Reports & Research
Understanding Childhood Issues & Highlighting Them
Boys to Men: Conference Report on Media Messages About Masculinity, 1999
Sep 01, 1999
Download file: boys_to_men_1999.pdf
Children Now is pleased to present this report on the Sixth Annual Children & the Media Conference. This year’s topic, Boys to Men: Media Messages About Masculinity, continues our exploration of the media’s role in identity formation among young people. Earlier conferences, which focused on media portrayals of girls (Reflections of Girls in the Media) and images of race & class (A Different World), built upon emerging work surrounding these important issues. This year’s examination broke new ground.
In part as a result of the horrific series of tragedies across the country, there has been important media and academic attention paid to the overall status of our nation’s boys, particularly in relation to violence. However, research into the role and potential influence of the media on boys was scant to none. The Children Now research commissioned for this conference, and fully reported in companion publications, revealed important new findings. These findings, along with the thoughtful keynote address by Harvard psychologist, Dr. William Pollack, provided the platform for a series of stimulating panel discussions.