Powerplay by Dan Fleming

Powerplay by Dan Fleming

From My Little Pony to Batman, from Lego to Nintendo, the toys that children play with make sense of their worlds. Should boys play with guns? Should girls play with Barbie dolls? This book investigates the marketing of toys, and their effects upon children. In an increasingly global media culture, toys are both consumer products and playthings, revealing a complex relationship between capitalist economics on the one hand and child psychology on the other. This study challenges accepted orthodoxies on the gendered and cultural meaning of toys. The author of this text argues that today's toys have the suppressed capacity to escape the very stereotypes of gender and power which they apparently reproduce. He also argues that toys are essential in the development of children into adults, and thus to civilization and culture. He states that violence and aggression on television and in the playground point to a deep and complex correlation between what children see and their behaviour and thought processes.

Dan Fleming is Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. He previously taught at a secondary school, a further education college and a polytechnic. From 1986 to 1989 he was Editor of the Media Education Journal.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780719047176
ISBN 10	071904717X
Title	Powerplay
Author	Dan Fleming
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Manchester University Press
Year published	1996-09-26
Number of pages	220
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.