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A review of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

Case histories and insights into why adolescent girls are experiencing more problems today than ever before.

Reviewed by: Catherine McNair
About Catherine McNair

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls This is a "must read" for adolescent girls, and anyone else that knows, loves, or works with adolescent girls. Dr. Mary Pipher has compiled case histories from her therapy work with adolescent girls and her insights into why adolescent girls seem to be experiencing more difficulties now than ever before with drug and alcohol use, sexual violence, eating disorders, and many other problems. She also offers some advise on what girls can do to help themselves and what others can do to help them.

Dr. Pipher discusses being a teenager in the context of today's culture. She introduces us to several young women that she has worked with, and the many problems they have experienced. She relates each one to the larger issues in our society. Women are not valued for the skills and attributes that make them unique in our society, they are valued for how they look. A standard has been set and is perpetuated by our media, of 5'10", 110 pound, perfect and beautiful creatures. This is a standard that most of us can't possibly meet! Yet, because this is what is considered valuable, this is what young girls strive for and what their peers' rejection or acceptance is based on. Girls sacrifice their health and their self-worth in order to be accepted.

Sexual violence is also an important factor in how girls see themselves and develop. Each young woman grows up in a society in which violence against women is an everyday occurrence. One survey the author cites indicates that 80% of teenagers think it is okay for a man to force a woman to have sex without her consent if they are married. Why don't they all know that it is never okay to force a woman without her consent? Domestic violence happens all around these girls, for some of them, right in their own home. By the time a young woman comes to the end of adolescence, she has either been the victim of sexual violence herself or knows someone that has. With this happening in their environment, girls grow up afraid for their safety. They grow up understanding that they should want the attention of men, and the price of that attention sometimes is violence.

Overall, girls sacrifice their self for acceptance. Dr. Pipher shows us how this happens, and things that each young woman can do to overcome the influences of this culture in clear and concise language. I read this book for an assignment in school, but I also have a 12 year old daughter and this one book has been the most valuable in all my parenting years. It has given me an understanding of what my daughter is experiencing in school, ways to talk to her and get her talking to me, and a clearer understanding of her behavior. It has also given me insight into my own experiences in adolescence! I expect my copy to be well worn by the time my daughter is 18.

Happy reading!

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

Copyright © by Catherine McNair, 2003

Reviewed by Catherine McNair:
-- Four to Score - by Janet Evanovich
-- Cold Tea on a Hot Day - by Curtiss Ann Matlock
-- Flesh and Blood - by Jonathan Kellerman
-- The Shelters of Stone - by Jean M. Auel
-- Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls - by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.
-- The Summons - by John Grisham









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