Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

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Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 · rating details · 16,414 ratings · 852 reviews

#1 New York Times Bestseller

The groundbreaking work that poses one of the most provocative questions of a generation: what is happening to the selves of adolescent girls?

As a therapist, Mary Pipher was becoming frustrated with the growing problems among adolescent girls. Why were so many of them turning to therapy in the first place? Why had these lovely and promising hu...more

Paperback, 293 pages

Published August 1st 2005 by Riverhead Trade (first published 1994)

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Feb 10, 2013 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, overrated

While this book had a whole bunch of interesting anecdotes, there were nothing more than anecdotes. The fact that a bunch of her patients manifested particular characteristics doesn't lead to the ability to generalize about adolescent trends in general, as Pipher does here. On the contrary, it's just as reasonable to believe that her patients, many of whom presumably came to her through referrals from other patients, were a self-selecting group, each of whom referred people to Pipher because she...more

14 likes · like · see review

Nov 13, 2007 Jessica rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: crazy-ladies, chicklits

This is a biased and thoughtless review, based on vague memories of a cranky adolescent's insensitive snap judgment, so you shouldn't pay any attention to it. It's definitely more of a statement about me than it is about the book, which I don't really remember anyway.

I read this in the mid-nineties when it came out, and I remember feeling, as a teenage girl, annoyed and offended. I felt at the time that it was making too much of girls' helplessness and sort of encouraging us to feel sorry for ou...more This is a biased and thoughtless review, based on vague memories of a cranky adolescent's insensitive snap judgment, so you shouldn't pay any attention to it. It's definitely more of a statement about me than it is about the book, which I don't really remember anyway.

I read this in the mid-nineties when it came out, and I remember feeling, as a teenage girl, annoyed and offended. I felt at the time that it was making too much of girls' helplessness and sort of encouraging us to feel sorry for ourselves and to wallow in a sense of victimization, blaming our parents and "the media" for everything. Honestly, though, I'm sure this is a gross mischaracterization of everything in this book, which I honestly don't remember one bit. Raising girls -- raising anyone! -- not to be all screwed-up around here -- around anywhere! -- is hard work, and parents deserve all the help they can get. At the same time, I do have some basic belief that adolescence is supposed to be kind of miserable: that's called "growing up," and it hurts. I mean, obviously girls shouldn't be cutting themselves or trying to commite suicide, but adolescents feeling bad a lot of the time seems normal to me. I engaged in a lot of behavior as a teenager that on paper sounds pretty pathological or at least disturbing, and I'm not saying that's ideal or that I want my kids doing all of it, but I did make it out the other end, you know? As did a lot of other girls I know who had much more extreme problems. Now we're grownups, and we've got the stories.

Again, I don't remember what this book said, but I do remember my basic reaction. I felt like someone was characterizing me as being way more screwed-up than I felt I was, and I was annoyed by some of the case examples, especially where they reminded me of troubled friends of mine who, I felt, were not well-served by a therapeutic culture that I saw at the time as potentially iatrogenic (though I hadn't learned that fancy word yet!).

It might be interesting to revisit Ophelia now, since I always have infinitely more sympathy for groups of which I am not a member. If this book enlightened parents about issues relevant to raising girls in a materialistic and misogynistic culture, then the more sensitive, kinder adult me is all for it. I do not envy the parents today, as I think popular culture has gotten exponentially more threatening to girls' developing a healthy sense of self.

Of course, if I were fifteen today I'd probably say that was crap. I would sneer at any suggestion that Paris Hilton or reality plastic surgery shows had any effect whatsoever on my development, and then I'd run off to drink beer in a bush with my similarly indignant peers.(less)

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Aug 20, 2007 Suzanne Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone... Ehh, just girls.

