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Reviving Ophelia

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The book, Reviving Ophelia, is about the hardships girls go through when they are growing up and trudging through puberty. As the author Mary Pipher states it, adolescent girls tend to lose their “true selves” in order to fit in and comply with the standards that society sets for women. Pipher, a practicing therapist, uses her own case studies to show how pressures put on girls forces them to react in often damaging ways. In most case studies she tells the audience how she helped these girls heal and regain control of their lives. It seems that her primary goal is to warn people of what certain effects can have on girls and what not to do. The one thing that Pipher tends to overlook is what parents can do right to raise healthy…show more content…
Another way that girls chose to deal with their problems is to block it out with the use of drugs and/or alcohol. Pipher explains, “Often heavy chemical abuse is a red flag that points to other issues such as despair, social anxiety, problems with friends or family, pressure to achieve, negative sexual experiences, or difficulty finding a positive identity” (191). I think that if society didn’t demand so much of girls they would be much better off. The main goal is to gain popularity when that shouldn’t be the case. Girls should want to follow their hearts and do the things that they want to do rather than being pressured into doing what everyone else wants to do. Some girls are worse off than other though. The ones that do better at keeping their “true selves” are the ones who have had more supportive parents.
After reading this book, I decided that the best parents were the ones that loved their children at all times. They are the parents that allow their children to make decisions for themselves, but are always there to intervene and point down the right path. The best parents will keep their children active and still respect their decisions; as Pipher says, “Both families were reasonably protective and yet allowed the daughters freedom to grow in their own direction” (99). “Teenagers need parents who will talk to them, supervise them, help them stay organized, and support them when they are down” (134). To me that is
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