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Rebecca Hains

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Feminist media studies professor and author

Rebecca Hains is an American communication and media studies scholar and author. She is a professor in the Media and Communication Department at Salem State University and focuses her work on the subject of children's media culture and marketing, which she studies from a feminist media studies and critical/cultural studies perspective. She is a 2023–2024 Fulbright scholar.

Her books include Growing Up with Girl Power: Girlhood on Screen and in Everyday Life (2012) and The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls through the Princess-Obsessed Years (2014), and she has edited three anthologies on children's culture.

Education

Hains earned her B.A. in English from Emmanuel College, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998 and her M.S. in mass communication from Boston University (2000). She holds a Ph.D. in mass media and communication from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2007).

Publications

Hains' 2012 book Growing Up with Girl Power: Girlhood on Screen and in Everyday Life presents a critical history of the girl power phenomenon. Combining textual analysis with field work among children and interviews with tween girls, the book considers girls' interpretations of girl power's messages about female empowerment, girlhood, strength, femininity, and race. Hains details strengths and limitations in commercialized girl power's handling of preadolescent body image, gender identity, sexism, and racism. Jessalynn Keller, in her review for Girlhood Studies, concludes that the book "is a necessary read for those interested in girls' studies, feminist media studies, feminist ethnography, and childhood studies".

Her 2014 book The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls through the Princess-Obsessed Years critiques princess culture's consumerism and its gender, race, and beauty stereotypes, with special attention to the Disney Princess franchise. The book combines original field research and secondary analysis of scholarly research on media and child development, interpreting these studies for a mainstream audience of parents. It also focuses on helping children develop critical thinking and critical viewing skills. The Princess Problem was the subject of significant media attention, including a double segment on The Meredith Vieira Show. Publishers Weekly's review states that the book dissects "princess marketing, reveals inherent gender stereotypes, adds to the discussion with these practical parenting tips."

Hains has edited, with collaborators, three anthologies on children's culture: Princess Cultures: Mediating Girls' Imaginations and Identities, Cultural Studies of LEGO: More Than Just Bricks, and The Marketing of Children's Toys: Critical Perspectives on Children's Consumer Culture. Emily R. Aguilo-Perez, writing in the American Journal of Play, comments that in Princess Cultures, "Forman-Brunell and Hains have created a rich collection of essays that significantly contribute to the growing literature that examines girls' popular cultures." Hains has also written articles on media culture for publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Boston Globe.

Media appearances and perspective

Conventional U.S. and international media frequently cite Hains as an academic expert on children's media culture. Her critical perspective on media representation of girls and women, as well as gender stereotypes on screen and in children's toys, have been reported on in major publications, news programs, and radio broadcasts. For example, her analyses of Barbie have been covered by The Washington Post, Fortune, Adweek, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and on SiriusXM, while her critiques of Disney Princess and princess culture have been reported on by the BBC, The Christian Science Monitor, Fortune, The Guardian, The Meredith Vieira Show, The New York Times, NPR's On Point, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN.

Media outlets reporting on gender-neutral toys and gendered toy marketing have included her expert commentary, such as CBC Radio's The Current, Fox and Friends, NPR's Morning Edition, Slate, and The Wall Street Journal. Hains spoke extensively about princess culture, girl power, and the history of girls and media in the 2014 ARTE France documentary Pink Attitude: Princesses, Pop Stars and Girl Power.

Academia

Hains is a professor in the Media and Communication Department at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts, where she has also served as department chair and a faculty fellow in diversity, equity and inclusion. Among her peer-reviewed journal articles, the most frequently cited is "Power feminism, mediated: Girl power and the commercial politics of change," published in Women's Studies in Communication, which informs scholars' research about feminism and power dynamics in the media. Oxford Bibliographies identifies two of Hains' other articles as significant contributions on advertising and promotion to children, three of her works (including her first two books) as significant contributions on "tweens – childhood studies", and her collection Princess Cultures as a significant contribution to "fairy tales and folk tales – childhood studies".

Hains was invited as a special guest to the White House Council on Women and Girls' Research Conference on Girls in 2014. She sits on the National Advisory Council of Media Literacy Now and the editorial board of the Journal of Children and Media. She was previously a board member of the Brave Girls Alliance, the International Communication Association, and the National Women's Studies Association. Hains received a 2023–2024 Fulbright award to teach at Jagiellonian University in Poland, where she also "explore the global impact of American media internationally".