My mom gave me this book when I was like 12 or 13... this was only the beginning of the self help slurry of books, clippings, etc that my mom would throw my way. As an adolescent girl (who this book is geared towards) I hid the book under my bed and read other bull shit things like the other books you will see on my list (read in the early to mid 90s). Thinking I knew what was best for me, as girls do at that age, I continued to resist my mother's consistent pushing me to read this book. She eve...more

14 likes · like · see review

Oct 10, 2007 Holly Bond rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: parents & social workers

Shelves: non-fiction

The most important thing about this book, that I will never forget, is how well it illustrates the shift from a bubbly little girl to a depressed/angry teen and how the world just does everything it can to rob a little girl of her self esteem. That's not a blaming statement, but just an observation, that girls today are taking an emotional beating at almost every turn, and this book is a call to action. I recommend that you follow it up with Ophelia Speaks. If you have a daughter, please read th...more

9 likes · like · see review

Jan 27, 2010 Caris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

When I look at my daughter, I see a beautiful little human who means more to me than anything I could have ever imagined. She smiles at me when she wakes up. She holds my finger as we watch TV. She explains the most elaborate and convoluted things to me in a baby language I can't quite comprehend but certainly get the gist of. I have an intense feeling of responsibility for her well being, which, I assume, will last for the rest of my life.

The thought that she will grow up causes me physical pai...more When I look at my daughter, I see a beautiful little human who means more to me than anything I could have ever imagined. She smiles at me when she wakes up. She holds my finger as we watch TV. She explains the most elaborate and convoluted things to me in a baby language I can't quite comprehend but certainly get the gist of. I have an intense feeling of responsibility for her well being, which, I assume, will last for the rest of my life.

The thought that she will grow up causes me physical pain. It's hard enough seeing her gain an ounce every few days, but adolescence? I think back on it and cringe. It was awful. Embarrassing and painful. And I was (and am) a boy. Things were easier for me.

Pipher singles out my fears of my daughter's future, and prods at them with a crudely sharpened wooden stick. She watches as they writhe in agony and makes sure that I never get used to the torture. It's like the tenth ring of Dante's Inferno, specifically reserved for fathers of girls.

Eating disorders. Self-mutilation. Alcoholism. Drug use. Sex. Violence.

It's awful, but it's necessary. For the parent who is willing to face such issues head on, this is a must read. Not only does it describe a great many of the issue being faced by teenagers, it provides suggestions for dealing with these problems. In a case study format, Pipher introduces the reader to a variety of common problems faced by teenagers from many different backgrounds. She advocates parent-child relationships based on respect and understanding and she provides good ways to gain trust to get healthy dialogues off the ground.

That said, the text is dated. In another ten years, the pop culture references are going to be incomprehensible. She references the lyrics of 2 Live Crew and Madonna as major influences on teenagers. Every few years, this book deserves a new edition or else it runs the risk of becoming a time capsule. The "dialogue" that happens between Pipher and her teenage clients also comes across as false, likely due to the combination of real life cases that make up each case study. Coming from a social science background, this was easy for me to understand (every one of my college textbooks was the same way), but I worry about teenagers coming to this as a self-help text. It seems likely to me that they're not going to believe it's real.

In spite of all its flaws, this book is a must read for parents of teenagers. It addresses all of the information bombarding teenagers (media, peers, parents, school) and how best to deal with the overload. It offers tips for good socialization and gives advice for how to weather the storm.

But, if you're anything like me, don't read it if you want to sleep.

(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2008 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who care about young women

Recommended to Carrie by: Camille

There were some good things I took away from this book. Oddly enough the most important things I learned is to keep my daughters room filled with journals and writing tools. :) Wow, I wish I would have used (or would use now) writing as a tool to stay mentally healthy. The other is to keep her busy in things that make her strong in, body, mind, and spirit.

