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Hilary Levey Friedman
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Hilary Levey Friedman, PhD is a sociologist at Harvard University, where she recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar in Health Policy. She is currently an an affiliate of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Levey Friedman’s award-winning work on childhood, parenting, competition, and beauty pageants has appeared in USA Today, The Denver Post, The Boston Globe Magazine, Slate, The Hill, Boston Magazine, The Rumpus , and various academic journals. She holds degrees from Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and Princeton University and her work has been funded by the Gates Cambridge Trust and the Spencer Foundation, among others. She recently finished a book manuscript on elementary school-age children who compete in chess, soccer, and dance and she is currently working on a book about beauty pageants in American society. Dr. Levey Friedman is a frequent television commentator, particularly on NECN's The Morning Show, as a sociologist and parenting expert.

You can follow her as she writes about childhood, competition, and popular culture at Playing to Win or see her website for more writings.

Blog Entries by Hilary Levey Friedman

It's College Admissions Decision Time: Are Parents Prepared?

(1) Comments | Posted April 19, 2013 | 12:47 PM

Keys to dealing well with rejection lie in early childhood.

Thousands of parents spent March biting their nails wondering if their children would be admitted to their first choice university. And now that the fat and thin envelopes have been sent, the worry isn't over. Not only are some...

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Leaning In to Single-Sex Education

(13) Comments | Posted March 27, 2013 | 6:32 PM

When people find out I'm the product of eight years of all-girls' schooling they often ask what the best part of the experience was. I usually answer, only half-joking, "I rarely had to shave my legs."

Lately I've been thinking more seriously about my single-sex education after devouring Sheryl Sandberg's...

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Lil Poopy: The Male Honey Boo Boo?

(24) Comments | Posted March 1, 2013 | 3:36 PM

Lil Poopy, aka Luie Rivera Jr., is a 9-year-old resident of Brockton, Mass. The fourth grader, who earned his stage name due to some impressive diapers when he was a baby, is now an artist with Cocaine City Records. He raps about doing drugs and having sex with...

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Cheering for a Mate in Two: A Review of Brooklyn Castle

(3) Comments | Posted December 11, 2012 | 7:29 AM

You might not know how to play chess. Or you might think chess is boring. But that shouldn't stop you from seeing a documentary about some special middle school kids who are pretty good competitive chess players and anything but boring.

Brooklyn Castle features a group of students...

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The Similarities Between Honey Boo Boo and Malala Yousafzai

(6) Comments | Posted October 29, 2012 | 12:30 PM

Alana Thompson and Malala Yousafzai are two seemingly vastly different young women who made headlines this past week. Yousafzai is a 15-year-old Pakistani activist who is recovering from an assassination attempt. Thompson is a seven-year-old American reality television star/child beauty pageant contestant featured on TLC's Here...

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Tiger Teachers: The New Stage Moms Aren't the Moms

(4) Comments | Posted June 7, 2012 | 4:07 PM

Write a bad mommy confessional and be rewarded with multiple weeks on bestseller lists, riches, and fame/infamy. (See: Chua, Amy [Tiger Mom]; Druckerman, Pamela [American mom, French parenting]; Weiss, Dara-Lynn [Diet Devil in Vogue]).

And then there are the television shows. In the grand tradition of stage mothers we have...

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Life Is an Audition: Recent Books About Young Adult Performers

(0) Comments | Posted March 23, 2012 | 2:23 PM

"My life has been one big audition."

This is the first line of Elizabeth Eulberg's latest young adult novel, Take a Bow [Scholastic, April 1, 2012]. Take a Bow follows four young performers--two songwriters, one singer, and an actor--through their senior year at the fictional New York City...

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Kelsey Beck: An Ivy League Beauty With Pageant Roots

(0) Comments | Posted March 7, 2012 | 10:49 AM

Children often join the family business, and these days kids end up following in their parents' footsteps in variety of fields. Mitt Romney followed his father into politics. Ivanka and Don Jr. joined the Trump family business, appearing in the latest incarnation of Celebrity Apprentice. Superbowl MVP Eli Manning followed...

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In the Wake of the Sandusky Scandal, A Call for Youth Coaching Certifications

(0) Comments | Posted November 14, 2011 | 2:11 PM

The arrest of Jerry Sandusky, a former college football coach and community volunteer who worked with children, on forty counts of child molestation of young boys has shocked and frightened many parents. As well it should.

