If you’re still thinking about last-minute shopping, it’s not too late to stop and consider the No Gender December campaign from Australian organization Play Unlimited. While their tagline, “Stereotypes Have No Place Under My Christmas Tree,” presumes everyone is celebrating one holiday this season, their message is one that’s gone global.
Author: Elline Lipkin
Our Dolls, Ourselves
On the Ms. Blog just over four years ago, I wrote about Mattel’s (then) newest and largest doll launch: the Monster High line. Mattel was proudly offering girls dolls that […]
GoldieBlox On the Block Again
GoldieBlox, a relatively new toy company whose mission is to entice girls into the field of engineering, is no stranger to controversy. Their previous advertisement quickly went viral and both heartened […]
Giving Birth to Yourself: “The Doula”
During most major life transitions, there are those who are not at the center but bear witness. While they might go unrecognized, their presence is vital and their perspective often […]
Lessons Learned from Breastfeeding Prof?
Before I had a child, I thought the perennial media issue dogging women was “work and life balance.” Little did I realize how much breastfeeding was another evergreen. When stirred […]
Momtroversy: How Feminist Is Attachment Parenting?
About a month ago, in anticipation of starting my son on solid foods I attended a seminar at a parenting support center in Los Angeles. Of course we must make […]
Click! Hot Lips Houlihan Made Me a Feminist
In the early 1980s I was a suburban girl growing up outside Miami and I knew few mothers who worked. My own mother had quit the nursing job she loved […]
Rescuing Your Daughter From the Princess
If you’ve been within 50 feet of a 4-year-old girl in the past decade, you can’t have escaped the fact that princess is a booming industry. From T-shirts emblazoned with […]
Reviving “Reviving Ophelia”
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, the breakaway bestseller first published in 1994 was possibly the one book that touched off the notion of a self-esteem “crisis” in […]
Mattel’s New “Monster High” Dolls Play On Old-School Stereotypes
Mattel’s Barbie never had her own kids, but the toy company isn’t opposed to procreation. In fact, it has now envisioned girl offspring from well-known supernatural figures–and molded them into […]