In an imperfect world, we can’t always get someone to say things just the way we’d like, but it does look like Dr. Jennifer Ashton (author of The Body Scoop for Girls: A Straight-Talk Guide to a Healthy, Beautiful You) is trying to at least make folks think about some of the insane ways the culture and the media are misguiding girls. While her standards aren’t exactly a match to our own, she is practically grappling with the issues in a fine direction. A recent article had a number of good thoughts in it—
“It was not about intimacy at all,” she says.
Girls seem to want to please and often do it through
sexuality.
“What I want to say to parents is not to be afraid to ask
their kids the important questions and to make it clear they don’t care what
their friends are doing,” Rakoczy said. “It’s all about setting limits, which
may not make you popular with your kid, but may save her from making some pretty
devastating mistakes.”
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/your-look/2010-11-05-teen-girls-sex_N.htm#discov
I remember when we wrestled through some of this with our daughter Laura. She really wasn’t worried about body image, but she did think if she never ate meat she would save the souls of animals (thanks Disney)! In particular, the point of using sex to be pleasing rather than to cultivate a lasting relationship is on target.
Please talk to your daughters and sons. Help them think their views through before they are confronted with the temptations. It still amazes me that some parents are so afraid that they imagine avoiding the conversation avoids the act happening.
httpv://youtu.be/PpFBKeuKf7M
An Imperfect Video Makes a Perfect Point
What I’ve stressed the MOST:
You’ll Never be Like the People You Don’t Hang Around
Of course, this is the kind of thing we love to help with.
Lead well as parents,
Fred Lybrand
