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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

mix and mingle



There’s lots of discussion about what Disney princess movies teach little girls, but has anyone thought about what they teach little boys?

Yes, yes they have.

This article talks about a study done on how Disney Princess movies affect young children, specifically, young boys.  I don’t want to give spoilers but the affect these movies had on boys was exactly opposite of what I thought it would be.


Writers are told to read, read, read. But does what we read matter? According to this article it does. I’m not 100% sold on its conclusions but I will agree that reading ‘good’ writing is better than reading ‘bad’ writing, no matter the genre.  Though why someone would purposefully read something they think is ‘bad’ is beyond me.

On a happy note. We’ve finally broke ground!  In six or so months we’ll have a house again. 






21 comments:

  1. I will sometimes read bad stuff to think of what could have been tweaked to make the bad good. But the good writing is way more inspiring.

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    1. Sometimes I'll flip through it if it's a popular book and I want to try and find out why. But I don't really consider that reading.

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  2. I will sometimes read bad stuff to think of what could have been tweaked to make the bad good. But the good writing is way more inspiring.

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  3. Yes, I don't like to read bad writing, even if it's popular. Awesome your house building is starting.

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  4. Yay for breaking ground! You know, reading anything and everything has done wonders for my understanding of plot, character, and prose. I don't think a person has any business being a writer if they don't read.

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    1. I agree. I've seen people try and it just doesn't work, you can tell in their writing.

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  5. Thank you for the link. That is quite interesting. I'm a firm believer in reading writers who are better than I am. It's a good way to stretch my thinking and expand my abilities.

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  6. Woo Hoo for breaking ground! I know you're relieved, Sara. On the reading idea, with kids, you just want time to be reading. That's the first step. Then, you can help them find the good.

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    1. That is true. Get them reading, anything that interests them, then you can refine.

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  7. Awesome on the house and yes, good writing inspires while bad writing does teach us what not to do.

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    1. You can learn from bad writing, but it's more fun to learn from good.

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  8. All of our younger granddaughters are completely enamored with the Disney princesses. One, a four-year old, is especially into all things "Frozen," and has seen the movie so many times, she and her older sister can sing every song, and recite most of the dialogue word-for-word. Their brothers watch those same movies, too, but all of the kids also watch all of the OTHER animated flicks, too, so they're all as happily apt to quote from a Princess movie as they are to laugh and blast their grandmother with a "fart gun." Diversified interests. HA

    As for reading, it's all good. Whether it's considered deep or light, informative or entertaining, we can learn something from all of it. Even if it's how we DON'T want to write.

    Congratulations on breaking ground! (I'm sure if one of the grands were here right now, (s)he'd be more than happy to squeeze off a few with a fart gun to provide some happy sound effects to commemorate your ground-breaking. :)

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    1. Thanks for the fart gun salute! I do think diversifying our habits is good, whether in movies or books, or whatever.

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  10. YAY for breaking ground! Please continue to share updates about your house's progress.

    Thanks for sharing the articles.

    I wonder if exposure to the chivalrous male characters in the princess stories (and not exposure to the princesses themselves) is what is cultivating the behavior in boys to help others and share.

    Sometimes reading "bad" writing motivates me to think about what I don't want to do in my own work.

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