Redefining Girly: How Parents Can Fight the Stereotyping and Sexualizing of Girlhood, from Birth to Tween

By Melissa Wardy

Containing practical, specific parenting advice; strategies for effecting change with educators, store managers, corporations, and more; and tips for challenging and changing the media, this essential guide gives parents the tools they need to fight back against the modern stereotyping and sexualization of young girls.

Activist Melissa Wardy shares tangible advice for getting young girls to start thinking critically about sexed-up toys and clothes while also talking to girls about body image issues. She provides tips for creating a home full of diverse, inspiring toys and media free of gender stereotypes, using consumer power to fight companies that make such major missteps, and taking the reins to limit, challenge, and change the harmful media and products bombarding girls.  

Redefining Girly provides specific parenting strategies, templates, and sample conversations and includes letters from some of the leading experts in education, psychology, child development, and girls’ advocacy.

Order on Amazon today!

Dove Self-Esteem Weekend

Today there is more pressure than ever on young girls to be physically perfect.  Peer pressure is overwhelming.  We see this reflected in the media all around us.

Research shows a link between a mother's influence and her daughter's ideas about health and body confidence.  If mothers can become more aware of their attitudes towards their own bodies and those of their daughters, they can help their daughters stand up to powerful influences in our culture that undermine their own sense of beauty and self-worth.

October 22 - 24th, across the country there is a movement - The Dove Movement of Self-Esteem!  You can find events going on and a vast amount of social media to help build self-esteem and change the world one girl at a time.

Sue Scheff: Your Body Image - End Fat Talk - Take the Pledge

Fat Talk Free® Week (Oct 19 – 23, 2009) is an international, 5-day body activism campaign that draws attention to body image issues and the damaging impact of the thin ideal on women in society. This annual public awareness effort was borne from Tri Delta’s award-winning body image education and eating disorders prevention program, Reflections: Body Image Program™.

Learn more at http://www.endfattalk.com/ and http://rosalindwiseman.com/2009/10/12/end-fat-talk-now-please/

Sue Scheff: Teenage Girls - Teen Body Image

What a fantastic website and resource for teenage girls!

Source: FitsMi.com

Fitsmi is a place for teen girls who want to make some healthy and lasting changes in their lives. Our approach is that healthy doesn’t have to be boring (right?).

The idea for Fitsmi came from a mom who struggled with her own weight as a teen. (Read her story here.) She realized that solutions like “eating less” and “exercising more” weren’t solutions at all. So, she met with the experts: doctors, clinicians, moms, and, most importantly, teens. Her conclusion? A teen is going to choose a healthy lifestyle when she’s ready. No threats or tough love from anyone make a difference. She has to want it for herself. And once she wants it, she’ll approach it in her own unique way.

This awesome truth formed the website you’re visiting today. (Welcome, by the way!) Currently, we’re in closed beta, which means that we’re only open to a select group of teenage girls. Testing will be happening throughout the site, so if you see some wonky things, feel free to let us know and we’ll try to fix it. Our non-beta subscription site will be coming soon!

Fitsmi offers an ever-growing menu of healthy choices so a girl can find what she likes. Maybe it’s a new style, recipe, routine, or different way of thinking. Whatever she chooses, Fitsmi has tools like personal trackers and expert blogs to help her embrace change and make a difference.
A major part of this experience is Fitsmi’s community of teens, mentors and experienced voices who are always there to cheer her on.

Over time, a teen will know what’s right for her. If she grows tired of the choices she’s made (and who doesn’t?) Fitsmi offers alternatives. New ones every day.

Best of all, Fitsmi is a celebration. No wagging fingers. No lines in the sand. No lectures. There’s a funny side to this, and that’s where you’ll find Fitsmi. After all, change doesn’t have to suck.
If you want to send us feedback on how to make Fitsmi better during our beta stage, you can email us!

Visit FitsMi at http://www.fitsmi.com/ and follow them at Twitter at @FitsMi

Sue Scheff: Teen Truth Live - Helping teens today

Recently I received an email introducing me to TEEN TRUTH LIVE films.
As school is opening, I encourage parents, teens, teachers, guidance counselors, therapist and everyone that works with today’s teens to watch these films.
They cover teen drug abuse, bullying, teen body image, peer pressure and much more. An education that everyone can benefit from.

About Teen Truth Live:

TEEN TRUTH was created to give students a voice, motivate them to think, and empower them to make a difference.TEEN TRUTH LIVE: BULLY and TEEN TRUTH LIVE: DRUGS & ALCOHOL are interactive, multi-media presentations that incorporate motivational speeches with student created documentary films. The award winning films, TEEN TRUTH: BULLY and its follow up TEEN TRUTH: DRUGS & ALCOHOL focus on social issues that can lead to school violence and drug or alcohol abuse while the personal speeches challenge students to think about how their reactions to these issues impact the lives of those around them. Ultimately, TEEN TRUTH LIVE challenges the audience to have a positive impact on their peers, in order to make school a safer, healthier, happier place

Sue Scheff: Love Your Body, Love Your Life

By Sarah Maria

Coming Soon! Pre-order today!

Sarah Maria is a body-image expert who can help you discover the beauty that you already are so that you can create a body and a life that you truly love. Read Sarah Maria's story of Transformation

She combines ancient wisdom with modern science and shows you, step-by-step, how to pacify your mind, heal your heart, befriend your body, and transfrom your life.

CLICK HERE TO BE NOTIFIED as soon as Sarah Maria's Life-changing book Love Your Body, Love Your Life is available for purchase.

Sue Scheff: You' Be So Pretty If.... by Dara Chadwick

By Dara Chadwick

I grew up listening to my mom bemoan everything from the size of her thighs to the shape of her eyes. So you can imagine my dismay the first time someone exclaimed, 'You look just like your mother!'

