Sexism & Sensibility

July 15, 2024
“Girls need to hear what they’re feeling is real and that they don’t have to silently suffer through it,” according to this perceptive debut manual. Drawing on client anecdotes to offer guidance on how parents can help girls navigate sexism, psychologist Finkelstein describes how one girl “stayed quiet about a major mistake in a group project... because she didn’t want to seem like a know-it-all,” and recommends that parents entreat their daughters to speak up more by inviting them to share even half-baked thoughts in casual conversation. Finkelstein emphasizes the importance of preparing girls to think critically about gender norms and expectations, suggesting that while parents shouldn’t dictate what girls can or can’t wear, they should discuss how self-objectification can masquerade as empowerment and how “real power is about the fair distribution of resources, political influence, and personal agency.” The author presents a wealth of research highlighting the myriad challenges young girls are up against, citing findings that latent sexism in TV programming makes girls “feel worse about themselves after watching,” and that teachers are more likely to chide girls than boys for calling out answers in class. The astute advice will help parents navigate these complex issues in ways that encourage their daughters to think for themselves and recognize their self-worth. This will make a worthy addition to any parent’s bookshelf.

August 1, 2024
This engaging overview of ingrained misogyny, and how it negatively affects girls and women, offers thoughtful analysis and helpful mitigating strategies for parents raising daughters. Finkelstein, a clinical psychologist, explores three overarching areas--cultural conditioning, social media and beauty culture expectations, sexual harassment and gender bias--and provides suggestions to facilitate conversations about sex and sexuality. The rich, detailed narrative alternates in tone. Sometimes it resembles undergraduate-level lectures, bringing in statistics and quotes from outside sources; other passages revolve around the author's clients; and occasionally, as in the section on social media, Finkelstein relies on personal family experience. These styles are all equally effective, and when accompanied by Finkelstein's thoughtful commentary, foster trust while conveying balance and immediacy. Concrete solutions and actionable steps appear throughout the book instead of being compiled into one concluding chapter. There's specific advice for fathers and guidelines for raising gender-inequality-sensitized boys; plus, LGBTQ+ individuals are represented throughout the pages. Pair this with Ellen Atlanta's Pixel Flesh: How Toxic Beauty Culture Harms Women (2024) for fresh insights on a concerning, pervasive issue.

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