The Hacking Stereotypes Festival, first launched in 2016, has successfully engaged over 20,000 educators and 1,080,000 students to date.

What is the festival about:

Our objective is to share our experience and tools with educators, teachers, schools, community centers, organizations, NGOs, universities, and academic institutions interested in fostering a critical perspective on mass media and mainstream cultural content (including each one’s own personal consumption). We aim to assist them in working with their students and members to analyze and identify how these media and cultural representations perpetuate symbolic violence, gender stereotypes, the neglect of diversity, romanticized notions of happiness and success. Furthermore, we aim to explore how these issues relate to problems such as bullying, eating disorders, depression, and other challenges faced during childhood and teenage years, and also towards adult life.

What is «hacking» stereotypes?

«Hacking» stereotypes is a creative and educational experience in which we use mass media, advertising, and mainstream culture repeated images and messages as a starting point to question them. Through this process, we aim to identify stereotypes and symbolic violence and encourage a critical perspective that questions these messages and images. We have developed up to 9 different activities that facilitate discussions and promote dialogue between teachers and students on essential topics in their lives.

Who is the target audience for the Festival?

The festival is open to teachers of all levels, including those in college, university, and post-degree studies, as well as any public educational organization or individuals teaching a group of people. Participation is free of charge.

What do we do?

We provide step-by-step guides for each activity, including a minimum of 9 hacking activities designed by us and our institutional partners. Each activity is accompanied by instructions, materials, and audiovisual content. We are available to address any doubts or questions, review participants’ work throughout the activities, and share selected content on our Instagram and within our community.