Tagged: Joel Best

Guest Post: What Makes Barbie Bad?

  by Joel Best               Barbie, the teenage fashion doll, turns 50 this month.  The years have been kind to Barbie; she hasn’t gained weight or lost her figure.  Of course, her critics would say that’s the problem.             We’ve all heard the complaints by sociologists of gender and other intellectuals. Barbie, they say, is harmful–even dangerous–because she promotes traditional gender roles.  Her beauty teaches little girls that society will judge them primarily according to their looks, and not...

Awards Season

Later this week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is scheduled to hold their 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California.  While the Oscars is the premiere awards ceremony for the United States film industry, in recent years a variety of other awards ceremonies have begun to proliferate across the calendar to recognize members of the film industry in a variety of similar categories to the Oscars. Recently, sociologist Joel Best has written an article describing the proliferation of...