Following World War II, unparalleled economic prosperity, along with the largest cohort of American youth, gave rise to a new teen market and a new media landscape defined by television and radio. These influences in turn gave rise to a youth culture that found expression in the mass media, and which emphasized the virtues of a consumerist ethos made possible by an ever-expanding economy. Advertising became a vehicle for advancing this new consumer culture that enabled youth to become a major audience for entertainment media, and which gave unprecedented voice to their interests and concerns. ... More

Following World War II, unparalleled economic prosperity, along with the largest cohort of American youth, gave rise to a new teen market and a new media landscape defined by television and radio. These influences in turn gave rise to a youth culture that found expression in the mass media, and which emphasized the virtues of a consumerist ethos made possible by an ever-expanding economy. Advertising became a vehicle for advancing this new consumer culture that enabled youth to become a major audience for entertainment media, and which gave unprecedented voice to their interests and concerns. With the advent of the Internet, media have again afforded young people with even greater opportunities to create and disseminate their own content. This has led to a transformation in both how youth are portrayed in the media and how American culture has been influenced in turn. This book describes these changes since 1950, with a focus on the role of the mass media as both an influence on youth socialization and as an evolving expression of youth concerns. Experts from various fields of media studies discuss these changes in chapters that focus on different aspects of adolescent portrayal, including: the history of the emergence of youth culture; youth representation in popular music and music videos; increasing portrayal of health risk behaviors in popular movies, advertising, and other media since 1950; changes in portrayal of gender roles, body image, and different ethnic groups; and the role of new and evolving media such as video games and the Internet. The book concludes with a discussion of potential policy directions for ameliorating harm from problematic media content, and the potential use of media literacy and other strategies to encourage healthier adolescent development.