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241st out of 962 books
—
1,177 voters
Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self Esteem, and the Confidence Gap
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
The classic account of the hurdles facing adolescent girls in America--now reissued with a new Foreword, to coincide with the award-winning author's new book on women and identity.
Inspired by a study by the American Association of University Women that showed girls' self-esteem plummeting as they reach adolescence, Peggy Orenstein s...more
The classic account of the hurdles facing adolescent girls in America--now reissued with a new Foreword, to coincide with the award-winning author's new book on women and identity.
Inspired by a study by the American Association of University Women that showed girls' self-esteem plummeting as they reach adolescence, Peggy Orenstein s...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
September 1st 1995
by Anchor
(first published August 1st 1994)
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You need to read this book.
If you're interested in education, you should read this book.
If you're interested in gender roles, women studies, class issues, you really need to read this book.
It's basically an ethnography of two middle schools, one in a poor area and one in a ritzy area. We follow a handful of students at each school and get glimpses into their home and school lives. There are nuanced reactions and interactions with the adults around them that are really telling about expectations...more
If you're interested in education, you should read this book.
If you're interested in gender roles, women studies, class issues, you really need to read this book.
It's basically an ethnography of two middle schools, one in a poor area and one in a ritzy area. We follow a handful of students at each school and get glimpses into their home and school lives. There are nuanced reactions and interactions with the adults around them that are really telling about expectations...more
In Schoolgirls, Peggy Orenstein explores self-esteem in young women; in particular, she focuses on how self-esteem relates to education: how low self-esteem can cause women to hold themselves back, and how the school environment can hurt self-esteem in many women.
The book takes a look at one school that is relatively well-off, and another that does not have many resources. Orenstein discusses a number of issues in the contexts of the different situations; it's not an exhaustive study, but it's n...more
The book takes a look at one school that is relatively well-off, and another that does not have many resources. Orenstein discusses a number of issues in the contexts of the different situations; it's not an exhaustive study, but it's n...more
This book was a real eye-opener for me, but not in the way one might think. The research for the book was done on 11-14 year old girls during the early 90's, the same time that I was in that age in school. I recognized the mostly white suburban school immediately - it had the exact same environment of female oppression that I remember from my school. And now I realize why I had such a tough time in school - i was conditioned to be unassertive. the saddest thing is that, trapped in a world of dou...more
Reading this book just a few months after reading Orenstein's Cinderella Ate My Daughter has given me a lot to think about as I continue to raise two daughters. I can't say Orenstein's findings (or the research studies she references to flesh out her anecdotal observances) are encouraging. In Schoolgirls, I was most struck by the chapter in which a teacher taught a class that emphasized women's roles in history to the degree that men's roles are normally emphasized, and about the ways people rea...more
I was recently asked, in a board game, what book most changed my life. I answered School Girls. I read it in 1995, after the recommendation of a friend. This book turned me on to social science, gender issues, and the reality that there are jobs and passions in the world that deal with gender differences, education, and just plain curiosity about how our society affects us. I guess I would've made my way to this perspective eventually, but as a 17 year old, this was exciting and mind-opening. Al...more
This book is a great resource for parents.
I gave this book four stars because it does exactly what its description says it does: describe the hardships that girls in their adolescence face.
And now for the $1,000,000 question:
Where is the equivalent book (call it "Schoolboys") that describes the hurdles that adolescent boys face???
People, especially feminists, like to assume that all is hunky dory with boys and that we don't need to help them (even the media likes to assume this -- just ask Time magazine). I don't think this is the case,...more
And now for the $1,000,000 question:
Where is the equivalent book (call it "Schoolboys") that describes the hurdles that adolescent boys face???
People, especially feminists, like to assume that all is hunky dory with boys and that we don't need to help them (even the media likes to assume this -- just ask Time magazine). I don't think this is the case,...more
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This book was written in response to a study about self-esteem and girls in school conducted by the American Association of University Women, and I have to admit that throughout most of my reading of it, one of the questions in the back of my mind was "okay, but don't girls generally out perform boys in educational settings?" So it's interesting that one of the feminist blogs I read (because that's the kind of manhating bitch I am) had this posted earlier this week.
Whatever learning differences...more
Whatever learning differences...more
As an educator, mother, or future mother, OR someone that works with young girls, this book is a must read. I cried through most of the book remembering the hardships of adolescence: popularity, boys, harassment, being female. This book is an interesting microscope into a few girls lives. I was so moved by this book, I emailed the author inquiring about the girls in the story, and what became of them. This was her reply:
Dear Jennifer,
Thank you so much for your note. It makes my day to hear from...more
Dear Jennifer,
Thank you so much for your note. It makes my day to hear from...more
As an elementary school principal, this book provided me with great insight into the self-defeating body imaging that young girls put themselves through.
This book was a wake up call for me, especially when I heard girls as young as 9 years old saying that they are on a diet. (This was from a girl that was in no way overweight.)