Another thing I walked away with is that there are strengths and weaknesses in every form of parenting. It made me want to hug the stuffing ou...more

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Mar 18, 2008 Shelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's been a while since I read this and was reminded about it via a thread on this very website about how women feel about barbie dolls and the like. The author is a psychologist who works with adolescent girls and suggests that there is a window (somewhere between 9 and 13 if I remember correctly) where young girls will either choose academic, athletic, or artistic endeavors--or boys. Girls learn to like boys early on (way before they learn to like girls) and an unfortunate consequence of this...more

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Oct 23, 2008 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was really really interesting. It is about the negative effects our culture has on teenage girls (too much emphasis on beauty, too much encouragement to be passive in order to please others, etc.). One of my favorite points she made is that our society spends tons of time and money educating women on self-defense, but wouldn't it make much more sense to educate young men on how to be respectful and non-violent towards women?
I do have some reservations about the book, though:...more

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Aug 09, 2007 Laura added it Recommends it for: Parents

This book is targeted at parents of girls in the 90's. While I think it had many good things to say, it was also very repetitive and could have been edited into a much tighter and more to the point read. Also, a little updating is in order. When Pipher wrote this book, things like "myspace" and "facebook" weren't even in existence. I imagine that many parents in the 00's and beyond would probably appreciate some tools for dealing with these new intrusions into family life.

Some parents might take...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 05, 2008 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: feminism-and-gender-studies, social-sciences, young-adults

When I first read this, I was very convinced of the premise--that girls do great as they move forward in elementary school, but sometime between 4th and 8th grade the harsh reality hits them that they are going to be objectified and relegated to second-class status in this male-oriented world. As a result, you see a drop-off in vivacity, creativity, and individuality. Instead of the former spunk and enthusiasm of girlhood, you see young women who shrink from the public eye, who retreat into depr...more

8 likes · like · see review

Apr 30, 2008 Kathleen added it

This book deals with the lives of young girls and their struggle with eating disorders. I read this when this was an issue in my own family, and I found it to be a great resource.

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 23, 2012 Myria rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: shit-list, shit-got-real

The author has good intentions and I agree with her on some things but…. This was horrible. I don’t even know where to begin! I really don’t. I understand parents wanting to protect their kids from these kinds of things but I hope any parent does not live by this book. Please do more research. A LOT!

I don’t know if it was just me but the way Mary worded some things, it came off as she blamed men for this problem. WHATEVER. This just reminds me of a joke that Katt Williams said about woman blami...more The author has good intentions and I agree with her on some things but…. This was horrible. I don’t even know where to begin! I really don’t. I understand parents wanting to protect their kids from these kinds of things but I hope any parent does not live by this book. Please do more research. A LOT!

I don’t know if it was just me but the way Mary worded some things, it came off as she blamed men for this problem. WHATEVER. This just reminds me of a joke that Katt Williams said about woman blaming their self esteem on men. As he said “It is called SELF esteem! It is the esteem of your M***** F***ing self!”

If it wasn’t that then it’s all about the media or peer pressure. Maybe I just don’t get this whole peer pressure and media thing bc growing up, I was too hard headed to be fooled by any of that. Everyone goes through peer pressure through all stages of life but there is a thing called personal responsibility. Being a girl does not give you a free pass at it. She also acts like girls can’t protect themselves or don’t have any inner strength or common sense. And as a parent, you don’t need a book like this to tell you that you should teach your child that. You don’t just pop out a kid and then that’s it. That is the role of being a parent! Giving them a safe, happy home to live in, helping them, guiding them and teaching them. That right there helps tremendously with giving your child good roots, confidence and a good head on their shoulders. And if you need ANY book to tell you that, then maybe you shouldn't be a parent.

NO parent is perfect and we all make mistakes, of course, and your child will deal with challenges through life (you can’t keep them safe forever) but that’s life! Blaming this kind of stuff on social trends, does not cut it. At all!!!! Parents need to pay attention and do some homework on this subject. And by SUBJECT, I mean=
*raising a bright kid
*how to be there for them
*not raising an air head
*and understanding that self-esteem issues stem from MUCH MORE than just what the author liked to point her fingers at.
What I DON'T mean= is finding ways to blame everything else but your parenting skills and/or lack of self responsibility. (less)

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Apr 28, 2009 Jaclyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, non-fiction, parenting

This book has opened my eyes to the complications of adolesence that my daughter is just on the cusp of. Although the book is 10 years old, and I am significantly younger than the author, I found the topics to be very relevant even today. I personally relate better to the author, who was a child in the 50's, and feel that the problems girls were beginning to face in the 90's are worse than I faced in the 80's and are still very much a probem today, probably more so. Reading about all of the chal...more

