In this book therapist Mary Pipher writes about her experiences at work with adolescent girls. It is intended to make the reader aware of the perils of being a teenager in today's sexualized and media-saturated culture. She talks about how this new and more hostile environment affects adolescent girls' emotional growth and development, and how hard it is to stay true to yourself while trying to fit in with peers. For the most part this book is Dr. Pipher's attempt to reach out to adolescents, as well as their parents and teachers, and tell them that this "problem without a name" is not a death sentence but rather a journey to adulthood, and tells adults how to help these impressionable young girls through what might be the most trying period of their lives.Mary Pipher, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her teen years were spent in the sixties, a time radically different from our own. When she first went into practice she was shocked at the different types of problems that had arisen since she was an adolescent. Many problems that plague today's youth were ones that hadn't existed during Dr. Pipher's youth. She acknowledges our unique struggles and unfortunately has witnessed girls who have lost all sense of self. The title of her book comes from the story of Ophelia, from Shakespeare's Hamlet, shows the destructive forces that affect young women. Ophelia was happy and free when she was young, but she loses herself in adolescence. When she falls in love with Hamlet she pushes aside her own wants and needs, and wishes only to please him and gain his approval. For the rest of her brief life she struggles to please others, mostly her father and Hamlet, and loses sight of who she is and what she wants. Her self value rests solely on other people's approval of her, this ultimately leads to her demise. When Hamlet shuns her for being an obedient daughter, Ophelia goes mad with grief and ...
