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Summary: Reviving Ophelia Book Review
Review: Reviving Ophelia is a 293-paged book all about the struggles of being a girl. It's filled with many different stories and situations ranging from boys, parents, friends, and divorce, to death, weight, appearance and popularity. It's a book that every girl will be able to relate to in one way or another. It's not one of those, everything turns out perfect in the end like all those silly fairy-tales, but instead real life stories that turn out the way things really do. I think that ALL girls should read this book either throughout their teenage years or as a grown woman. It gives you sort of a satisfying feeling to know that you're not alone. It's one of those books that Sunday afternoon you have nothing to do, you can pick this book up and cozy up on the couch and enjoy. It becomes pretty hard to put down once you find yourself relating to it. There are so many parts in this book that I just wanted to write down and show people so I found myself taking many notes or marking many pages. Guys should read this book is the feeling I was left with at the end, but I doubt very much that they would enjoy it. Still they would learn a lesson or two--hopefully. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It had very good information and was very addictive. By the end though it was getting very repetitive and the stories all stared to sound the same. This made the ending sort of drag on. Over all it was a great learning experience and a great book. Check it out for yourself!
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Summary: Ignore the idiots, read this book for your daughters' sake.
Review: As the father of two girls, I am very concerned about what they face as they approach middle school. I saw this in a local store and flipped through it for a few minutes and decided it was worth the (money) on the off chance it contained a few worthwhile nuggets that might be helpful. It turns out that this is a very good depiction of the pressures my kids will face in the coming years. It does not offer a cookbook-style solution to the issues. Instead, it points out how some people have been able to meet the challenges and others have failed. The reader is left to simply consider the issues and draw some conclusions about how they can help their girls cope. Having read the book, I must say that I am even more concerned about what my girls face in middle school. However, I think that at least I have some insight as to what goes on there and how the social cliques tear girls down and try to reduce the bright ones to the level of the least common denominator. My girls are very bright and I do not want to see them play stupid to gain fleeting popularity. I also want very badly to have them avoid date rape, drug abuse, eating disorders and other horrors. I read with dismay that several reviewers have given this book one star and have decided that this is the spouting of a man-hating, communist "femi-Nazi." I am fairly certain that these people spend their days listening to Rush Limbaugh and not to their daughters. If they choose to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that none of what Ms. Pipher writes about in this book is relevant to their daughters' lives, I pity the girls. Stupidity is its own reward but it's sad when the children have to suffer too. Grab a copy and read it. Filter what doesn't make sense in your life but at least you will learn a few things about how bad things really are in the middle schools of America.
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Summary: Reviewing Ophelia
Review: In Reviving Ophelia, Dr. Mary Pipher (1994), clinical psychologist, presents problems faced by American adolescent females in the 1990's. Rather than blaming the malfunctions of adolescents on the institution of the family, Pipher suggests that these problems are manifestations of growing up in a culture that sends mixed messages to its children. Pipher presents a variety of case examples which include substance addictions, abuse, divorce, and peer pressure; however, the basis of her ideas infer that the most prominent issue adolescent girls must confront is the competition between the authentic self and the self which she feels impelled to generate in order to fit into what the Western culture anticipates. Pipher's observations suggest that it is difficult for an adolescent girl to be true to herself while, at the same time, feminizing herself to fit into larger cultural expectations. While this rejection of the self and false feminization is a problem for these young women, they are often unable, or even unwilling, to identify it as a source for their troubles.
According to Pipher (1994, p. 41), most adolescent girls will state that they are not feminists if they are directly asked. Pipher concludes that, to these young women, "feminism" is a negative term-a term that may be compared to "communism" or "fascism" in their minds. However, if these same young women are asked whether or not they believe that women should have equal rights to men, they will inevitably concede that they certainly should. Pipher continues her explanation by pointing out that sexual harassment and sexual biases occur in educational facilities. The same young women who agree that women and men should have equal rights do not take note of these fallacies. Unfortunately, adolescent girls do not see this problem because they have become socialized to it. These wrongdoings are an every-day occurrence in their lives.
