In many ways, today is the best time in history to be a girl: Opportunities for a girl’s success are as unlimited as her dreams. Yet an alarm...
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Aug 23, 2009
Jodi
rated it: 
My daughter is not even a tween (scary our society needs this word today) but I can already see some of society's pressures at work on her. She is very aware of fashion, weight, and social acceptance. I try so hard to convince her that people come in all sizes, shapes, colors, abilities, etc. but I can still see those wheels turning in her head as she gets messages from our culture. Also, I see how she is drawn to inappropriate fashion (which I can win on now because I am buying the clothes)
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Feb 25, 2009
Kathleen
rated it:
* Be pretty, sweet, and nice
* Be athletic, be competitive, and get straight A's
* Be impossibly perfect
That is the premise of The Triple Bind--that the expectations for young girls growing up in today's society have gone overboard--expectations set impossibly high and difficult to achieve. A girl is supposed to be good at "girl stuff", like friendships and emotional support of her family, yet excel at "boy stuff", like math and science and More...
* Be athletic, be competitive, and get straight A's
* Be impossibly perfect
That is the premise of The Triple Bind--that the expectations for young girls growing up in today's society have gone overboard--expectations set impossibly high and difficult to achieve. A girl is supposed to be good at "girl stuff", like friendships and emotional support of her family, yet excel at "boy stuff", like math and science and More...
Aug 11, 2009
M
rated it: 
An interesting look at the potential causes for rising depression, anxiety, suicide, eating disorders, etc. rates among teen girls. The Triple Bind is basically this: girls are expected to be pretty, sexy, etc. ("girl" qualities), successful and competitive ("boy" qualities), and make it all look effortless (be perfect at both). This sets an impossibly high bar that many a hormonal, young, and emotionally inexperienced girl can't handle. The author also broached the topic of
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Nov 06, 2009
Kaethe
rated it: 
I'd have to call this a waste of paper. Not because I disagree with the author. I absolutely agree that adolescent American girls are in a dreadful place. I even agree with the pressures he identifies: to excel at traditional girl stuff (empathy, concern for others, being supportive of others); to excel at traditional boy stuff (sports, grades, competition); all the while, being expected to excel at hotness as well.
Unfortunately, Hinshaw is a clueless dude, barging in and telling More...
Unfortunately, Hinshaw is a clueless dude, barging in and telling More...
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Aug 26, 2009
Marie says...
Ever wonder why more adolescents suffer from troubling emotional problems today than in decades past? Dr. Stephen Hinshaw (chair of the Psychology Department at my alma mater!) points to what he calls “The Triple Bind.” Today’s young girls are feeling more and more pressure to “Be pretty, sweet, and nice” and at the same time “be athletic, competitive, and get straight A’s” and the clicher… “be impossibly perfect”. This is an interesting read for anyone who has a teen g More...
Ever wonder why more adolescents suffer from troubling emotional problems today than in decades past? Dr. Stephen Hinshaw (chair of the Psychology Department at my alma mater!) points to what he calls “The Triple Bind.” Today’s young girls are feeling more and more pressure to “Be pretty, sweet, and nice” and at the same time “be athletic, competitive, and get straight A’s” and the clicher… “be impossibly perfect”. This is an interesting read for anyone who has a teen g More...
Dec 08, 2010
Aoife
rated it:
I would very much recommend this book to the parents of daughters, despite the fact that it suggests very few solutions. The author brilliantly lays out the "triple bind" that girls are trapped in today, articulating the many contradicting pressures that they are subject to. It can be hard for the fish, so to speak, to describe the water we are swimming in, yet Hinshaw sees it all very clearly and names each factor precisely. The book is worth reading for that reason alone, and for the
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Nov 11, 2009
Ami
rated it: 
"The Triple Bind" is about the three contradictory tenants that the author feels all girls in today's society are subjected to: be sweet and nice like a girl, be ambitious and competitive as a boy, and be sexy but not sexual. The trick, the author says, is that girls are pressured to be all this, all the time, and perform effortlessly. I do feel the author has a point. In this "modern" age, girls and woman are told they can and should do it all. And today there is more pr
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May 21, 2011
Kate
rated it:
Lol-worthy observations; lengthy and repetitive.
This is absolutely a first. I don't think I've ever complained about a book seeming to drag on in 178 pages. I'm bored, annoyed, and I haven't learned anything. This is extremely disappointing considering the sources/appearance of research that went into it.
Let me help you: Pass.
This is absolutely a first. I don't think I've ever complained about a book seeming to drag on in 178 pages. I'm bored, annoyed, and I haven't learned anything. This is extremely disappointing considering the sources/appearance of research that went into it.
Let me help you: Pass.
Jun 16, 2009
Angela
rated it: 
An excellent study on perfectionism, the dichotomy between being good and being smart, and how to help girls not only balance excruciating schedules of work, school, homework, achievement, volunteering, friends, sports and job in the effort to get into the best colleges-- but also see what is more and less important in the grand scheme of things.
Jun 16, 2010
Erin
rated it:
The triple bind of being good at girl things and boy things and making it all seem effortless is a great way of phrasing the discussion of working moms verse stay at home moms. Women now feel they have to work all day and be career driven yet still be a perfect mom AND make it seem easy. It was an interesting way to look at a social issue that has polariszed women rather than unite them (to work or not to work, to be a cliche mom or to be a what works for you mom).
Jun 27, 2009
Laura
rated it:
A thought-provoking look at the challenges faced by tween and teen girls. A bit repetitive, but definitely set the wheels turning, thinking about how I raise my 9-year-old daughter. How will I equip her with the tools to be successful in today's culture?
Oct 16, 2009
Carrie
rated it:
I was skeptical when I picked up this book because I didn't think the author could prove his point. However, I found the book chocked with research as well as popular, real life examples. Overall, this was a very good book that was easy to follow along with. The only criticisms I have are that I thought he could have expounded more on the solution as well as his tendency to be repetitive.
Feb 06, 2012
Allison
rated it:
The premise is great, but nearly the whole book outlines the problem (which the introduction does concisely and beautifully), with only minimal solutions offered. Worth reading, but if you're busy, I'd just read the intro and the last chapter.
Mar 26, 2009
Detailed description of the challenges and pressures ("binds") facing teen girls. Lots of stories and statitstics. Weaker on "what to do." I skimmed the whole book; it does get a bit repetitive.
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Sep 02, 2010
Rebekah
rated it:
here's the triple bind:
be feminine (aka compassionate)
be masculine (aka successful)
and
be sexy
i could see his point. this could have been an article, not a book
be feminine (aka compassionate)
be masculine (aka successful)
and
be sexy
i could see his point. this could have been an article, not a book
Oct 23, 2011
Jen
rated it:
Helpful in understanding the immense pressure our daughters are under, but doesn't give much in the way of solutions (though I have some of my own ideas).
Aug 30, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Repetitive. Worth skimming for parents and those who work with teen girls.
Aug 07, 2009
Kori
rated it:
I didn't get to finish this one before it was due back at the library. Tried to renew, but apparently it is popular and there were other holds on it. Renew request was denied.
May 15, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
This was a really good book to read if you work with teenage girls or have a daughter. It gave me so much to think about with raising my daughter and how to help her as she gets older.
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