225 pg, paper, '01

With negative messages bombarding our girls on a daily basis, how can our daughters possibly feel good about their bodies? While you may not single-handedly be able to change society, there are ways to make sure that your daughter’s sense of self is strong and sustaining. In fact, this guide offers 101 ways!

In this book, two mothers (one a clinical psychologist, the other an award-winning journalist) teamed up to provide parents with 101 practical ideas tailored to girls from birth throughout the teenage years. These initiatives inform parents and encourage them to take active roles in helping their daughters develop confidence, treat their bodies with love and respect, and make peace with their unique builds so that they can revel in a sense of femaleness and physical competence.

Psychologically astute and fun to read, this proactive guide will help define a new generation of healthy girls. There's no better time than now to help our daughters, young and growing, learn to love their bodies. A great read for both moms and dads.

CONTENTS:

1 – Beyond Lullabies: Teaching Body Comfort to Little Ones
2 – Your Body, Your Self: Learning Self-Love So You Can Model It
3 – Dads: Fine-Tuning That Makes a Difference
4 – Parents Together or Apart: Speaking in One Voice About Body Esteem
5 – Body Armor: Saving Her Body from the Assault of Popular Culture
6 – Acceptance & Reconciliation: Puberty as the Adolescent “Change of Life”
7 – Body Image: How She Sees Herself
8 – Emotional Force: What She Feels Determines How She Treats Her Body
9 – She Is Woman: Raising Girls to Feel Proud of Their Bodies
10 – Back to Basics: Fundamentals for Keeping Her at Her Best
11 – She Is What She Eats: Feeding the Body Right
12 – Safety Issues: Keeping Her Body from Harm
13 – Positive Sexuality: Loving All of Who She Is

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Brenda Lane Richardson is an award-winning journalist and active public speaker. Elane Rehr is a college professor specializing in women’s psychology and adolescent psychology.

REVIEWS:

“With 101 Ways to Help Your Daughter Love Her Body, Brenda Lane Richardson and Elane Rehr have written the definitive book about body esteem for girls. These two mothers don't simply snarl about the ways society chips away at a young girl's self esteem via her body image. Instead, they offer fresh, practical strategies for parents to teach daughters to view their bodies lovingly in the face of enormous pressure. Body esteem, say the authors, "allows a girl to view her internal strengths, rather than her appearance, as a projection of her worth and to retain an image of her body as a whole rather than a package of distorted parts that must be dressed up and displayed to their best advantage." Each chapter is packed with specific suggestions about how parents can reframe a daughter's media-driven desire for a perfect body into a process of accepting her unique build.”
—Barbara Mackoff, Amazon.com’s Best of 2001

“Although primarily addressing mothers, the authors consider the enormous impact men have on their daughters' self-image and offer plenty of tips for fathers. Thought-provoking and navigable, the book will help parents reassess their own attitudes about the female body while imparting crucial values to their daughters.”
—Publisher’s weekly