Advice on how to raise strong girls in a culture of pink

Samantha Ettus, MBA, explains how to raise strong girls in a culture of pink and princesses.
Parenting Tips: Raising strong girls in a culture of pink
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Advice on how to raise strong girls in a culture of pink

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Raising strong girls is something you have to be intentional about from birth. Because society is going to want to decorate your daughter in a wave of pink and nail polish and all of these things that talk to her about being beautiful on the outside and not on developing her as a person. And so part of it is telling her you believe in her. When you are complementing her it is not just because of her physical beauty, it's because of her strength. And along those lines you really want to talk to her about her body being a source of strength. And the way to show her that is getting her involved in sports early on. So that she sees her body as a source of strength and not just a source of beauty. And in getting her confidence up it's also really important to, the things that she loves and the things that she gravitates towards, you show an interest in them. And that you really listen to her and value her opinion. And also getting her outdoors in early age is very important. I myself am pretty bug phobic and I've minimized that fear until my kids were old enough to understand it. I pretended I loved it when they collected spiders or when they touched and, you know, dug for worms, I really encouraged that behavior and now my oldest daughter is a tree climber. She camps every year and I even go camping. I'm not a camper. But you have to get out of your comfort zone to get your kids really physical and really confident as girls and that means minimizing the princesses. Minimizing commercials. And limiting their media use to what is age appropriate. Via common sense media has a great website for that. And really finding a way to be strategic about how you are raising your daughter. Now, I'm not suggesting you are raising her gender neutral, but I would suggest that when people say to your daughter, "Oh! I bet your favorite color is pink," which people do to girls all the time. You let her say, "No my favorite color is blue." Or green or what ever it might be. Maybe it is pink, but you want to encourage her to be who she is and not just who society is telling her she is.

Samantha Ettus, MBA, explains how to raise strong girls in a culture of pink and princesses.

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Samantha Ettus, MBA

Lifestyle Expert for Working Moms

Sam is the leading lifestyle and parenting expert for working women. Since earning her undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard, Sam has coached thousands of women - celebrities, entrepreneurs, top CEO's and professional athletes - who aim to perform at the highest levels in both their professional and personal lives.

Sam is a bestselling author of four Random House books and a Contributor to Forbes and Disney’s parenting site, Babble. She hosts a nationally syndicated radio show for working moms and the Conference for Women’s monthly radio show, “Office Hours.”

Sam hosted leading online talk show, Obsessed TV and is known for her interviewing skills. She has interviewed countless luminaries from Al Roker to Bethenny Frankel and Mary J. Blige. Sam has made hundreds of local and national TV appearances and is a sought after speaker at corporations, conferences and colleges.

Sam aims to practice what she preaches in her daily life as a mother of three and wife of entrepreneur, Mitch Jacobs. 

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Transcription: 
Raising strong girls is something you have to be intentional about from birth. Because society is going to want to decorate your daughter in a wave of pink and nail polish and all of these things that talk to her about being beautiful on the outside and not on developing her as a person. And so part of it is telling her you believe in her. When you are complementing her it is not just because of her physical beauty, it's because of her strength. And along those lines you really want to talk to her about her body being a source of strength. And the way to show her that is getting her involved in sports early on. So that she sees her body as a source of strength and not just a source of beauty. And in getting her confidence up it's also really important to, the things that she loves and the things that she gravitates towards, you show an interest in them. And that you really listen to her and value her opinion. And also getting her outdoors in early age is very important. I myself am pretty bug phobic and I've minimized that fear until my kids were old enough to understand it. I pretended I loved it when they collected spiders or when they touched and, you know, dug for worms, I really encouraged that behavior and now my oldest daughter is a tree climber. She camps every year and I even go camping. I'm not a camper. But you have to get out of your comfort zone to get your kids really physical and really confident as girls and that means minimizing the princesses. Minimizing commercials. And limiting their media use to what is age appropriate. Via common sense media has a great website for that. And really finding a way to be strategic about how you are raising your daughter. Now, I'm not suggesting you are raising her gender neutral, but I would suggest that when people say to your daughter, "Oh! I bet your favorite color is pink," which people do to girls all the time. You let her say, "No my favorite color is blue." Or green or what ever it might be. Maybe it is pink, but you want to encourage her to be who she is and not just who society is telling her she is.