I also found that the data show African American girls to have a good body image. Bravo! But I understand that sadly their self-esteem is dropping now also.
This book was a wake up call for me, especially when I heard girls as young as 9 years old saying that they are on a diet. (This was from a girl that was in no way overweight.)
I also found that the data show African American girls to have a good body image. Bravo! But I understand that sadly their self-esteem is dropping now also.
A must-read book for anyone (male or female!) with a daughter; your eyes will truly be opened to what in all likelihood awaits her in middle school. If you are female, "Schoolgirls" might remind you of some painful times in middle and high school and even give you some insight into why your own life/career choices, etc. turned out the way they did. This was definitely true for me and I have resolved to make some different choices on my daughter's behalf based on the information in this book.
Anot...more
Anot...more
Every parent, teacher, man, and woman needs to read this book. I can honestly say it has changed me. This is not a problem that went away when women entered the work force or were given the right to vote. Inequalities happen in subtle ways everyday, everywhere. Reading this book made me so much more aware of them and pushed me to change the way I teach and think.
This book is old, but I have had a copy forever and never made the time to read it until this week. It's based on research done on girls at two different schools who were ages 11-14 in the early 90s, which is when I was that age, so I related to it easily. I would recommend this for anyone with interest in the topic.
I found this a fascinating read as it gave a broader perspective to my experience of elementary school. She does a great job of showing the power of silencing girls with the need to achieve and be nice without ever taking up too much space. Excellent connection between the stats and actual examples.
I was looking forward to reading this. I don't know if my mood is different or what, but I was very uninterested. Orenstein seems somewhat angry about gender differences and why I am all for girl power, sometimes we just need to accept that there are differences between boys and girls (and for heaven's sake find the positive aspects of that). Also, I think she's secretly angry about being a girl herself. I could be wrong, but I just wasn't up for one of her rants.
Had to read this for my education research class. It was good, though dated. Author was easy-to-read, direct, and thorough. My only complaint is that she never synthesized her research at the end to tie everything together. Other than that, it was fine.
I LOVED this book. It does a beautiful job of exploring the social and academic struggles of young women across racial, ethnic and class lines and is so readable. Orenstein is a journalist and that carries through in her story telling-- non-fiction with the allure of a plot and characters. The book also does a nice job of explaining young womens' roles in their own lives without making them victims or vixens (or beating up too much on boys). Much of what she writes is not earth shattering for pe...more
A must read for anyone trying to understand - and assist - young teen girls in finding themselves amidst the social and gender pressures holding them back. Imagine if it had been written today under the lens of social media?
There were some problems I had nearing the second half of the book, but it was a good introspective read on girls' development. Some parts, especially, were like holding up a mirror.
Recommended reading if you have a daughter and doubly so if you are male. If you are a single-parent dad of a daughter just go buy it now.
This book kinda hurt a lot. Remind me to remind my daughters that they are awesome all the time.
This was a slow read for me, but it needn't have been. It's easy to read, and very interesting. I wanted to take time to digest what I was reading. Ms. Orenstein follows several middle school girls of different races and different socio-economic backgrounds through a few years. She observes different teaching styles and the school childrens' reactions to them. We end the book with a portrait of a teacher doing a great job of profiling women and minorities in history. It gives me hope that our ed...more
The title pretty much says it all about this book.
Love this book. I read it over and over again.
Source: Neatorama
Library: NTR, Arlington
Library: NTR, Arlington
Very much worth reading, and very readable.
What this journalist discovered in her yearlong investigation into two different middle schools during the 1992-93 school year is nothing new, but no less sad and damaging. Girls are still marginalized in the classroom and considered secondary, and worse, teachers attempting to combat the male aggression often fail. As a future teacher and a former student who knows this situation all too well, I think it helps to look at such things from an adult perspective and make as many attempts to change...more
One of the best things that came out of my education classes... This book is phenomenal. Peggy follows girls in multiple middle schools and backs up her observations with various research. I pulled even more fantastic books out of the bibliography.
If you have even the slightest interest in understanding young women, I really recommend this book. Recognizing my own faults and flaws was painful, but CRUCIAL as a teacher. And seeing how some of these same pressures affected my own development was p...more
If you have even the slightest interest in understanding young women, I really recommend this book. Recognizing my own faults and flaws was painful, but CRUCIAL as a teacher. And seeing how some of these same pressures affected my own development was p...more
A bit dated (it came out in 1994) but still relevant, I believe. Excellent book to raise consciousness about how our culture can harm girls and how we are far from "equal." Interesting observations about how girls from different races experience their gender.
Oct 13, 2009
Fatima
marked it as to-read
from Wellesley College
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Peggy Orenstein is the author, most recently, of Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. Her previous books include The New York Times best-selling memoir, Waiting for Daisy; Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love and Life in a Half-Changed World; and the best-selling SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap. A contributing writ...more
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