Rating: 
Summary: Reviving Ophelia & My Experiences
Review: I opened Reviving Ophelia with an open mind. As a 17-year old high school junior, I am usually turned off by books that my mother and teacher enjoy. This one, however, was much different. Immediately, I was pulled into the book. Maybe it was because I realized that I am one of the girls Pipher is talking about; I am Ophelia. I doubt if I was a boy or even a father I would be very interested, but because it pertained to me directly I was pulled into the reading. I could relate to each and every one of the "characters" in one way or another. I felt for these girls and their problems, and each and every one of them contributed to the book. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book before and was able to just say "Yes! I know exactly what you are talking about!" It’s nice to know that there are actual studies done on teenagers; that someone would think to take the time to figure out what it is with teenagers (girls in particular) that make us the way we are. Mary Pipher’s main thesis is practically the life of everything teenage girl out there, including myself. It makes me realize that as a young teenage girl, I am not alone. By reading this book, I have learned that society just expects boys to be able to handle more on their own and be more independent than girls. That is just an assumption made by many. As to if it’s true or not, I couldn’t say because I am not a boy, I have no brothers, and I have never read a book about the lifestyle of a teenage boy. A lot of girls today no longer have the support behind them telling them ’You are not alone’. The author’s tone was very sympathetic and understanding to the girls, and she told each story with a personal glimpse behind it. It’s almost as if Mary Pipher had known each and every one of those girls for years. Each tale of the unique girls had a conflict and resolution. Throughout the last third of the book, a lot of the girls’ problems had to do with their relationships with others. Boyfriends, moms, dads, and siblings were all common topics. Some of the girls that I read about were so interesting that I wish I could read more about them. Mary Pipher has established a theme that growing up as an adolescent girl is not easy. It’s challenging, confusing, scary, and exciting all at the same time. Adults sit back and watch us run and fall, and they have to step back and let us get up on our own. We won’t learn anything by not falling, but there comes a point when the last time you fall and you feel as though you are never going to make it back up, an adult is needed to lend that hand and pick us back up. Pipher calls it "girl-poisoning". Girls are pushed to be someone they aren’t; do things they don’t want to do; and be happy doing it. There is media, sexism, feminism, and raging hormones that are everywhere. Throughout this book, these girls’ tales have been completely real and un-cut. They tell it how it is, and then Pipher explains the psychological aspects behind what they feel and think.
One of my favorite phrases in the book was, "Ophelia died because she could not grow. She became the object of others’ lives and lost her true subjective self." (Pipher 292) Ophelia is from Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Hamlet, she is a free and happy child who loses herself at adolescence. When she falls in love with Hamlet, her only objective in life becomes living for his approval. Torn apart by her efforts to please both her Hamlet and her parents, she loses the fight when Hamlet rejects her for being a compliant daughter. Beset by grief, and without any inner direction, Ophelia drowns in a creek, weighed down by her heavy and elegant clothes. Pipher uses the title Reviving Ophelia in reference to bringing back what died inside Ophelia- that adolescence innocence. Is it really possible to bring back a self that you lost? And if you did bring back that self, would it be the same thing? Mary Pipher is posing the question, What can we as a society do to help adolescent girls grow without losing their self? Maybe if we all read Reviving Ophelia, answering Pipher’s question would be that much easier.
Rating:
Summary: Reviving Ophelia..one of the most inspirational books
Review: A book of inspiration, answers, and heart touched writing, Reviving Ophelia by Dr. Mary Pipher is a moving book that will motivate young girls around the world. Through out this book the battle is between society and "Ophelia" or Dr. Pipher, to put a stop how the media personifies beautiful, and how this strict definition of sexy destroys young teenage girls; this battle is found to be proven in 50 real-life stories exemplified by the author's real life patients. These patients have ranged in age from 11 to 21 and the topics are from violence and abuse to rape and eating disorders. This book proves how society causes young girls to go into rehab, or to go see therapists. The book shows the growing epidemic of teenagers experiencing emotional and physical problems coming from the negative messages our culture sends out to women about weight and beauty. In Reviving Ophelia, Dr. Pipher explains how the domination of females is a direct result of social pressures to be beautiful and sexy rather than intelligent, independent and self reliable. A comparison is made to Ophelia who, as a girl, is happy and free but loses herself in adolescence because she falls in love with Hamlet and lives only for his needs and wants. Rather than being independent, Ophelia strives to meet the demands of her loved one; her self-esteem is based only on his approval. This analogy to Ophelia represents every girl out there, she is this universal teenage girl who desperately battles these struggles of self ridicule and exceptance of a man. Dr. Pipher continues through the book showing how media and our culture causes overweight people to look pass their attributes and their how this pressure also causes bulimia and anorexia. The author of the book brings a new light to definitions in which culture has defined them. Sexy is intelligence, the way you carry yourself, you confidence, and being your true to who you are.
