<p>Scholars and laypersons are increasingly concerned about the marketing of inappropriate adult fashions directly to <em>tweens</em>, children between the ages of eight and thirteen. Using a symbolic interactionist approach, I consider strategies used to market tween fashion images, and their influence on tween self-image and mother-child relationships.</p> <p>Through content analysis of images in two magazines, <em>Today's Parent</em> and <em>Tiger Beat</em>, I establish that contradictions exist between traditional images of childhood as a time of innocence, and more recent adult or sexualized images of tweenhood; that both these types of representations are gendered; and that both reinforce gender roles in childhood and tweenhood alike.</p> <p>Through qualitative interviews with mothers and tweens, I explore the meanings they associate with tween fashion and their influence on tween self-image. Both mothers and tweens are somewhat influenced by marketing strategies that use brands, logos and celebrity role models to market tween fashion. However, mothers use maternal "gatekeeping" strategies such as solo shopping, and control of financial resources, to mitigate the influence of fashion marketing on their tweens, and to avoid disagreements with their children over potentially inappropriate fashion styles.</p> <p>Tweens themselves actively filter corporate messages based on their own internalized gendered meanings learned through socialization. The opinions of their mothers, primarily, and their peers, influence their assessments of clothing as appropriate or inappropriate, regardless of marketing strategies. Notably, tween girls use internalized gendered meanings to differentiate between fashions that convey a "good girl" image or a "trampy" image, reproducing patriarchal versions of women as madonnas or whores, even at this age. Despite moral panics, a symbolic interactionist approach inspired by the principles of the new sociology of childhood, privileges tweens' voices and reveals them to be embedded within social networks that temper the influence of tween fashion.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Magistro darbe analizuojamas motinos įvaizdis XIX a. lietuvių poezijoje. Tiriamieji šaltiniai yra XIX a. lietuvių poezijos tekstai. Iš didelio šaltinių kiekio, daugiau nei 500 tekstų, buvo išrinkti tie kūriniai, kuriuose poetai mini motiną. Teorinėje darbo dalyje pateiktos teorinės prielaidos, kurios padėjo apibrėžti pagrindinę šiame darbe vartojamą sąvoką – įvaizdis. Viena jų yra mito kritika, kuri suteikė platesnį kontekstą, padėjo apibrėžti darbe vartojamas sąvokas, tokias kaip archetipas, simbolis, jas sieti su aptiktu motinos įvaizdžiu. Kitas svarbus teorinės darbo dalies poskyris – kultūrologinė apžvalga, paremta V. Kavolio įžvalgomis apie motiną, jos reikšmę lietuvių kultūroje ir santykį su kitais šeimos nariais. Pagrindinė tyrimo dalis paremta trimis motinos įvaizdžio modeliais: daukantiškuoju, valančiškuoju ir maironiškuoju. Visi šie modeliai atspindi pagrindines vertybines poezijos dominantes: tradiciškumą, religines ir moralines vertybes, modernios tautos formavimąsi. Pastebėta, kad motinos įvaizdžio griežtai suskirstyti pagal amžiaus ribas negalima. XIX a. poezijoje išskirti motinos modeliai vienas su kitu persipina ir yra glaudžiai susiję. Galima teigti, kad amžiaus pradžioje dominuoja tiesioginės motinos įvaizdžio prasmės, kai ji susijusi su šeimos gyvenimu, yra vaizduojama namų aplinkoje, šalia vaiko, daugiau siejama su folkloro tradicija. Tačiau ima ryškėti ir kiek kitoks motinos įvaizdžio matmuo, kai jis atsiduria krikščioniškajame kontekste, yra siejamas su... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The image of mother in the Lithuanian poetry of the 19th century was analyzed in Master’s thesis. Sources for the research were texts of Lithuanian poetry of the 19th century. From the large amount of the sources (more than 500 texts) the writings, in which poets mention mother, were selected. The theoretical assumptions, which helped to define the basic notion of this work - the image, were presented in the theoretical part. One of them was the criticism of myth, which gave a broader context, helped to define terms used in the work, such as an archetype, a symbol, also to associate them with the detected image of mother. Another important section of the theoretical part of the work was a culturological review, based on the insights of V. Kavolis about mother, her meaning in Lithuanian culture, and her relationship with other members of a family. The main part of the study was based on three models of the image of mother: daukantastic, valanciustic, and maironistic. All of these models reflected the basic valuable dominants of poetry: traditionality, religious and moral values, the formation of a modern nation. It was noted, that according to the age limits it was impossible to divide the image of mother strictly. The distinguished models of mother in poetry of the 19th century interlaced with each other and were closely linked. It can be proposed, that at the beginning of the age the direct meanings of mother’s image dominate when she is related to a family life, is... [to full text]