Rating: 
Summary: Girls'High School Basketball Coach/AD
Review: Mary Pipher has brilliantly documented the typical American adolescent female experience. Her sensitivity, insight and love of adolescent girls is evident in the case studies that accompany topics such as family relations, sexuality, peer abuse, societal pressures,trash media values, anorexia, bulimia, etc. This book has sparked controversy among some because it portrays the adolescent female experience as one which is always wrought with pain and turmoil. This is not intentional. It just so happens that Mary works as a therapist with a population of unhealthy girls. She doesn't see too much of the healthy ones. They don't need her. In spite of this, she does tell some great stories of exceptional girls/young women who showed great courage and inner strength in the face of adversity. As a former psychotherapist who now teaches and coaches high school girls and young girls in basketball, I found the book immensely valuable in understanding behaviors, mood swings and conflicts that I encounter with my players....behaviors that previously made absolutely no sense. Since I was not a teenage girl, it is hard to understand what is going in the mind and heart of a teenage girl when on the outside, everything is seemingly OK. Better than anyone I have ever seen, Pipher takes you deep into the mind and heart of adolescent girls and explains what is going on. Her approach to therapy is also worth noting. Whereas lots of helping professionals spend lots of time trying to label a problem, Pipher immediately attacks a problem or dilemma by focusing on positive steps toward renewal or success. It is a strategy worth noting because it gives troubled girls an immediate positive perspective. If you love working with adolescent girls as much as I do or need to better understand adolescent girls as a parent or as a professional, this is a book that will give you tremendous insight.
Rating:
Summary: interesting and frighteningly true
Review: I am an 18 year old college student, and feel compelled to write something about this book. i first read it at the age of 15, when i was having a very tough time coping with school, family, and myself. after reading some of the reviews of this book, (mostly written by adolescent girls), which say that "normal" girls have none of these problems, i just have to ask, "wherever you grew up, it must be nice living with the tooth fairy and santa claus." honestly. maybe you don't get out much. i come from a tiny, rural new england town, and i can honestly say that i have either experienced myself or know others who have experienced the majority of the topics discussed in this book. i was a very insecure, unconfident, and shy teenager who tried to break away from the pressures of normal teen life. this succeeded in winning me no friends and a serious bout with depression. i then went to the other end of the spectrum, and went through a period of heavy drinking, drug use, sexual promiscuity, and consequently, more depression. i was used for my looks, treated like a sexual object, harrassed, and raped. yes, i was weak, and gave in to pressure. but who hasn't? can any of you honestly say that you never give a thought to what anyone thinks? that you have lived your lives perfectly, with no regrets? that you have never done anything stupid? maybe you look down on me as a silly adolescent girl, but i can honestly say that i am not alone. i have friends who have been raped, friends who have suffered sexual abuse, friends who have been hospitalized because of drug misuse, friends who are anorexic or bulimic, friends who cut themselves, friends who spend the majority of their time worrying about how they look as a result of societies pressures. i don't know a single girl who hasn't suffered in some way as a result of society's expectations. i think that this book rings true, and if there aren't any answers, then what did you expect? how can you find a solution to problems like these? does anyone writing these reviews have any answer? i didn't think so.
Rating: 
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".
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating: 
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating: 
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!"
Rating:
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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