Bonding with your Daughter Guide
- Getting through” to your daughter“
- Girls and assertiveness
- Talking about the media
- Understanding gender differences
- Encouraging good decisions
- Back to the Bonding with your Daughter Guide: Get more practical tips and fun ideas.
Talking to Daughters
Talking about the media
Q. I worry about all the messages my daughter is getting from TV, movies and magazines. How do I help her sort it all out?
A. When you're watching TV with your daughter and see those familiar sexist advertisements or poor female role models, you can intervene. Ask questions like, “What other choices could she have made?” or “Pam helped her friend but her friend didn't help her. What could Pam do?” or “If you wrote this story, how would you change it?” You also can make games of figuring out different endings.
Children who hear comments about what they are viewing (“I'm amazed they are still showing this stuff on television” or “No one could ever look like that!”) interpret meaning differently from children who consume television by themselves. The comments can be to other people in the room or they can be made by siblings. The key is to help our daughters develop critical skills for assessing media messages.
