Media Literacy

After Adolescence: What TV Gets Right (and Wrong) About Masculinity and Femininity

Delaney Ruston, MD
Lisa Tabb
April 15, 2025

How do we raise girls with fierce ambition and critical awareness of gender inequality without making them feel disheartened? And how do we help boys understand the hidden costs of rigid masculinity without shaming them into silence? 

These questions take center stage in our latest podcast episode, Tradwives, the Manosphere, and Online Sexism: What Can Parents Do? These topics are especially relevant to the conversations sparked by the hit Netflix series Adolescence, which has reignited public debate about gender roles, aggression, and social conditioning.

In this episode, I sit down with Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, psychologist and author of Sexism and Sensibility, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Oprah Daily, Women's Health, and more.

Our conversation dives deep into the invisible pressures shaping both girls and boys: from the objectifying forces of beauty culture to the emotional restrictions imposed by "boy code." Jo-Ann offers eye-opening insights into how we can raise emotionally whole, socially aware kids without perpetuating cycles of blame or shame.

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She explains why boys need to see how sexism limits them too and how egalitarian parenting can help build a kind of internal “sexism detector” that empowers all children to value connection over domination. 

We also discuss the hidden toll of self-objectification on girls and how even well-meaning compliments can chip away at their mental focus and sense of worth. 

This episode is packed with research, real-life parenting moments, and practical strategies for those ready to challenge gender norms at home and beyond.

If you have some time today, I'd really love it if you could listen to the episode. Some of the insights raised are so important. 

You can listen above, or at any of these links to listen where you normally get your podcasts

Apple Podcasts // Spotify // Castbox // Youtube // Show Page

Here are some questions to help continue the conversations within your group or family:

  1. What are the messages in the media of how girls are supposed to act?
  2. How about boys?
  3. What do you stand up to when you see it happening regarding either of these? Or if you have not but wish you could?
  4. What shows can we think of that show boys and girls acting in ways that are outside the way they are “supposed” to act? 
  5. Research shows us that girls in this culture get interrupted far more than boys. Are you surprised or not by that finding from what you have seen in life thus far?

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This week on YouTube

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel! We add new videos regularly and you'll find over 100 videos covering parenting advice, guidance, podcasts, movie clips and more. Here's our most recent:

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Media Literacy

After Adolescence: What TV Gets Right (and Wrong) About Masculinity and Femininity

Delaney Ruston, MD
April 15, 2025

How do we raise girls with fierce ambition and critical awareness of gender inequality without making them feel disheartened? And how do we help boys understand the hidden costs of rigid masculinity without shaming them into silence? 

These questions take center stage in our latest podcast episode, Tradwives, the Manosphere, and Online Sexism: What Can Parents Do? These topics are especially relevant to the conversations sparked by the hit Netflix series Adolescence, which has reignited public debate about gender roles, aggression, and social conditioning.

In this episode, I sit down with Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, psychologist and author of Sexism and Sensibility, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Oprah Daily, Women's Health, and more.

Our conversation dives deep into the invisible pressures shaping both girls and boys: from the objectifying forces of beauty culture to the emotional restrictions imposed by "boy code." Jo-Ann offers eye-opening insights into how we can raise emotionally whole, socially aware kids without perpetuating cycles of blame or shame.

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parenting in the screen age

for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.  

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