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May 09, 2013 Anne Gruel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Reviving Ophelia gives an in-depth look at the challenges facing adolescent girls as they enter puberty. Although written in 1995, the book still has relevance for parents or adults working with teens today. If anything, the messages that Pipher delivers through cases studies of dozens of young girls that she has worked with in therapy are even more urgent for adults to hear as our culture has continued on the path of becoming more violent and younger and younger girls are being hyper-sexualized...more Reviving Ophelia gives an in-depth look at the challenges facing adolescent girls as they enter puberty. Although written in 1995, the book still has relevance for parents or adults working with teens today. If anything, the messages that Pipher delivers through cases studies of dozens of young girls that she has worked with in therapy are even more urgent for adults to hear as our culture has continued on the path of becoming more violent and younger and younger girls are being hyper-sexualized.

The stories are vivid and heartbreaking: drug-abuse, suicide, self-mutilation, sexual assault and incest, bullying and viscous cliques. Pipher asserts that these problems are the norm for today's young girls entering the junior high school years. The author introduces us to each young girl and her problems, illustrates and discusses the culture in which these problems arise, and then shows us the therapeutic path she was able (or in a few cases, unable) to take with the girl to begin to enable her to reclaim her true, healthy self.

Each story is engrossing and informative, but the importance of this book is that Pipher ties the individual stories together in order to take stock of the state of the lives of young girls in general and to view the problems of adolescence through a cultural lens. The news is not particularly good: young girls are in crises from a culture that objectifies and over-sexualizes them and devalues their intelligence.

While Pipher gives us many examples of families in crisis she is not out, fortunately, to condemn the American family or even decry the evils of what she calls "junk culture." What she does instead is to reveal her own journey to understand the actions and feelings of her patients and to delve into the differences between the world she grew up in and the world that adolescents face today.

She shows us that the defensive and often angry attitudes that teen girls display and the self-destructive actions that they often take have developmental and cultural contexts. Pipher shows herself, finally, to be a champion of young girls. She then puts out a critical call for us to expand our understanding of the cultural difficulties adolescents face in order that we might begin to take a stand against the culture that destroys young women and begin to build a culture that supports them.(less)

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Oct 04, 2012 Hallie Hayes rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english

i believe that the authors purpose for writing this book is to spread awareness about what is going on in some teenage girls lives and the effects it has on some people. this book is about the struggles that teenage girls face, it tells of real stories that have happened to teenage girls and the effects it has on them.

the theme of "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls" would be that you never know what someone is going through. this book tells of a story of a young girl that h...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

The subtitle of this book is Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, which kind of says it all. It discusses the kinds of peer pressures and cultural pressures put on adolescent girls in the 1990's and how they affect the well being of girls as they come into puberty. It is a little dated because of the advent of texting, facebook, and tweeting and the added pressures those forms of communication put on teens. Yet, it is an insightful read with a lot of case studies and examples of how girls reac...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Vivian rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was written by Dr. Mary Pipher, a psychologist who specials dealing with teenagers. Through her work with these troubled teens, Dr. Pipher has seen a rise in all areas that we should hope to see a decrease in; things like depression, alcohol abuse, drugs, eating disorders, and sexual activity. More and more girls are participating in these activities before they enter high school. Many parents blame themselves, but Dr. Pipher also sees a connection between our media and the way girls n...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

My interest in this one is kind of hard to pin down: in part, like everyone else I'm curious and concerned about what young women go through-- this is probably just curiosity, mixed with a recognition that I'd like to understand my students a little better. But at the same time, I think that "teen girl" as a category is kind of a political football, a screen through which people wage these kind of political turf battles-- in other words, disparage the culture for its effects on teen girls. Teen...more My interest in this one is kind of hard to pin down: in part, like everyone else I'm curious and concerned about what young women go through-- this is probably just curiosity, mixed with a recognition that I'd like to understand my students a little better. But at the same time, I think that "teen girl" as a category is kind of a political football, a screen through which people wage these kind of political turf battles-- in other words, disparage the culture for its effects on teen girls. Teen girls are kind of the ultimate silent witnesses to pretty much anything you want to say about them, and I was at least a little curious what this book would say, since it was so well-received when it came out, and I think it still has some resonance, at least among fogeys like myself.

