Telling Stories Never Fails To Produce Good

Maturity Involves Being Honest And True To Oneself, Making Decisions Based On A Conscious Internal Process, Assuming Responsibility For One's Decisions, Having Healthy Relationships With Others And Developing One's Own True Gifts. It Involves Thinking About One's Environment And Deciding What One Will And Won't Accept.

I'm A Perfectly Good Carrot That Everyone Is Trying To Turn Into A Rose. As A Carrot, I Have Good Color And A Nice Leafy Top. When I'm Carved Into A Rose, I Turn Brown And Wither.

Girls Have Long Been Evaluated On The Basis Of Appearance And Caught In Myriad Double Binds: Achieve, But Not Too Much, Be Polite,but Be Yourself, Be Feminine And Adult; Be Aware Of Our Cultural Heritage, But Don't Comment On The Sexism. . . . Girls Are Trained To Be Less Than Who They Really Are. They Are Trained To Be What The Culture Wants Of Its Young Women, Not What They Themselves Want To Become.

Adolescence Is When Girls Experience Social Pressure To Put Aside Their Authentic Selves And To Display Only A Small Portion Of Their Gifts.

Many Young Women Are Less Whole And Androgynous Than They Were At Age Ten. They Are More Appearance-conscious And Sex-conscious. They Are Quieter, More Fearful Of Holding Strong Opinions, More Careful What They Say And Less Honest. They Are More Likely To Second-guess Themselves And To Be Self-critical. They Are Bigger Worriers And More Effective People Pleasers. They Are Less Likely To Play Sports, Love Math And Science And Plan On Being President. They Hide Their Intelligence. Many Must Fight For Years To Regain All The Territory They Lost.