At the end of every weekday millions of kids dash out of...

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Pas de Deux: A Review of Bunheads and Audition

(0) Comments | Posted November 4, 2011 | 12:03 PM

It's no wonder that young adult readers are fascinated by the world of competitive ballet. Even if they aren't dancers themselves, teens are drawn in by the all-consuming dance world (made more intriguing by the general absence of parents) and the focus on romance as male and female bodies intertwine....

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Whitey Bulger's Beauty Pageant Connection

(1) Comments | Posted October 9, 2011 | 10:10 PM

He was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for twelve years. But Whitey Bulger was ultimately brought down by Miss Congeniality.

No, not Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock's eponymous female FBI character in the 2000 film), but Anna Bjornsdottir.

According to The Boston Globe, which broke...

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The "Grand" Finale: Ending Season 4 of Toddlers & Tiaras

(28) Comments | Posted September 25, 2011 | 7:43 PM

You've seen the four-year-old dressed up as Dolly Parton (complete with "enhancements"), right? And, of course, you've seen the images of the three-year-old dressed up as Julia Roberts' prostitute character from Pretty Woman, haven't you?

Judging by the ratings for TLC's fourth season of Toddlers...

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Why Summer Camp Isn't as Safe as You Think

(41) Comments | Posted August 9, 2011 | 7:32 AM

It was a hot Monday morning in July and he was dribbling a soccer ball when it happened. Twelve-year-old Joshua Thibodeau was at a soccer camp last month when he suddenly collapsed. Within 45 minutes, he was dead.

By all accounts Joshua Thibodeau's death was a tragic accident. Yes, it...

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Glitz and Drama Down Under

(0) Comments | Posted August 3, 2011 | 9:29 AM

The tension has been building for months -- the online protests started in April, and then there were the rallies in May. Not to mention the Facebook threats and numerous complaints to public officials. Despite all the brouhaha, an "American-style" child beauty pageant sponsored by Texas-based...

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The Evolution of American-Style Child Beauty Pageants

(3) Comments | Posted May 10, 2011 | 7:01 PM

The Australian press and public have reacted strongly to plans to hold an "American-style" child beauty pageant in Australia this summer. Since I wrote a summary and a response to the "Australians Against Child Beauty Pageants" situation, the media attention has increased. Last weekend numerous

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Cinderella Ate My Man-Eating Tiger Daughter

(11) Comments | Posted April 1, 2011 | 11:18 AM

Looking for advice on how to raise a successful daughter? Recent bestsellers offer conflicting advice. In Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Peggy Orenstein trumpets Girl Power over pink princesses if you want a smart, independent woman. But Kay Hymowitz writes in Manning Up that you should poo-poo this New Girl Order...

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There She Goes: A Trailblazing, Feminist Beauty Queen

(5) Comments | Posted March 15, 2011 | 2:36 PM

Last week women around the world observed the 100th celebration of International Women's Day. We honored female trailblazers and leaders.

One woman not discussed was Jean Bartel, Miss America 1943, who passed away two days before International Women's Day. Some of you may think that...

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Females Down for the Count

(7) Comments | Posted February 22, 2011 | 5:12 PM

How much is a victory worth if you didn't win?

Last Thursday Cassy Herkelman had to confront this question as she became the first female to "win" a match in Iowa's state wrestling tournament for high school students. Her opponent, Joel Northrup, a favorite in the 112-pound weight class, defaulted...

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Capitalized Communism in US Sports From Women's Gymnastics to IMG Academies

(1) Comments | Posted November 10, 2010 | 11:44 AM

Last week the Federation Internationale de Gymastique (FIG) banned North Korea for two years due to age violations. Just two weeks ago the FIG was giving out accolades instead, crowning the new world kings and queens of artistic gymnastics in Rotterdam. The top-four finishers in the women's team...

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Superman's Race: Documentaries and Problems in the American Educational System

(1) Comments | Posted November 1, 2010 | 3:37 PM

The New York Department of Education just released testing information for fall 2011 entry into their Gifted and Talented classrooms. In a few weeks student paperwork must be submitted so that testing can begin in the new year. By June parents will know whether or not their child...

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