might appeal to the reader, there is enough in this text to make it worth purchasing (although it is overpriced for a 228 page anthology). In addition to reading about popular culture and its influence on girls and young women today, this book is also full of historical facts and information; this combination makes the collection especially valuable in that an important component of analyzing the present (in this case, girls and popular culture) is to think about it in relation to the ideologies and influences of the past. Due to the wide array of voices and topics, this book is not overly-academic in tone or purpose nor is it redundant in its scope. A must read for anyone in the field of Women's Studies, Gender Studies, or Media Studies. It is my hope that the "Adolescent Cultures, School, & Society" series will offer a new or revised edition of this 1999 title.

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing Up Girls: Popular Culture and the Construction of Id, September 27, 2000

By	REBECCA GODIN (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

Mazzarella and Odom have chosen a diverse and exciting selection of topivcs and writers. This collection is both high interest and academically challenging. As a teacher, I recommend this book for high school and college level students.