THURSDAY: The Triple Bind

The "triple bind" for today's female teens and tweens is the pressure to be (1) pretty and sweet while also being (2) athletic and competitive and also be (3) perfect in every way and make it all look effortless. They can get this pressure from the culture, from family expectations, and from their own ideas of who they have to be.

This was pretty good. Since I read a lot of books like this, I skimmed some parts that were familiar from other reading I have done. But there were some research results that were fascinating. The one study that sticks out in my mind was one where boys and girls were told to try on swim suits and then, in the suits, to complete a math test. They were compared to a control group that took the test wearing normal clothes. The girls in swim suits performed worse than the other girls. The theory is that trying on the swim suits made them feel self-conscious, and in some cases even to feel badly about their self-image, which eroded their confidence.