After reading this book, and being a very insecure myself I highly recommend this book to all teenagers, even adults. It was such a breath of fresh air to feel as if someone finally understood the pressures one faces, especially when being over weight. Wwhen media displays all these girls who all are 2 pounds, you feel as if, if you don't look like this you aren't beautiful. My favorite part in the book was with the patient Geena. She was a clarintest, and she was smart but overweight. On her first day of middle school a kid called her fat. Then after she went home ignoring all her talents but just focusing on the fact that this kid who did not know her, did know who she was, her abilities, judged her on her weight. This book is an intense, easy to read, and motivating book, that should be read by all girls, who need that little boost to feel an ounce of security.
Rating: 
Summary: Some Good Points
Review: As the title says, Reviving Ophelia does make some very good points (such as how the media feeds girls false images of beauty), but my biggest problem was how the book acted as if all girls become total headcases once they hit 13. I'll admit that my teen years were far from pretty, but you got to give girls a little more credit than that.
Rating: 
Summary: Indepth and Insightful
Review: I felt this to be an interesting read as a way of helping to improve myself and the way I feel society puts expectations onto me. In passing, a philosophy teacher said that he recommended every woman read this book, so I did. I did find many explanations as to why I acted the way I did while I was growing up. My poor parents were just completely at a loss dealing with my apparent moodiness and behavior problems.
This book is relevant to our young women and their parents. In a culture where we are trying to understand what is wrong with everyone, this helps people see that maybe it's the large mass of people that is wrong, not the individuals themselves. Our young women are starving, unhappy, and losing their identies because we, as a male driven society, expect them to become just another housewife, or a face in the crowd. If even a few young men were required to read this book perhaps they would be slightly more sympathetic to their sisters, mothers or lovers. This could lead more young men to actually care about their partners wants, needs and desires regarding the direction they want their lives to take.
It should not always be an expectation that women are meant for the servitude of men. I believe this lets in some light to people who are in the dark regarding women's issues. It reminded me of my reading of the "Feminine Mystique" because of the repitition of the question "Who am I?" Pipher proposes that young girls know what their dreams are but somehow lose it in order to maintain popularity and fit in to the "young lady" standards. I really would recommend this to any woman who is tired of feeling insufficient or questioning their reason for being.
Parents of any teen aged or preteen girl should read this because they could see their precious daughters point of view on various issues. My parents are currently working on reading the book together because I told them that it would explain a lot of what I was going through on levels they weren't able to understand. Thank goodness, I was their first and last daughter to go through the dreaded "teen age" years! They are still coping with my brother and are praying for it to be over soon.