Though Pipher (1994, pp. 74-100) indicates that the culture is the most problematic cause of malfunctions in the adolescent female population, she does note the importance of the family as well. For example, she mentions the double standard of parenting prominent in Western civilization. Pipher discusses the comparison of how a teenage girl's relationship with her father and with her mother is viewed by society. An adolescent girl's relationship with her father is viewed as productive and growth-oriented, while a relationship with her mother is viewed as barren and growth-stunting. Fathers are commended for their involvement with their children while mothers are admonished for being overprotective. In all reality, an adolescent girl needs a close relationship with one or both of her parents. This stage of development may be one of the most awkward and difficult stages to conquer.
Pipher (1994, p. 80) is careful to note that the "traditional family" is not in existence. In fact, family types are as diverse as Western civilization itself. It is important to identify the structure of the family because it has a profound affect on the individual. Furthermore, relationships within the family will vary according to its structure. For example, a girl who grows up in a single-parent family will most likely assign her parent with roles that are common to both the mother and the father. Because of this, stereotypes of mother-daughter and father-daughter relationships may no longer be viewed the same. In this regard, divorce and the deterioration of the "traditional family" may actually help to produce a generation of young women who do not abide by the "rules" that guide maternal and paternal relationships with their adolescents.
Reviving Ophelia provides an image of our culture and how it affects the lives of our adolescents. Dr. Pipher's work also accosts the many problems within our society that need to be remedied. It is certainly recommended that parents of teenage daughters read and understand Dr. Pipher's ideas; however, because adolescents' lives affect what our society is and what it will become, the comprehension of her work is necessary for all.
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Summary: reviewing ophelia
Review: I am an early ed. major at Macon College reviewing this particular book as a requirment in my class. Mary Pipher is quite knowledgable in her analyzation of adolescent girls. She not only focuses on problems that the girls of the ninties face and thier solutions, but a broader view of the life crisis of puberty as it is effected by family and culture. The book includes Pipher's experiences as a psychotherapist as well as the conclusions that she has reached. She covers mild depression to self-mutilation, eating disorders, withdrawel from families and school, rebellion, sexuality and suicide. Blaming media, our culture, sexism, the hormonal and social changes of puberty, she takes the blame off of the parents and helps them to guide thier girls through this period of life without sacrificing what Phipher refers to as the "self". I would highly recommend this book to anyone who will encounter adolescent girls. If I can find a similiar book on boys I will definitly read it! I skimmed some of this book because I felt like I already knew what she was going to say.
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Summary: Sadly, very insightful
Review: I read this book two years ago, but I feel I can still add to this debate. I encourage the teenage girls who read this book and were offended by the not-so-pretty picture it paints to go back in a few years and read it again. When I was 15 and 16, I also had no doubt that I was absolutely in control of my life. I could not see the larger forces at work, influencing the way I interacted with my friends, my parents, my boyfriend and the unrealistic demands I placed on myself. When you drive yourself to be perfect, you set yourself up to fall. By the time I read Reviving Ophelia my junior year in college, I was coping with anorexia, depression, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and sexual promiscuity. Ophelia showed me how my experiences in junior high and high school had left scars on my soul that manifested themselves when I was 21. I dealt with it. Girls, examine your lives and your motives. Learn from your past. Love yourself. And to those who bemoan Pipher's lack of neat little answers: Life is not a 30-minute sitcom. There are no hard and fast answers to problems as complex as these. Awareness is the first step, and that's what Pipher was trying to do in this book, not solve a centuries-old problem in a few pages. And if you think this book was repetitious, then you weren't paying attention.
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Summary: Excellent investigation
Review: This book is a thoughtfully prepared account as to why increasing numbers of adolescent girls face such devastating emotional crises. Pipher's insights are coupled with those of her clients offering an explanation as to how and why this cultural epidemic exists. The uniqueness of each case evokes a sense of our own fragility, and the subsequent responsibility we have to "Revive Ophelia".
