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Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It's Not Bad to Be Good
Random House
July 2007
On Sale: June 26, 2007
352 pages
ISBN: 1400064732
EAN: 9781400064731
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
At twenty-three, Wendy Shalit punctured conventional wisdom
with A Return to Modesty, arguing that our hope for true
lasting love is not a problem to be fixed but rather a
wonderful instinct that forms the basis for civilization.
Now, in Girls Gone Mild, the brilliantly outspoken author
investigates an emerging new movement. Despite nearly-naked
teen models posing seductively to sell us practically
everything, and the proliferation of homemade sex tapes as
star-making vehicles, a youth-led rebellion is already
changing course. In Seattle and Pittsburgh, teenage girls protest against
companies that sell sleazy clothing. Online, a
nineteen-year-old describes her struggles with her mother,
who she feels is pressuring her to lose her virginity. In a
small town outside Philadelphia, an eleventh-grade girl,
upset over a “dirty book” read aloud in English class, takes
her case to the school board. These are not your mother’s rebels. In an age where pornography is mainstream, teen clothing
seems stripper-patented, and “experts” recommend that we
learn to be emotionally detached about sex, a key (and
callously) targeted audience–girls–is fed up.
Drawing on numerous studies and interviews, Shalit makes the
case that today’s virulent “bad girl” mindset most truly
oppresses young women. Nowadays, as even the youngest
teenage girls feel the pressure to become cold sex sirens,
put their bodies on public display, and suppress their
feelings in order to feel accepted and (temporarily) loved,
many young women are realizing that “friends with benefits”
are often anything but. And as these girls speak for
themselves, we see that what is expected of them turns out
to be very different from what is in their own hearts. Shalit reveals how the media, one’s peers, and even parents
can undermine girls’ quests for their authentic selves,
details the problems of sex without intimacy, and explains
what it means to break from the herd mentality and choose
integrity over popularity. Written with sincerity and upbeat
humor, Girls Gone Mild rescues the good girl from the realm
of mythology and old manners guides to show that today’s
version is the real rebel: She is not “people pleasing” or
repressed; she is simply reclaiming her individuality. These
empowering stories are sure to be an inspiration to
teenagers and parents alike.
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