I always worry about niece, especially as she grows older. I see myself in her so much and I see that my sister is intent on creating distance between them. I had a good relationship with my mother, she was always available to help me deal with all my stuff. My sister isn’t creating that relationship with my niece.
Girls today as under so much stress. They are encouraged to do everything, expected to do everything well, and be happy about it. They have to be popular, do community service, get good grades, be involved in sports, and be hip and pretty as well. And if they achieve all of this, it’s just them living up to their potential, not doing anything extraordinary.
It’s very frightening.
The New York Times has a wonderful inside look at the lives of the “Amazing girls”:
Girls by the dozen who are high achieving, ambitious and confident (if not immune to the usual adolescent insecurities and meltdowns). Girls who do everything: Varsity sports. Student government. Theater. Community service. Girls who have grown up learning they can do anything a boy can do, which is anything they want to do.
The look into the pressures they are under, the expectations and the tools and business that thrive on perpetuating the stresses is daunting. It makes me wonder how any of them survive the pressure.
Resources:
- For Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too — by the New York Times
Found via Weblogg-ed.
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