Reviving Ophelia is a well-written book. It does a great job exploring the issues that adolescent girls are facing and how our culture influences adolescent girls today. Some of the issues adressed include drugs and alcohol, sex and violence, eating disorders, and depression. I agree that adolescent girls are strongly influenced by our culture, but I think strong family values could carry these girls through the hardships of adolescence. The author suggests that adolescent girls have a low self-worth and low self-esteem. Adolescent girls face pressures to be someone who they are not and this causes the loss of their "true self." She explains why our culture is not a healthy environment for adolescent girls. She emphasizes the negative aspects of our culture and says that we live in a "girl poisoning" culture. It is a culture that is look-obsessed, violent, and very troublesome for adolescent girls. Phipher says we need to strengthen these girls so they can live within our society. The author provides interesting, but eye opening case histories for each issue presented in the book. For example, Tammy was a seventeen year-old girl that was brought in by her mother because she was cutting her breasts. Tammy felt the need to cut herself whenever she fought with her boyfriend. She thought she was going crazy and felt better after cutting herself. She had developed a bad habit of hurting herself physically when she was in emotional pain. Phipher encourages her clients to keep journals and helps them to find healthier ways of dealing with their stress or pain. The case histories really opened my eyes to the severity and complexity of the issues adolescent girls are faced with today. This is a great book for anyone involved with adolescent girls. I would recommend it to parents, teachers, and even adolescent girls to read. I think it is an excellent resource, which could give some understanding into the complexities of adolescent girls. It provides a great deal of information about how our culture greatly influences the attitudes, self-esteem, and actions of adolescent girls. It is a great book!
