Peggy Orenstein quotes

Marketing to girls constantly presents a hypersexualized idea of girls; they're expected to appear sexy but be cut off from their sexuality. (Peggy Orenstein)
Mothers are doing a better job talking about risk, danger, reproduction, consent, unwanted pregnancy. We're not talking about how to balance the risks and joys and we're really not talking about the joys. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
I never expected, when I had a daughter, that one of my most important jobs would be to protect her childhood from becoming a marketers' land grab. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
The point of creativity is to express and challenge yourself, to make meaning, to embrace your life. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
And isn't that, at it's core, what the princess fantasy is about for all of us? "Princess" is how we tell little girls that they are special, precious. "Princess" is the wish that we could protect them from pain, that they would never know sorrow, that they will live happily ever after ensconces in lace and innocence. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
It's not that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow, and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girl's identity to appearance. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
But it is Bella, not the supernaturals she falls in with, who is the true horror show here, at least as a female role model. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
Displaying yourself as sexy doesn't do anything to increase sexual self-knowledge or pleasure. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
Sexualization is imposed from the outside as opposed to sexuality, an understanding of the body's responses and desires and ability to communicate that, cultivated from within. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
Maybe I wanted children, maybe I didn't, but I wanted the decision to be a choice, not a mandate. Last time I checked, childlessness was only supposed to be a condition of career advancement for nuns. View quote
Peggy Orenstein
Sexualization is the performance of sexuality, the performance of sexiness. Girls are super good at that now. (Peggy Orenstein)
Parents tend to name all of baby boys' body parts, but with girls they go from belly button to knees with this void in the middle. That doesn't change as kids go into puberty. View quote
Peggy Orenstein