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Summary: Saving The Selves Of Adolescent Girls
Review: Marys a psychotherapist who works with young girls. She has explained what young females go through at such a young age. She talks about everything from Mothers, fathers, and divorce to drugs and alcohol. It is a great book that would be a great book for parents daughters to read while growing up. It wouldn't solve anything, but maybe if they knew others were going through the same thing they wouldn't hate their lifes as much. She tells exactly what happened in these girls lifes and what was said at their sessions together. She has a great view on teenage girls with such great opinions and information.
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Summary: Check the facts for yourself . . .
Review: Ask yourself a question: how many of the claims by Mary Pipher have been supported by peer reviewed research? Check her bibliography. How many books does she cite that rely on peer reviewed research? Take any of her factual claims and check them out for yourself. How many hold up? The truth is that this is feminist agit-prop that fits the "women's studies" department mandate to try to find a reason for existing. Tell a group of people raised on self-esteem and Oprah that they should be even more in love with themselves. . . and they will respond with adulation. Or try this: teach a class to eighteen year old people and explain that their problems were caused by some conspiracy to put them down. . . and check out how many of them can "relate!"
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Summary: Who is responsible for the "crowded spaces"?
Review: Author, Mary Pipher says "girls become 'female impersonators' who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces." Yet, is it really the girls that put themselves in this box? I believe not. There is a common theory that people fill the spaces others expect them to. If, as a parent of a teenage daughter, you expect your daugther to act as rashly as most of the characters in Pipher's book, then they most likely will act that way. Pipher is so sure that in the core of all adolescent girls, lurks a creature that craves corruption and self destruction. However, besides the fact that this is incredibly pesimisstic, what happened to the concept that teenagers do their upmost to fufill standards, but happen to mess up on the way? How many full grown adults can say that they did not make mistakes as teenagers? Isn't teenage life the point in ones life when they are supposed to experiment, change, make mistakes? During this time, the brain is going through so much developmental stages, it is important for a teen to be able to learn for themselves. So instead of treating a teenager like an incompetant fugitive, wouldn't parenting be more successful if teens were treated as equals? Or perhaps , living humans? Mary Pipher seems to think otherwise - lock your daughers up, keep them from harm, they cannot handle the real world. However, when it is time for them to leave Mommy's nest, the first girls to have their stomachs pumped, to be date raped, are the girls that are out for their first time. When in college, Mommy isn't going to be there to tell her daughter that having four beers isn't healthy. And Mommy isn't going to lurk in the back of your daughter's head, because most likely, the daughter is full of contempt for her mother, for keeping her caged in while most other children are experiencing what may be called "normal" teengage lifestyles.
A book review asks "Why are more American adolescent girls prey to depression, eating disorders, addictions, and suicide attempts than ever before?" It is not that there are more adolescent girls that are suffering, its just that they are diagnosed so much more frequently. Our society has become so absorbed in psychological problems and issues, that the reality of life has become hazy. There is now a diagnoses for people that are considered "too happy". Is there any way to get through life unscathed? Some believe that it's experiences and faults that shape character. In conclusion, I think that it is important for some teenage mothers to read this, to realize that this is the exact opposite of what good mothers should believe. I think that our culture should be less obsessed with becoming psychologically blemish-free, and should be more concerned with living a happy, fufilled life. Because afterall, we only live once.
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Summary: A deeper understanding..
Review: I read Reviving Ophelia for my AP Psychology class in my senior year of high school and i found this book to be enlightening. I had always heard of this book but never really heard what it was about. After getting the opportunity to read this, i was excited and began avidly reading it. Pipher grabs the attention of the reader with interesting case studies about adolesent girls with insecurities and inner conflicts. Being and adolesent girl myself I could easily remember the times when I felt like those lost girls trying to find their own niche in an unaccepting society. Taking the time to read this book also gave me time to reflect upon myself and think about how things will be much worse by the time I have kids if we do not change society now. This book tends to be repetitious toward the end but I think that it is a book that every mother and daughter should read. It explains that what you think will be a life ending ordeal now will not be in time and that every storm shall pass. I honestly reccomend this book to everyone that has ever lost themselves in the fight between who they are and what society wants them to be.
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