The Triple Bind

The Triple Bind that girls face today: • Act sweet and nice • Be a star athlete and get straight A's • Seem sexy and hot even if you're not In many ways, today is the best time in history to be a girl: Opportunities for a girl's success are as unlimited as her dreams. Yet societal expectations, cultural trends, and conflicting messages are creating what psychologist and researcher Stephen Hinshaw calls "the Triple Bind." Girls are now expected to excel at "girl skills," achieve "boy goals," and be models of female perfection, 100 percent of the time. Here, Dr. Hinshaw reveals key aspects of the Triple Bind, including • genes, hormones, and the role of biology in confronting the Triple Bind • overscheduled lives and how the high pressure to excel at everything sets girls up for crisis • how traditionally feminine qualities (such as empathy and self-awareness) can put girls at risk for anxiety, depression, and other disorders • the oversexualization of little girls, preteens, and teenagers • the reasons girls are channeling pressure into violence Combining moving personal stories with extensive research, Dr. Hinshaw provides tools for parents who want to empower their daughters to deal in healthy ways with today's pressures.