Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

The full title of this book is Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. To begin with, this book has nothing to do with the Ophelia from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, so don't start reading thinking that it is.

Dr. Mary Pipher is a clinical psychologist who has worked with girls for decades. In this book, she seeks to answer the following question as stated on the back of the book: "Why are more American adolescent girls prey to depression, eating disorders, addictions, and suicide attempts than ever before?"


So does she give an answer? Yes and no. Frankly, by the time I was done reading this book, I was not left with much hope. But at the same time I was glad I had read it.

The bulk of the book consists of Dr. Pipher relating stories from some of her patients and other girls she has interviewed. And some of these stories are horrifying. These girls' experiences include dieting, suicide, sexual harassment, rape, and dealing with a variety of family issues, such as divorce, adoption, and abandonment. These stories are written as told by the girls and are brutally honest at times. Be prepared to have your heart broken for them--repeatedly. There are a couple girls' stories in which the girls are confident, high-functioning young women who know who they are and who are not dealing with severe issues, but this is only a couple stories--like 2 out of 25.

The rest of the book consists of Dr. Pipher discussing the various aspects of our society that can negatively affect the girls and young women of today. And this is where the yes and no of answering her original question comes in.

Yes, she answers her original question in that she offers some advice on how to prepare our girls. The main thing I took from the book is that we need to discuss how our society portrays women with our girls. When we see women in advertisements, commercials, movies, and books, we need to talk to our girls about whether or not these portrayals are realistic and good. We need to open up discussions to help our girls actively decide what kind of women they want to become.

No, she does not answer her original question in that she can not offer any hard and fast solution. Each girl grows up in a unique situation and her challenges can not be predicted or always prevented.

Don't I wish we could prevent these bad things from happening to our girls!

As a woman who hopes to one day be the mother of girls, I am glad I read this book. However depressing the book was at times, I think it gave me some good insights into how I can be a better mother to daughters.