Rating:
Summary: Reviving Ophelia & My Experiences
Review: I opened Reviving Ophelia with an open mind. As a 17-year old high school junior, I am usually turned off by books that my mother and teacher enjoy. This one, however, was much different. Immediately, I was pulled into the book. Maybe it was because I realized that I am one of the girls Pipher is talking about; I am Ophelia. I doubt if I was a boy or even a father I would be very interested, but because it pertained to me directly I was pulled into the reading. I could relate to each and every one of the "characters" in one way or another. I felt for these girls and their problems, and each and every one of them contributed to the book. I don't think I've ever read a book before and was able to just say "Yes! I know exactly what you are talking about!" It's nice to know that there are actual studies done on teenagers; that someone would think to take the time to figure out what it is with teenagers (girls in particular) that make us the way we are. Mary Pipher's main thesis is practically the life of every teenage girl out there, including myself. It makes me realize that as a young teenage girl, I am not alone. By reading this book, I have learned that society just expects boys to be able to handle more on their own and be more independent than girls. That is just an assumption made by many. As to if it's true or not, I couldn't say because I am not a boy, I have no brothers, and I have never read a book about the lifestyle of a teenage boy. A lot of girls today no longer have the support behind them telling them 'You are not alone'. The author's tone was very sympathetic and understanding to the girls, and she told each story with a personal glimpse behind it. It's almost as if Mary Pipher had known each and every one of those girls for years. Each tale of the unique girls had a conflict and resolution. Throughout the last third of the book, a lot of the girls' problems had to do with their relationships with others. Boyfriends, moms, dads, and siblings were all common topics. Some of the girls that I read about were so interesting that I wish I could read more about them. Mary Pipher has established a theme that growing up as an adolescent girl is not easy. It's challenging, confusing, scary, and exciting all at the same time. Adults sit back and watch us run and fall, and they have to step back and let us get up on our own. We won't learn anything by not falling, but there comes a point when the last time you fall and you feel as though you are never going to make it back up, an adult is needed to lend that hand and pick us back up. Pipher calls it "girl-poisoning". Girls are pushed to be someone they aren't; do things they don't want to do; and be happy doing it. There is media, sexism, feminism, and raging hormones that are everywhere. Throughout this book, these girls' tales have been completely real and un-cut. They tell it how it is, and then Pipher explains the psychological aspects behind what they feel and think.
One of my favorite phrases in the book was, "Ophelia died because she could not grow. She became the object of others' lives and lost her true subjective self." (Pipher 292) Ophelia is from Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Hamlet, she is a free and happy child who loses herself at adolescence. When she falls in love with Hamlet, her only objective in life becomes living for his approval. Torn apart by her efforts to please both her Hamlet and her parents, she loses the fight when Hamlet rejects her for being a compliant daughter. Beset by grief, and without any inner direction, Ophelia drowns in a creek, weighed down by her heavy and elegant clothes. Pipher uses the title Reviving Ophelia in reference to bringing back what died inside Ophelia- that adolescence innocence. Is it really possible to bring back a self that you lost? And if you did bring back that self, would it be the same thing? Mary Pipher is posing the question, What can we as a society do to help adolescent girls grow without losing their self? Maybe if we all read Reviving Ophelia, answering Pipher's question would be that much easier.
Rating: 
Summary: :|
Review: I read this book for the first time when I was 14 (a sophomore in high school). Now I'm a junior in college and read it again for a gender studies course. We have to write and give an oral book review and I chose this book b/c I wondered if I'd feel the same way about it now than I did when I was 14 - yes. There's something so wrong about it, but it's hard to put my finger on. First of all, it's WAY to defeatist and fatalistic. She places too much emphesis on pop culture and not enough emphesis on smaller circles or cultures like family, school, church, etc. When I remember back to my teenage years, sure I read Teen and watched MTV, but I was influenced by the people I saw everyday, not some Versace model on cable TV. Also, I think her logic is quite faulty. She blames the problems of adolescence on culture, but I think the nature of adolescence is problems. It's all part of growing up. The problems we experience in adolescence may attach themselves to something in our culture, but culture does not cause a troubled adolescence. I don't think adolescence is any easier or harder now than it was in the 50s or 1850s and so on, it's just that things manifest themselves in different ways. Pipher is picking the worst of the worst and using them as her case studies while anyone who appears "normal" she just labels "lucky". As far as the actual writing technique, Pipher's got some work to do. Halfway through the book I was ready to puke the next time I read some sappy cliche or metaphor about being "The sappling in the hurricanes of youth" or "the boat who's lost sight of the North Star". Please. Overall, this book didn't answer any questions I had or give any new insight; it left me feeling angry and defensive because in her opinion teenage girls are just hollow drones without any soul.
Rating:
Summary: read this if you were ever 12 years old
Review: I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars.I read Reviving Ophelia when it first came out in 1995 and again recently ... each time I am unable to put it down. Pipher interviews many different women from all walks of life trying to pinpoint WHY girls who were active, happy, confident before the crucial age of 12 suddenly become unhappy, confused, have low self-esteem, etc. What she uncovers is the dirty secrets you will never read in the columns of YM or Teen. (Are the girls in those magazines real? I can't help thinking their letters are edited till it looks like there is no real problem there. That happened to me the one time I wrote in to a woman's magazine ---- two months ago! And then you don't need the advice because no one cares about the new sanitized problem.) Pipher also gives suggestions to the various girls to solve their problems and gain self-esteem in the process. This is a great book that should have been written when Eve was put on this Earth and then revised when the second woman appeared -- and published in a new edition every few years afterwards. It just explains so much --- and makes the reader relieved that it ISN'T just you who doesn't like being in junior high.
