CINDERELLA ATE MY DAUGHTER Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture

American culture pushes girls to focus on appearance rather than character, pleasing others rather than themselves and weakening themselves rather than achieving their goals, says a journalist who surveys a fascinating array of scientific, commercial, and mass media influences. Challenging parents to examine these issues, Peggy Orenstein uses a chatty first-person style (she has a daughter) and intelligent irony as she describes her analysis of phenomena like Miley Cyrus, the color pink, Disney princess products, and provocative findings from developmental/gender studies. Her reading of her fast-moving yet thoughtful broadside could not be more authentic and engaging. With an endearing willingness to sound vulnerable, she floats questions with no easy answers but sounds determined to get it right as a mom and to empower her listeners to do the same. T.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2012]