Girls On The Edge; The Four Factors Driving The New Crisis for Girls

By Leonard Sax
" According to family physician/psychologist Sax (Boys Adrift; Why Gender Matters), when parents don't teach their daughters well, the marketplace fills the vacuum with what it thinks girls should look like, do, and be—and it's all wrong. Sax clarifies his four driving factors in this new crisis: sexual identity: the concept of lifelong commitment is almost unknown, and sexual confusion results when girls don't know what to expect from boyfriends; the cyberbubble: kids are constantly in touch via technology, and girls become microcelebrities, constantly living and acting as if in front of a crowd; obsessions: without realizing it, girls are obsessed with becoming ultra thin, perfecting their grades, and abusing "fun" (alcohol, drugs, sex); and environmental toxins: early puberty is related to chemicals in plastics and phthalates in skin creams. Sax supports single-sex high schools, gender-appropriate sports for girls, and nurturing girls' spirituality to provide orientation when a crisis occurs."   (LJ Reviews)  Check Our Catalog