Rating:
Summary: A Devourable Read
Review: Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia came to me as assigned reading for a college psychology class. As I thought, "Oh, great. Another author who thinks she can connect with teenagers when, in fact, they are simply connecting with a book deal" I was hooked as I began reading. The theories Pipher presents are well thought out, sound, and explained with antecdotal evidence that makes the book seem more like a novel than a nonfiction. I finished it in one sitting, believe it or not. Essential to any psychology enthusiast, and, as I believe, to parents of girls. Don't cheat yourself out of this one- you'll regret it if you do.
Rating:
Summary: More than a little tacky........
Review: Pipher fails to realize that her data are inherently skewed. She is basing her argument on the girls she sees in her practice, and there is a really obvious bias here: Girls who come to a psychiatrist for help are a self-selected sample of girls who are there BECAUSE they are having problems. The majority of girls, who make the adjustment to adolescence just fine and with minimal problems, don't need psychological help and so she never sees them.
She seems to have a very negative opinion of young females, in particular. Frankly, I never felt the media pressure that she claims is so relentless as an adolescent, and in fact, I don't know a single one of my friends who did. Of course, girls and women like us aren't represented in her sample, since we did not have severe problems that required psychological treatment. In fact, my friends and I used to mock media images of women as sex objects, rather than feeling we had to conform to them. While I agree that the media presents troubling images of women, I am dubious about Pipher's assertion that disturbing images of females is a totally unprecedented thing; just look at various Biblical teachings on the role of women throughout the centuries (and frankly, religion has an aura of authority that Madison Avenue does not). I also find Pipher's assertion (essentially that girls don't know any better than to do as the TV tells them to) rather offensive.
Far too much of Pipher's argument seems to rest on the premise that "I had an idyllic childhood in the sixties, so therefore *everyone* had an idyllic childhood," and "The girls I see in my practice are having problems, so this means *all* teenage girls are having problems." Again, no matter how many girls she is seeing in her practice that are having problems, her patients do not constitute a representative sample of the population. The fact of the matter is, most teenage girls are not sufficiently troubled to seek psychiatric help during adolescence; most teenage girls transition through to adulthood just fine without any outside help, and Pipher's book doesn't acknowledge that.
Which isn't to say that if you are the parent of a troubled teenage girl, this book would not be helpful; it might, and some people reviewing it are clearly finding it so. However, I take exception to Pipher's broad-brush generalizing and her use of anecdotal evidence to paint a picture of society as a whole.
(I also find interesting the plethora of bad reviews for this book claiming "Pipher's a feminist!" as if that one fact alone, whether true or not, *completely* invalidates her argument. "Oh. She's a feminist. 'Nough said." Name-calling might work on the playground--though I personally don't find "feminist" that dirty a name to be called--but generally mature and reasonable people attempt to deconstruct an argument on its *merits,* not on attributed qualities of the person putting it forth. Trust me, if you don't like the book, there's enough here to criticize without having to engage in ad-hominem attacks.)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for EVERYONE to read!!!!!!
Review: Pipher opens the world of today's adolescent girls to show that what they face is in no way similar to what their mothers experienced twenty years ago. Today, girls think of it as part of growing up to have problems with family, violent relationships, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, depression, rape, substance abuse, and sexual violence. Pipher makes it very clear that our adolescent girls are slipping through the cracks. They have no where to turn when life gets tough. She give suggestions on how to prevent our daughters from being exposed to such an awful adolescence. It is inevitable that they will face hardships, but should our daughters think being raped is "just one of those things that happens"? No, according to Pipher, girls should not have to think that. And are eating disorders just a stage all girls will pass through? No, Pipher says, eating disorders are very serious and require medical attention. Does every teenage girl experiment with drugs, alcohol and sex? No, Pipher says, those girls need to get help. Pipher's book is not a "oh, no, what is wrong with this world?" kind of book. Reviving ophelia is a book aimed at SAVING our daughters before they fall too far to be helped
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