In 147 pages of beauty and fashion shopping, advice and advertising , along with tips on catching your “crush” this summer, there are, fortunately, a few articles that will actually help girls. As you know, I always search for the personal stories which convey the reality of girls’ lives as well as inspiring resilience and […]
Dr Emma Rush and I were guests on the ABC Nightline program hosted by Tony Delroy last night. You can listen here: abctonydelroy
Over exposure is making teens pawns to porn A 15-year-old boy confided in me after I addressed his class at a Sydney school last year. He cried as he told me he had been using porn since the age of nine. He didn’t have a social life, had few friends, had never had a girlfriend. […]
My last two reviews (‘Excellent advice on helping a friend with an eating disorder and dealing with stalking’, ‘Pressures to sext and give oral sex’) have been almost entirely positive. That’s pretty unusual. The May issue makes this a trifecta. Whenever I pick up the latest issue of teen girl mags, I hope to find […]
I was interviewed by Leigh Hatcher for Open House on Sunday night. If you’re interested, here’s what we talked about. OH_MelindaTankardReistSexualisation_2013-04-28
When I speak in schools, I’m often asked for advice on how to help a friend with an eating disorder (and not just girls – a male student ask me in a school in regional NSW recently). So I was really pleased to see the piece ‘Help! My BFF is wasting away before my eyes: […]
On Saturday I appeared on Weekend Sunrise with Danielle Egan, US author of a new book which argues concerns about the sexualisation of girls are exaggerated. You can watch it here Beauty Redefined: Victoria’s Dirty Little Secret The time-wasting, body-hating self-objectification proved to go hand-in-hand with such “bold, sexy, powerful” ideals – though ideal for […]
Girlfriend February Review Many girls and young women look to girl’s magazines for advice on life, relationships, bodies, health and sexuality. But too often they receive conflicting advice and mixed messages and even, sometimes, outright contradiction. Take for example, information provided in the sealed section of Girlfriend this month, where, within four pages of each […]
Girl Mag Watch As always, I’m confused about teen girls’ magazines approach to airbrushing and photo-shop (see here for a past example of my confusion). This issue contains an explanation of the ‘Retouch Free Zone’. “DOLLY is all about healthy body image – that’s why we only feature photos of girls that haven’t been altered […]
Girl Mag Watch: Dolly January 2013 In its first edition for the year, Dolly brings readers some important content to help them launch into 2013. ‘Sexism: what’s it all about?’ examines how gender-based prejudice and discrimination is alive and well. Women continue to be paid less than men and hold a tiny proportion of board […]
Primed to accept brutality as normal in romantic relationships It’s not enough that classic works of literature like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights are to be given a 50 Shades of Grey makeover (read how Catherine Earnshaw enjoys bondage sessions with Heathcliff!). Or that there are 50 Shades of Grey mother and […]
Does teen ‘erotic fiction’ help develop respect-based relationships? This morning I appeared on Channel 7’s Morning Show with Dr Nikki Goldstein to discuss the rise in ‘erotic fiction’ for young people. Here’s the segment. See also: ‘Shades of Grey: What now that BDSM has gone mainstream?’, Spinifex Press blog, December 5, 2012 ‘Sadistic Romance,’ Gail […]
