This is the intro to The Daughter/Sister Series. This will be a 4 part series, keeping the same format as Dear Future Baby letters, but a different audience with each part.
BUT FIRST some statistics:
- 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner
- Girls' self esteem peaks at 9 years old
- By age 10, 80% of girls report being afraid of becoming fat
- 80% of 10 year olds have dieted at some point in their lives
- At age 13, 53% of American girls are unhappy with their bodies
- At age 17, 78% of American girls are unhappy with their bodies
With all this in mind, I'd like to mention some helpful information. Our idea of beauty has changed so much over time that "in just the past century, the ideal female body in the United States has gone from the cinched-waist ideal of the 1900s to the flat-chested, straight bodies flapper of the 1920s, to the full-chested, hourglass figure of the 1950s, to the skinny, yet large-breasted supermodels of today's fashion industry. The body type most commonly depicted in today's popular culture is a body type attainable to roughly 4% of the female population- as these models are on average 9% taller and 16% thinner than the average woman. No amount of dieting or exercise will make that body type attainable to the other 96% of the female population" (Robyn Ryle, Questioning Gender).
This may get uncomfortable, people may get upset with what I have to say, but I mean every word. Living in a world where young girls and women have the odds stacked up against them, we as mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters, have a responsibility to give them a healthy and loving place where their bodies are praised and loved, not criticized.
Sources:
http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=1757
http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=bodyimage&page=fastfacts
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/diets-obsess-tweens-study-article-1.1106653
Ryle, Robyn. Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE/Pine Forge, 2012. Print.
Image Credit: http://artbymegs.tumblr.com/