Introduction
One can agree that knowing children’s psyches, stages of development, and typical problems that young kids and adolescents encounter as they grow up is critical to help them and support their mental health. A brilliant and informative book, Reviving Ophelia, was written in 1994 by Mary Pipher to raise adults’ awareness about the everyday struggles of young girls. In her book, the author discusses how cultural norms and social pressures affect teenage girls, and specific themes in Reviving Ophelia are critical and deserve increased attention.
Important Topic
A theme I find particularly essential in this book is gender bias. The fact that most struck me is accurately described by Pipher (1994), who refers to numerous examples (pp. 18, 41, 118, 290, 293). Thus, many pre-teen and teenage girls do not know precisely what sexism, gender-based discrimination, and patriarchal pressure are (Pipher, 1994). However, when the author provides examples of these negative concepts and trends, it becomes clear that girls actually encounter such situations daily but are unaware that this is not normal (Pipher, 1994). For instance, they can be sexually harassed at schools, still failing to perceive it as sexism and violence.
Further, males also face gender bias, and it is excellent that the psychologist covers this fact as reasonably, because many people believe only women can be victims of discrimination. According to Pipher (1994), men are raised to be tough and lacking emotions, and “most fathers also received a big dose of misogyny training as boys, and nowhere does this hurt them more than in parenting their daughters” (p. 118). Therefore, gender bias degrades and worsens the experiences of children and adults of all genders and, in some cases, turns them against each other.
Own Experiences and Observations
This theme is important to me because I have observed and encountered gender discrimination and bias in real life. For instance, many adults used to tell me that I had to behave according to my gender and that certain hobbies, experiences, and emotions were not for me because of my gender. I personally know that such pressure ruins one’s self-identification and even self-reliance. Since many adults also tend to normalize gender bias, it is challenging for boys and girls to understand whether they are wrong in their understanding of the world, emotions, and situations.
A Possible Application to the Particular Age-Span Child
The topic discussed above can be applied to children of a particular age span. For example, parents mustn’t impose unnecessary and constraining gender roles on their teenage daughters and sons. According to Santrock (2021), during adolescence, many girls have less freedom and limited access to education, hobbies, and free-time activities than boys. Parents mustn’t limit the experiences of their kids based on their gender. Adults have to allow teenagers to try what they want if it is age-appropriate, regardless of whether society believes it is only for girls or boys.
Conclusion
To conclude, the book raises essential topics, with gender bias and discrimination being key among them. Noticeably, while the book is dedicated to teenage girls, it also covers the experiences of boys and adult men, highlighting the need to eliminate social pressure on both males and females. Pipher (1994) made me think about the ways that adults can mitigate gender bias and allow teenagers to choose for themselves, which secures their self-identification
References
Pipher, M. (1994). Reviving Ophelia: Saving the selves of adolescent girls. Riverhead Books.
Santrock, J. (2021). Essentials of life-span development. McGraw-Hill.