What to do when your tween or teen girl doesn’t like what she sees in the mirror.
By Rachel Bernstein
Our girls are up against some fearsome foes. Images of beauty are everywhere, and the brainwashing begins at a very young age. Media, fashion trends, culture, heritage, friends, family and even religious beliefs set and reset our and our daughters’ standards of beauty.
Psychological associations are tied to beauty. Nice characters are represented as “pretty” characters in most Disney movies and picture books. The Princess is most often kind, loved, beautiful, thin, usually fair skinned, has manageable hair, doesn’t have braces, and gets the Prince. The Wicked Witch/Wicked Step-Mother is ugly, feared and hated, has bumpy skin and a large nose, and deserves the punishment she gets. (more…)