"Cinderella Ate My Daughter"

"Cinderella Ate My Daughter" (Harper, 2011). Catchy title, isn't it? The subtitle is "Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture." Peggy Orenstein previously (1994) wrote "Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap," in which she described her close observation of girls in two middle schools; it was excellent research about an important topic. In this new book, Orenstein, who now has a young daughter of her own, describes the increasingly narrow focus of marketing to very young girls, at least partially fueled by the Disney films and by all the associated items sold to/for young girls. First, every little girl is a princess, and dressed in pink, with costumes, tiaras, and sparkles. Then as she gets older and follows the example of Miley Cyrus and other early teen celebrities, she dresses in a "hot," sexy version of the sparkling pink clothes. Orenstein ponders the paradox that girls and women now have so many more educational and career options, yet the emphasis on girls' looking and behaving a certain way seems ever more restrictive. This author has a talent for close observation and the telling anecdote, backed up with research. Her worries about raising her own daughter in this atmosphere are palpable, and provide a unifying thread throughout the book. She has no definitive answers, but does stimulate thought; she advocates more awareness, more communication with daughters, and hopes that parental awareness will start a movement for change, just as more awareness about nutrition has made some difference in policy, practice and even corporations. This book is short and very readable; I recommend it to all parents and others who care about the future of our children.