Pipher, or at least her book, kind of pushes back against my expectations in the sense that she really doesn't over-reach as much as some books from the right and left. It's true that she says at one point the love and boundaries, what is essentially the conservative parenting route, seems to work better for adolescent girls. But she is quick to add that this causes problems when the girls mature and need to make their own way. Maybe I'm missing something, but I felt like the book was really balanced in terms of how it approached girls here.

Lots of the stories are interesting, just in terms of the lives some people lead, and Pipher's explanation of her treatment style, while not in-depth (the book as a whole is short on depth, really) seem plausible and even the kind of thing you might be able to suggest without a clinical background. Her description of the differences between bulimics (disorganzied) and anorexics (controlling) was interesting, though I feel like I've seen in before. I wanted more insight, maybe, into cutting, but it wasn't that kind of book.

All in all, I felt like this was a good read, though not as challenging, scary, or eye-opening as I'd thought it'd be. I don't know what that means, but part of me thinks that it at least suggests things are that much more dire than they were fifteen years ago when this was published-- what was news then really does feel like a given now. And that can't be good.(less)

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Jun 13, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

I read this book because my therapist friend recommended it as a way to better understand teen girls. Although that wasn't too long ago for me, this book helped me understand my adolescent experience better and helped me understand the experiences of other teen girls.

This book was published in 1994 and has been reprinted, but not updated. Our world has changed significantly since 1994, but I feel that most of what Pipher has to say is still relevant. I especially enjoyed reading the different s...more

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Apr 01, 2011 emi Bevacqua rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, girlhood

I know I'm jumping the gun a bit here, my girls are only 3 but I've heard references to Reviving Ophelia for years and I'm glad I got it out of the way ahead of time. I don't like reading self-help genre, or listening to pop psychology language; and this was actually palatable, despite its having been written almost 20 years ago! I feel I learned lots about the direct effects different styles of parenting can have on teenage girls: "At one end (of the affection spectrum) are parents who are acce...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Katelynn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. About: Mary Pipher is a clinical psychologist who has cured girls for over 20 years. She writes about struggles that young girls face. The author addresses issues caused by families, abuse, peers, and depression. She analyzes her therapy sessions with girls ages 11-19. She compares different generations to discover why young girls turn to therapy.
Setting: In the everyday life of adolescent girls, and Mary Pipher.
Theme: Growing up.
Recommendation:would be to any girl or Women, and even a female...more

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Jan 09, 2010 Kara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Once again it may be a genre issue. This is non fiction and I am a total fiction junky. However, that being said...The premise of each chapter is incredibly worthwhile especially if you have girls. Pipher makes some observations that make sense and are sad but true. The problem it seemed to me was that the solution to almost every issue was to have the girl journal it. Then Pipher would go on with accounts of what she has seen in therapy with clients or interviews. Some were very interesting, bu...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Have you read Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls? The parts that I find most interesting are, of course, the actual stories of Pipher's patients...of course by the end of the book I'd cried at least 4 times.

At one point I looked up and thought, "I want to do this, I want to be a psychologist and help teenage girls." But then I re-thought, "More school?" and realized that if I do go back for a masters and eventually a Ph.D it'll definitely come later.

Anyway, here're some quo...more

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May 01, 2009 Jayme rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first encountered this book in the early-90s. I literally sat on the floor of my local Border's and read the entire thing cover-to-cover. The stories the author shares of girls' lives are incredibly riveting. It's a very good read. She mixes analysis with relevant anecdotes, which keeps the pace going.

