Raising Our Athletic Daughters - Hardcover

Zimmerman, Jean

3.59

22 ratings by Goodreads

9780385489591: Raising Our Athletic Daughters

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385489595 ISBN 13: 9780385489591

Publisher: Doubleday, 1998

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"If Ophelia had been on the swim team," write Jean Zimmerman and Gil Reavill in this eye-opening report on the state of female athletics, "she might not have needed reviving."

Raising Our Athletic Daughters represents the first comprehensive look at the impact of sports in girls' lives, as well as a guide for parents eager to see their daughters succeed.

This book arrives at a time when women in sports are achieving record breakthroughs.  Witness the twenty-fifth anniversary of Title IX civil rights legislation; the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and 1998 Winter Olympic Games, where female athletes captured our hearts with their guts and glory; and the first spectacular seasons of the WNBA.

The popularity of Rebecca Lobo, Mia Hamm, Gabrielle Reece, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee has given rise to a new media darling: the female athlete.  It seems almost paradoxical that, just as we are witnessing an explosion of female athletics, books and studies attest to a very different picture of girls' lives, charting the loss of confidence and self-esteem with the onset of puberty.  With her book Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher was only the latest in a string of theorists to describe the dramatic ways in which girls lose out.

Journalists Zimmerman and Reavill set out  to talk with girls and their parents, exploring how sports can counteract this disturbing trend and transform girls' lives.  Here are first-hand stories from the inner cities and rural playing fields across our country, offering compelling evidence that participation in athletics makes an extraordinary difference in the lives of young girls--from reducing pregnancy rates and substance abuse to increasing college attendance.  Indeed, sports may be the most powerful resource that parents can tap in order to raise strong girls.  A clarion call for all those eager to help their children succeed and level the playing field, at last.

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Review:

Here's the bad news: American society continues to treat its sons somewhat better than its daughters, and it's no different on the playing fields; boys' athletic programs receive more attention, and thus, girls' programs must work harder just to keep pace. Here's the good news: despite the obstacles, sports function as the leveler. "There is growing awareness that girls enjoy sports and that sports are good for girls," stress the husband-and-wife team of Zimmerman and Reavill. "New evidence is developing which indicates that girls who play sports tend to avoid the physical, psychological, and social pitfalls of adolescence."

To prove their point, the authors traveled the country and collected stories from young women and their parents on the way sports are influencing female lives today. Theirs is a heartening report, rendered textured and real by the many individual voices gathered here. Sports clearly have a measurable, positive impact on young women who participate: substance abuse and pregnancy rates are lower than those of nonathletes, and female athletes are more likely to pursue a college education. Less tangibly, but no less significantly, sports help build self-esteem, fostering independence, teaching leadership and teamwork, and providing powerful role models. "If Ophelia had been on the swim team," the authors surmise, "she might not have needed reviving."

Inspiring as it is, Raising Our Athletic Daughters isn't satisfied with just inspiring; it also serves as a clearinghouse for lots of practical information. It explores the physical and emotional benefits--and pitfalls--specific to young women and changing bodies. It weighs the values of coed vs. single-sex team sports. It looks at how extreme sports have become viable alternatives to the more traditional basketball, softball, soccer, gymnastics, etc. It examines the role of parents, and ends with a comprehensive bibliography and resource list of useful organizations and contacts throughout the United States. Daughters deserve nothing less. --Jeff Silverman

From the Publisher:

Advance Praise for Raising Our Athletic Daughters:

"We need this book. Strong girls make strong women, and athletics is an important part of that. If you want your daughter to enjoy the health and confidence that come from playing sports, Raising Our Athletic Daughters is a must read."
--Billie Jean King

"Zimmerman and Reavill take us beyond the headlines to document how powerfully sports can shape our daughters' lives. They show that Title IX wasn't so much about access to the playing fields as access to sports' empowering values and experiences. Every parent with a daughter ought to read this book."
--Joan Ryan, author of Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

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