Review of "Girlsource"

Reminiscent of Our Bodies Our Selves, GirlSource is a book of advice for young women about how to cope with school, work, relationships, sex, families, and health.  It has the same sorts of information available in other similar books, so what makes it distinctive is that it is written by teenagers living in the San Francisco area from a multicultural background.  Eight writers are listed as the editorial team: aged 15 to 19, they include two African-Americans, a Chinese-American, 2 Latinas, a girl from Guatamala, a girl from China, a girl from Mexico, a Mexican-America, and a Palestinian-American.  There are five chapters, on minds and souls, bodies, relationship, rights, and futures.  Each chapter is full of boxes of information, checklists, quotations from girls talking about their own experience, definitions, and photographs.  The layout is simple and slightly alternative in style.  The advice is nonjudgmental and open-minded: for example, when talking about whether a girl is ready for sex, it emphasizes factors such as emotional maturity and the strength of the relationship, and does not even mention marriage.  If a young woman gets pregnant, the authors discusses the options of abortion, adoption, or carrying on with the pregnancy. The book also emphasizes protecting against and dealing with rape, harassment, abusive relationships, drugs and alcohol, discrimination, and family troubles.  The writing is clear and the information seems accurate.  At the end of the book are lists of links and sources, and an index.  GirlSource will be useful to a wide range of young women. 

 

Link:

• Ten Speed Press

 

© 2007 Christian Perring. All rights reserved.

 

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts & Humanities Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island. He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews.  His main research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.