The book discusses the turbulence lives of adolescent girls and offers strategies for parents and caregivers to ease the transition to adulthood. The book is a bit dated - the author is talking a...more

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Dec 05, 2009 Marcia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: counseling-psychology

I could identify with this book from a few different perspectives. As an adolescent in high school in the 1970's some of the expectations for girls were the same as those experienced by the author in the 1950's and 1960's, but the role of the teen girl was already changing. As the mother of a teen in the 2000's, the stories about Pipher's clients already seemed dated. As a clinical counselor, I admired Pipher's non-medical, empowering, family systems approach. She also utilizes narrative and ski...more I could identify with this book from a few different perspectives. As an adolescent in high school in the 1970's some of the expectations for girls were the same as those experienced by the author in the 1950's and 1960's, but the role of the teen girl was already changing. As the mother of a teen in the 2000's, the stories about Pipher's clients already seemed dated. As a clinical counselor, I admired Pipher's non-medical, empowering, family systems approach. She also utilizes narrative and skill building to assist her young clients in forming healthy identity and healing from abuse. Her background in cultural anthropology is helpful in understanding the immense societal changes for young women over the last 30 years. Unfortunately reading this in 2009, it seems like too little, too late. So many young women continue to suffer sexual abuse, violence, eating disorders, truancy, and addiction while trying to grow into adulthood. The media messages, reality TV shows, and the Internet present an increasingly graphic and violent sexual environment for young teens. Although counseling is more acceptable it is still accessible vastly only to middle and upper class families. Mainstream mental health care is individualistic and based on a medical model that pathologizes teens who are trying their best to survive. Families that seek help for their teens are labeled dysfunctional or codependent. Parents who love their teens stumble along trying to adapt to changing morals and values. Parents unable to control teen behaviors find their families re-victimized by the courts and mental health systems. In our society it seems someone must take the blame, either the teen, the parent or the whole family. Pipher's book, although dated, still begs the question what is wrong with the American culture? If these are the challenges of middle class white teens in the 1990's, what challenges do diverse teens from other SE groups face? What are the boundaries of safe and healthy relationships? Who is diagnosing our society and who is able to heal it?(less)

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Dec 15, 2008 Julie Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, nonfiction-reading-to-learn

Read this while I was in college because it interested me (it wasn't assigned). Pipher provides answers to the mysterious (ridiculous) behavior of adolescent girls. Having been the most awful adolescent--a curse to a hopeful mother--I was definitely curious. If only my mother could have read this back then! This book explains it all; mostly the affect our society has on developing young girls. It seems I was destined to suffer from depression, low self-esteem, an eating disorder, and a toxic rel...more

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Mar 13, 2008 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, favorites

I first read this book over 12 years ago for book club. I recently picked it up again because I now have a daughter nearing the adolescent years. This book gave me a lot to think about and some great ideas for helping me parent a daughter that will either go through these issues herself or at the very least have friends and peers who do. I believe every parent should be aware of the issues described in this book and then discuss them with their sons and daughters.

1 like · like · see review

Sep 26, 2011 Marc rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: parenting, non-fiction

Overall, a pretty scary summation of the pressures affecting our growing daughters (especially for a father!). Though a bit dated, I'm sure many of the trends have only gotten worse since the 1990s. As a parent of a bright child, (and someone trying to familiarize myself with pressures and upcoming challenges), I hope we'll be able to mediate some of these!

My only real critique is her constant comparison to boys and how they're raised. Pipher seems to be saying that only girls can have complicat...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Khaya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: professionallit, readablenonfiction, we-re-all-going-to-hell

Hmmmm....very mixed feelings about this one.

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls covers a lot of the same ground as Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student. We read about adolescent girls struggling with depression, eating disorders, self-mutilation, premature sexual involvement, etc. Both Mary Pipher and Miriam Grossman are mental health practitioners who treat these girls and view their difficulties less...more

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Sep 25, 2008 Jonna rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone with daughters

I maybe could give this book five stars. I read it my freshman year of college and then again last month and it was interesting how my perspective has changed. I still agree with the author's basic premise, though, that society is very damaging to young girls and women in general. She talks a lot about the effects of the media, peer pressure, goes into eating disorders, violence against women, etc. I would recommend it to anyone with daughters.

1 like · like · see review

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/159760.Reviving_Ophelia?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309210035l/159760.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/159760.Reviving_Ophelia?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher[/url]

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

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