Dr. JoAnn Deak, a well known educator and consultant to the education community has written an excellent and wide ranging book with Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters. Laced with real life stories and vignettes about the lives and concerns of girls growing up, Dr. Deak offers solutions to many of the most vexing problems facing girls in today's society.
Many of the problems discussed in this book are cultural in nature, such as the societal value placed on being ultra slim when prepubescent physiology results in a little pudginess, and on the focus on early sexuality among teens. Some of these challenges are physical, such as the onset of menstruation and the accompanying mood swings and hormonal adjustments. Many challenges she reviews focus on the expectations of society, parents and peers. In short, growing up female can be a real hurdle.
But Dr. Deak also offers strong and vibrant solutions for dealing with the challenges and vicissitudes of life for our daughters. She offers advice on negotiating the gray areas where there is no clear right answer. An entire chapter of the book deals with the role of fathers in their daughters' lives, and offers excellent research and advice for dads on what she calls the "delicate dance" with our daughters.
Overall, the reader will find <i>Girls Will Be Girls</i> a significant resource to helping us understand the societal and social context in which our daughters mature and to guiding us in helping them become productive and positive adult women.