References

  1. ^ "Rebecca Hains". Salem State Faculty Directory. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Rebecca Hains". Salem State Expert Gallery. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  3. Hains, Rebecca. "Curriculum Vitae Rebecca C. Hains, Ph.D.", accessed April 24, 2023; "Rebecca Hains, Guest Blogger", The Christian Science Monitor, accessed April 24, 2023
  4. Hains, Rebecca (2012). Growing Up With Girl Power: Girlhood On Screen and in Everyday Life. Peter Lang. ISBN 9781433111389.
  5. ^ Keller, Jessalynn. "Critical girls: girl power revisited", Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 7, no. 2, winter 2014, pp. 142 et seq.
  6. Kelly, Emma Jean. "Hains, Rebecca C.: Growing Up with Girlpower: Girlhood on Screen and in Everyday Life", Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy, no. 147, May 2013, p. 167
  7. Hains, Rebecca (2014). The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through the Princess-Obsessed Years. Sourcebooks. ISBN 9781402294037.
  8. Heatwole, Alexandra. "Disney girlhood: princess generations and Once Upon a Time", Studies in the Humanities, vol. 43, no. 1–2, December 2016, pp. 1 et seq.
  9. "The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls through the Princess-Obsessed Years", ProtoView.com, November 2014
  10. ^ Vieira, Meredith (25 November 2014). "The Princess Problem, Part One". The Meredith Vieira Show: YouTube. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  11. ^ Vieira, Meredith (25 November 2014). "The Princess Problem, Part Two". The Meredith Vieira Show: Youtube. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  12. "The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through the Princess-Obsessed Years", Publishers Weekly, vol. 261, no. 35, September 1, 2014, p. 65
  13. Forman-Brunell, Miriam; Hains, Rebecca (2013). Princess Cultures: Mediating Girls' Imaginations and Identities. Peter Lang. ISBN 9781433120619.
  14. Hains, Rebecca; Mazzarella, Sharon (2019). Cultural Studies of Lego: More than Just Bricks. Palgrave. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32664-7. ISBN 978-3-030-32663-0. S2CID 239062073.
  15. Hains, Rebecca; Jennings, Nancy (2021). The Marketing of Children's Toys: Critical Perspectives on Children's Consumer Culture. Palgrave. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-62881-9. ISBN 978-3-030-62881-9. S2CID 242385528.
  16. Aguilo-Perez, Emily R. "Princess Cultures: Mediating Girls' Imaginations and Identities", American Journal of Play, vol. 8, no. 3, spring 2016, pp. 397 et seq.
  17. Hains, Rebecca (February 3, 2020). "Pride in being a #Girldad is good, but it shows how far we still have to go". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (August 20, 2019). "Dear fellow white people: Here's what to do when you're called racist". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (March 7, 2019). "Barbie is 60. And she's reinventing herself". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2021.>Hains, Rebecca (June 24, 2016). "Why Disney Princesses and princess culture are bad for girls". Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (February 12, 2016). "Boys play with dolls, and girls play with spaceships. Someone tell the toymakers". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (February 1, 2016). "A Barbie with curves is still all about looks". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (November 17, 2015). "Princess Leia is a general now. But why isn't she in more toy stores?". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  18. Hains, Rebecca (November 5, 2012). "Top 5 parenting tips for media literacy in preschoolers". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (May 16, 2013). "Disney misses the point in response to Merida petition". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (February 17, 2015). "Princess Awesome dresses show a tipping point for parents". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 2, 2021. >Hains, Rebecca (October 22, 2014). ""F-Bombs for Feminism": A viral video exploiting girls, not empowering them". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (July 10, 2014). "Six summer beauty tips (made you look!)". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (May 6, 2014). "Boko Haram: Three ways to fight human trafficking". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  19. Hains, Rebecca (February 27, 2015). "The problem with separate toys for boys and girls". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Hains, Rebecca (November 17, 2015). "Why boys should play with dolls". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  20. Javaid, Maham (April 5, 2023). "Why we can't look away from the 'Barbie' movie's fever-dream-like trailer". The Washington Post.
  21. Prakash, Prarthana (July 3, 2023). "The Barbie franchise is trying hard to represent different ethnicities – but that may have prompted a movie ban in Vietnam". Fortune.
