As a social justice activist for the last 22 years, I am big proponent of upholding the right to free speech and expression. However, I do feel companies owe some modesty when it comes to children. For their sake, teach your children to un-plug and tune out.
I have to point out that I think of and miss my mother every day. If there are days that are especially hard, it is not when Hallmark says I should feel bad, it's when I do: my birthday and her birthday.
A recent wave of nostalgia accompanied by trips back "home", have had me pondering why we sometimes think that what we left behind might contain somet...
We have a profound, far-reaching fight on our hands, at a crossroads leading toward democracy or corporate monopoly. The future of humanity is at stake.
It's often been observed that one must leave the country of birth to see it more clearly, a truism that applies to politics, but also to art. The exhibit of Walker Evans at Die Photographische Sammlung in Köln is a perfect case in point.
Spreading "joy with toys" is a major part of what the holidays in America have become -- selling directly to children, without respect to limits, boundaries or even common decency. While completely shielding a child from rampant commercialization isn't easy, there are still ways to protect the essential blessings of childhood.
The war is the constant push of Santa to claim the holiday and the constant message of fear, self-protection, violence and the "look out for me and kind and shoot the rest of them" that opposes, negates and drowns out the good tidings of "peace on earth" among people.
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At a time of rising inequality, the marketization of everything means that people of affluence and people of modest means lead increasingly separate lives. You might call it the skyboxification of American life. It's not good for democracy, nor is it a satisfying way to live.
American society is not sufficiently supportive of breastfeeding, and the everyday realities of many new mothers' lives make exclusive breastfeeding very challenging.
Does packing such a large space with so much merchandise serve to tarnish the brand or is Forever 21 just giving shoppers what they want?
Not sure whether Valentine's Day originated with much meaning in the first place, but it has definitely turned into a holiday of commercial love, sprinkled with heart-shaped candies, plastic teddy bears and silk roses -- doesn't all this just make you wanna throw up?
The commercialized sexualization that normalizes turning toddlers into teenagers harms children's health and well-being.
"Branding" entertainment allows a company to target its audience and give a specific message, often imbedded within the programming in original and interesting ways.
We need a society in which our government and our people embrace responsibility for the common good and in which altruism and philanthropy are more a motivation in supporting charitable activity than in the profit-seeking greed of capital markets.
We must prove something is unsafe, that it will damage human health or the environment, before we can stop it. For the Challenger crew, that was tragic. For us as a nation, it could be catastrophic.
These are some truly choice answers taken from an audio interview I recently did with Canadian actor John Dunsworth, who played Jim Lahey in the famed Trailer Park Boys TV/movie franchise.
My boyfriend once gave me a watch for Christmas. I broke up with him. I hate watches. Boyfriends are supposed to know if their girlfriends are scared of time.
It might appear a bit jarring to some to be engaged in such a furious debate over the controversial airport patdowns at a time intended for celebration. Does this represent the state of our country today?
Hindu myths have survived much over the centuries. In the present day, mythology may not seem overtly in danger of extinction, but it will have to be thought through carefully to remain as vibrant and vital as it has been.
It's Valentines Day. Did you buy a card, candy or flowers? It's just marketing. Have you ever wondered what you would think about if your whole li...
I was riding in a taxi the other day. The driver had the radio on. I don't like to tell drivers who have their radios on to turn them off. First, if i...
Somewhere along the way since WWII, America's retailers, not to mention the majority of our country's citizenry, lost their bearings and Veterans Day became just another commercial opportunity.
A video review of the 1965 classic film, which is streaming for free on Hulu through the end of 2009.
The Michael Jackson we wanted was an ideal. He was lonely, so we exploited it. He was kind, so we twisted it. He was brilliant, so we marginalized it. We were like bullies on the playground.