So begins You'd Be So Pretty If...: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies -- Even When We Don't Love Our Own (Da Capo Lifelong Books, May 2009), former Shape magazine columnist Dara Chadwick's guide to breaking the mother-daughter cycle of bad body image.

With humor and compassion, Chadwick uses her own story -- as well as those of the women and girls she interviewed -- to reveal everything from what girls learn when mom diets to the trigger words that can set off a body image crisis.

You'd Be So Pretty If... offers fresh and useful strategies to help you build a strong body image foundation for your daughter -- even if your own body is far from what you'd consider "perfect."

Learn more on Amazon (type book title or author in Amazon Box) or visit Dara Chadwick at http://www.youdbesoprettyif.com/

Sue Scheff: A Teen's Guide to Weight Management

What Do I Have to Lose?

A Teen's Guide to Weight Management

By Elizabeth Bauchner

Do you need to lose a few pounds? Are you overweight? Or are you just built differently from the "Barbie-doll" (or "Ken-doll") shape? Sometimes it's hard to tell. In a culture that insists we all have to be model-thin, it's hard to judge. Dieting is a big business that sells books, magazines, and food products. In the midst of so many conflicting messages, it can be hard to sort out fact from fiction.

We all want to look our best and at the same time, we all hate to deny ourselves our favorite foods! Healthy weight management is all about achieving the weight that's right for you, and this book will give you the facts you need to determine what is right for you. Your ideal weight will depend on many factors, your height, your body type, your gender, or your age, but there are at least two common factors for successful weight management: regular exercise and a balanced diet.

Forget "diets" and focus instead on a lifetime of healthy habits. In the long run, weight management is not about denying yourself. It's about providing your body with what it truly needs, and this book will tell you how.

Learn more: http://www.masoncrest.com/book_view.php?bookID=96

Sue Scheff: Middle School Confidential - Books for Teens

Real Friends vs The Other Kind

By Annie Fox

Synposis

Jack, Jen, Chris, Abby, Mateo, and Michelle are back. But their tight circle of friends looks like it’s breaking apart. What’s going on? The very popular Monique might be using one of the girls to get to one of the guys, and never noticing that one of the other guys is in love with her! Now everyone is either feeling mad, hurt, jealous, or pulled in two directions at once. Yeah, it’s complicated! Friendships often are.

Yesterday I posted a parenting book, today I am introducing you to a great educational teen series, especially for those teens starting Middle School.

Click into the Amazon Box on this page and find her complete series of Middle School Confidential!

My God-daughter turns 13 this July, guess what she is getting for her birthday? She loves reading and I am confident this will be the perfect gift!

Sue Scheff: Parent and Teen Book

THE SECRETS TO SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN YOUR TEENS, by Lori Hanson

Award-Winning Author of “It Started with Pop-Tarts (R)”, Lori Hanson, wrote an amazing very quick and easy read parent and teen book. What I loved about this book is it was written in a fashion that addresses some serious issues that teens face today, however in a condensed and easy to understand format.

I literally finished it in less than 2 hours (with many interruptions) and was very impressed how Lori both talked to teens and parents - almost at the same time - and you could feel that Lori is connecting.

I recommend any parents of teens today purchase this book and share it with their teen. What a great way to start communications - since today many parents have lost that connection with many teens.

You can purchase this book here. Don’ miss it! Get it before it hits the book stores!

Sue Scheff: The Teenage Body Book

By Kathy McCoy

The award-winning guide, now fully updated--everything every teenager (and parent of a teenager) needs to know about nutrition, health, fitness, emotions, and sexuality.This is the essential handbook for honest, forthright, up-to-date advice in dealing with every dilemma, doubt, and possibility facing teenagers at the threshold of the new century--including: * Overcoming "body image" anxiety * Drugs, drinking, smoking, and peer pressure * Sexual orientation and teenagers * Coping with depression, anxiety, and stress * Teen pregnancy, birth control, and parenthood * Sexually transmitted diseases * The latest information on fad diets, sports medicine, and medical advances * How to find confidential and effective crisis counseling and more.

For more information - place the title of the book in the Amazon Box.

Sue Scheff: PE4Life

PE4life offers the unique ability to transform the lives of students, teachers, schools, and communities by providing knowledge and expertise through our Program Support and Service Packages.

Visit http://www.pe4life.org/index.cfm for more valuable information.

Body Image and Teens

As schools open - many teens, especially girls will stress over their appearances and body image. Sarah Maria is a specialist in this area, as a teen she suffered with low self worth that lead to a eating disorder.

Today she is helping many with their self image and building confidence. Read more and learn more to better help your teenager with today's peer pressure on their looks. http://www.breakfreebeauty.com/teens.php

Body Image in Teens

Sarah Maria is a body-image expert and personal empowerment specialist who helps people love their bodies no matter how they look. She leads workshops internationally and works one-on-one in consulting sessions to assist people in overcoming hatred and dissatisfaction with their bodies using holistic healing and spiritual principles. She's a certified meditation teacher, Yoga instructor, and Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor. Contact her at Contact her at sarah@breakfreebeauty.

Be sure to sign up for her Newsletters and Radio Show at http://www.breakfreebeauty/ - you won’t want to miss how you can start believing in yourself and empowering yourself and your teen to feel good about who you are.

Teen Body Image by Break Free Beauty

If you're in high school, most of your friends are probably on a diet. A recent study shows that 90% of junior and senior girls are on a diet regularly, even though only 10-15% are actually overweight. Read more: http://www.breakfreebeauty.com/teens.php

Learn more at http://www.breakfreebeauty.com/ by Sarah Maria