Feminism | September 03, 2009 | 3 comments

Bringing up princess: Turning girls into narcissists

source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124477121226408795.html

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mario_a
This is a few months old, but I think it slipped under a lot of peoples' radar. Give it a quick read. This snippet resonated with me:

"Of course, it's natural for kids to try to assert their status over others, but it used to be the role of parents to rein in these impulses and teach their daughters that while playing princess is fun, no one enjoys being around someone who acts like a princess in real life. Now researchers are finding that parents are promoting attitudes of superiority in their daughters. Jean Twenge, associate professor of psychology at San Diego State University, tracks the rising egotism on college campuses in her new book, "The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement." She has found that college-age women are developing narcissistic traits at four times the rate of college-age men. She attributes the startling discrepancy in part to parents who put their girls on a pedestal."

It seems like more and more behaviors are being reinforced these days without much thought going into the longer term repercussions. Has anyone read Twenge's book? Anyone else disagree with any of this?
  1. groups:
    Feminism,   Parents,   Fatherhood
  2. tags:
    Children,  Society,  Psychology,  Parenting,  5 more
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3 comments // Bringing up princess: Turning girls into narcissists

  • whollyfool
    • 0
      whollyfool  

    • I think it's more of the same narcissistic emphasis of the culture, this time in pink. I remember reading "A Little Princess," about a formerly rich girl who is now a poor orphan. She had been told that she was a little princess, but there was a big cultural difference in that book: she was told that her job as princess was to have good manners and help those less fortunate that she was responsible for. That does not resonate with today's culture, sadly: one more reason to mourn the passing of Ted Kennedy.

    • 2 years ago
  • remanns
  • rahoskins
    • 0
      rahoskins  

    • Their parents are setting them up for one hell of a shock once they step into the real world. It will be a rude awaking once they find out that no one really gives a fuck who their mommy or daddy is and that aren't as special as they like to think they are.

    • 2 years ago
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