  22. Klara, Robert (2019). "Here's how much Barbie has changed since her debut almost 60 years ago". Adweek. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  23. Cramer, Maria (2020). "After all these years, Barbie is still reinventing herself". The New York Times.
  24. Herman, Valli (December 5, 2023). "'Barbie's' influence hasn't slowed down. Pink Crocs and gender equality, anyone?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  25. Reed, Americus (March 17, 2016). "Will consumers buy into Mattel's new Barbie strategy?". Knowledge @ Wharton on SiriusXM Radio. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  26. Brook, Tom (2016). "The controversy behind Disney's groundbreaking new princess". The BBC. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  27. Hoover, Amanda (2016). "Disney's 'Moana' wins at box office with feminist narrative". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  28. Zarya, Valentina (2017). "Is your daughter's princess costume bad for her? Here's what the experts say". Fortune. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  29. McVeigh, Tracy (2015). "Kenneth Branagh's corseted Cinderella fails the Frozen test, say critics". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  30. Hill, Amelia (2015). "Princess Awesome: the fight against 'pinkification'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  31. Barnes, Brooks (2016). "A new Disney Princesa carries responsibilities beyond her kingdom". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  32. Dell'Antonio, KJ (2016o). "Disney Princesses do change girls--and boys, too". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  33. Ashbrook, Tom (2016). "The evolution of a Disney Princess". NPR's On Point, WBUR Radio. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  34. Jargon, Julie (2021). "Let it go? Disney Princess culture isn't toxic, study finds". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  35. Gamerman, Ellen (2019). "Generation "Frozen" grows up". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  36. Davis, Lisa Selin. "Why gender-neutral holiday presents matter for your children", CNN, December 20, 2021
  37. "Can gender-specific toys affect a child's development? Researchers weigh in". CBC Radio: The Current. CBC Radio. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  38. Carlson, Tucker (2014). "No Gender December: Movement calls for "more inclusive" toys". Fox and Friends. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  39. "Nothing but Neutral: Toy Stores Dropping Gender-Specfiic Aisles". Fox and Friends. 2013.
  40. Kamanetz, Anya; Turner, Cory (2019). "Sparkle unicorns and fart ninjas: What parents can do about gendered toys". NPR's Morning Edition. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  41. Tu, Chau (2018). "How do toy companies appeal to kids in the post-Saturday morning cartoon era?". Slate. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  42. Prang, Allison (2021). "Gender-neutral toys for children gain ground". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  43. "Pink attitude: Princesses, pop stars and girl power (excerpt)". Daily Motion. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  44. Denjean, Cécile. "Pink attitude: Princesses, pop stars and girl power". Cinefete.ca. Arte & Phares et Balises. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  45. "Princesses, Pop Stars & Girl Power". Film Documentaire. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  46. "Rebecca Hains". Google Scholar. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  47. Hains, Rebecca (2010). "Power feminism, mediated: Girl power and the commercial politics of change". Women's Studies in Communication. 32 (1): 89–113. doi:10.1080/07491409.2009.10162382. S2CID 143794585. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  48. "Citations: Power feminism, mediated". Google Scholar. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  49. McAllister, Matthew P., Alexandra Nutter, Yasemin Beykont, and Sydney L. Forde. "Advertising and Promotion", Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford University Press, May 26, 2022, DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199791286-0002
  50. Aguiló-Pérez, Emily R. "Tweens", Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford University Press, July 26, 2017 DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199791231-0189
  51. Koehler, Julie and Claudia Schwabe. "Fairy Tales and Folktales", Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford University Press, February 22, 2018 DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199791231-0195
  52. "Media Literacy Now: Staff & Board". Media Literacy Now. 15 October 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  53. Souza, Scott. "Salem State University Professors Earn Fulbright Awards", Patch, September 1, 2023
  54. "Rebecca Hains", Fulbright Scholar Program. Retrieved May 21, 2024
  55. Luca, Dustin. "Salem educators head abroad on Fulbright awards", The Salem News, September 20, 2023

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