Much has been written about the Walt Disney Company's productions, but the focus has largely been on animation and feature film created by Disney. In this essay collection, the attention is turned to The Disney Channel and the programs it presents for a largely tween audience. Since its emergence as a market category in the 1980s, the tween demographic has commanded purchasing power and cultural influence, and the impressionability and social development of the age group makes it an important range of people to study. Presenting both a groundbreaking view of The Disney Channel's programming by the numbers and a deep focus on many of the best-known programs and characters of the 2000s--shows like The Wizards of Waverly Place, That's So Raven and Hannah Montana--this collection asks the simple questions, "What does The Disney Channel Universe look and sound like? Who are the stories about? Who matters on The Disney Channel?"

Between 2001–2011, Disney Channel produced several sitcoms aimed at tweens that featured female protagonists with extraordinary abilities (e.g., celebrity and super/magical powers). In this book, Christina H. Hodel argues that, while male counterparts in similar programs openly displayed their extraordinariness, the female characters in these programs were often forced into hiding and secrecy, which significantly diminished their agency. She analyzes sitcom episodes, commentary in magazine articles, and web-based discussions of these series to examine how they portrayed female youths and the impact it had on its adolescent viewers. Combining close readings of dialogue and action with socioeconomic and historical contextual insights, Hodel sheds new light on the attitudes of the creators of these programs (mostly white, middle-aged, Western, heterosexual males) and the long-term impact on women today. Ultimately, her analysis shows, these blockbuster sitcoms reveal that despite Disney’s progress toward creating empowered girls, the network was—and still is—locked into tradition. This book is of interest to scholars of Disney studies, cultural studies, television studies, and gender studies.

This comprehensive guide to tween library services begins with a developmental description of this ever-changing group and offers practical advice about materials and programming. Criteria are provided for categorizing books, music, movies and magazines as appropriate for tweens, with special attention given to the reluctant reader. The authors discuss how to determine where tween services fit within the broader spectrum of youth services, and how to provide support for them. Information on marketing and outreach to tweens and their adults completes this essential guide.

Since the early 2000s, Disney Channel has been dominated by original live-action programming popular among tween girls. The shows’ successes rely not only on their popularity among girl audiences, but also on the development of star personae by girl performers, such as Raven-Symoné, Miley Cyrus, and Selena Gomez. In addition, these programs and their performers have spawned lucrative media and merchandising franchises for the Walt Disney Company. This book includes analyses of this Disney Channel programming, as well as Disney corporate reports and executive statements, together with Disney Channel stars’ performances, promotional appearances, media production, philanthropic efforts, and entrepreneurism. Analyzing these texts, performances, activities, and personae, it considers the ways in which they reproduce celebrity, visibility, and feminine performativity as central to successful twenty-first century girlhood.

A media expert and activist assesses the role that children and youth play in the emerging digital culture--as consumers targeted by marketing campaigns, as creators of their own digital culture, and as political participants.

Assembles the important writings on advertising and society. This title includes 27 essays which provide readers with the some of the best-known writings on the nature, process, and social implications of advertising and consumer culture for society