Raising Strong Women
Girls get so many mixed messages. They’re told that they can be whatever they want, but only if they’re skinny and pretty. They’re told to speak up and express their opinions, but only if it’s their turn to speak. They’re told that they have the right to say “no”, but that it’s ok for boys hurt them if they like them.
Life for girls is anything but easy. Being the parent of a girl is challenging as well. As parents, we want the best for our children. We want our girls to succeed and be happy. We dream of them becoming doctors and professors and being able to support themselves without the help of anyone else.
But we worry as well. We worry about the messages they hear from the media about their bodies. We worry about the boys that pick on them while the teacher shrugs it off with a comment like “boys will be boys”. We worry about the fact that women in the U.S. earn less than men. We worry that our daughters won’t be able to access reproductive healthcare when they need it. The list goes on and on.
Girls need to be strong to survive in this world. They need to be able to ignore the stereotypes and develop a positive body image. This might seem like an impossible task with every billboard and television ad working against you, but it’s not.
The way girls feel about themselves starts at home with you. If you feel good about yourself, your daughter is far more likely to as well. If parents set a good example by not worrying over their weight or other things that they have no control over, our girls will notice. They will learn to be resilient. They’ll learn to let these things roll off their backs. It’s not much, but it’s a start.
Raising girls today is scary. We all need to work together to banish stereotypes and teach our girls to be strong.
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