Contemporary European Ideals for Upbringing Seen through Advertisements

The general European discourse of childhood presents children as innocent and
vulnerable, but within this discourse different images of ‘the perfect child’ exist. What
ideas about upbringing and future adults do European parents have?
In this paper ideals for upbringing are studied through French, German and Dutch
advertisements for children’s products. The sample consists of 290 advertisements
collected in the period 1995-1998 from women’s magazines, and the analysis consists of
a content analysis and a qualitative analysis of typical advertisements. Different
interpretations of play, intellectual development and well-being are central.
The advertisements are analysed for what they highlight as “good” for children.
Especially remarkable .... mais