Girl Power!

I recently read an article that says that 90% of girls report sexual harassment. As shocking as that statistic is, there was one quote that stood out to me. While interviewing researcher Christia Brown, Amy Wilson asked, "How about female high school athletes? Do they face unique sexist challenges?"




Brown responded,

They often get comments about their sexuality or their inferior athletic abilities. However, we also know that those girls have the best outcomes of any girls in high school. They tend to have higher self-esteem and do well academically. They also tend to have better body images than nonathletes. We suspect it is because they view their bodies as powerful and use their bodies for a purpose, instead of just viewing their bodies as something that needs to be attractive.

In light of the recent Olympic games, I think that helping girls see themselves as more than a pretty (or not-so-pretty) face is important. Check out the full interview here: "90% of girls report sexual harassment." (Detroit Free Press)