Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-247) and index.
Contents
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours" -- Just practicing : it's in her kiss -- Feminine ideals : make-up, midriffs, and the pleasures of being objectified -- Naked Barbie -- Bodies and pleasure : if it fells good, why is it so bad? -- Playing dead but feeling tingly -- Wanting it and not wanting it -- Two kinds of guilty pleasure -- African-American girls and their secrets -- Periods, pubic hair, boobies, and bodily torture -- Guilty minds and sexual obsessions -- Too sexual too soon -- Unwelcome intrusions : sexual coercion in the lives of girls -- Raising sexual girls : a few words to parents -- Aggression in girls -- A good girl doesn't do that -- Dear diary, I hate her! Secret anger in girls -- The aggressive acts of good girls -- Feeling the power -- Getting physical : girl athletes -- Class, clothes, and cutting her down to size -- "I'm no sucker" : fighting and fighting back -- Raising aggressive girls? -- Welcoming sex, power, and aggression into the lives of girls.
Summary
Draws from interviews with pre-teens, teens, and adult women to examine the everyday behavior of "real" pre-adolescent girls, revealing how private sexual play and aggressive behavior can mold them into strong, self-assured, and well-balanced women.