G Power What has changed for women-and what hasn't by HARBOUR FRASER HODDER lustration by ANNIE BISSETT HEN DAN KINDLON watches since the early 198os. He began to think of them as "alpha girls the tigers lay softball, he sees These girls-Kindlon uses the term because his research fo- the legacy of feminism for girls. cuses on female development up to age 21, the period covered by My daughters concentrating on pediatric medicine--were not the self-loathing, melancholic itching the ball, and this other girl teens at risk portrayed in such former bestsellers as Schoolgirls: just slams into her, slides under, "he Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap(Peggy Orenstein) recalls. " Julia got hurt a little bit, she Failing at Faimess: How America's Schools Cheat Girls(Myra and David got scraped up, but it was an experi- Sadker), and Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Sches of Adolescent Girls(Mary ence that used to be exclusively the province of men and boys- Pipher). Girls today "take it for granted that it is their due to get up and get back in the game, brush your tears off, and ignore the over fertility control, equal educational and athletic access, ore ip to get knocked down, and then you've got to pick yourself back equal rights, Kindlon They never had to fight those battl blood. She was kind of proud of herself afterwards. It was a gal job discrimination. "As a result, "girls are starting to make the character-building experience that very few girls growing up in psychological shift, the inner transformation, that Simone de an earlier generation had a chance to have Now almost all of Beauvoir predicted "in 1949 when she wrote, in The Second Sex, Harvard School of Public Health. The more he coached his Recognizing t e] will arrive at complete economic and them have that chance” "sooner or later [wome Kindlon is a clinical psychologist and adjunct lecturer at the social equality, which will bring about an inner metamorphosis. ew psychology was necessary to describe youngest daughters team, the more he understood he was ob- his daughters' generation, Kindlon studied more than goo girls wi ng a new generation of girls and young women. "People and boys across the United States and Canada and wrote about that girls aren't co e and don't enjoy winning his findings in Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and have never gone to a game and watched he says with a laugh. How She Is Changing the World(2006). This new "girl power"is char "My own daughters are so different from the girls I grew up acterized by what Kindlon calls an"emancipated confidence with, in terms of the things they think they can do. "Linking that is raising self-esteem, reducing depression, and altering gen those observations with accumulating data that show girls out- der roles among girls and young women. performing boys in grades, honors, and high-school graduation "Alpha girls"did not appear overnight, however. A century of rates-and with the historic reversal in U.S. college enroll- social and economic change first tipped and then leveled the ments(58 percent today are women, the 1970 percentage for playing field, creating the circumstances for unprecedented men)-convinced Kindlon that todays American girls are pro- gains for women in education and the labor force. These gains foundly different from their mothers. "They were born into appear across socioeconomic strata, but they are less widespread a different world, he says of girls and young women born among low-income and minority girls. To rectify the disparities, 34 JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2008 Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-574634 January - February 2008 hen dan kindlon watches the Tigers play softball, he sees the legacy of feminism for girls. “My daughter’s concentrating on catching the ball, and this other girl just slams into her, slides under,” he recalls. “Julia got hurt a little bit, she got scraped up, but it was an experi￾ence that used to be exclusively the province of men and boys— to get knocked down, and then you’ve got to pick yourself back up and get back in the game, brush your tears o≠, and ignore the blood. She was kind of proud of herself afterwards. It was a character-building experience that very few girls growing up in an earlier generation had a chance to have. Now almost all of them have that chance.” Kindlon is a clinical psychologist and adjunct lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health. The more he coached his youngest daughter’s team, the more he understood he was ob￾serving a new generation of girls and young women. “People who say that girls aren’t competitive and don’t enjoy winning have never gone to a game and watched!” he says with a laugh. “My own daughters are so di≠erent from the girls I grew up with, in terms of the things they think they can do.” Linking those observations with accumulating data that show girls out￾performing boys in grades, honors, and high-school graduation rates—and with the historic reversal in U.S. college enroll￾ments (58 percent today are women, the 1970 percentage for men)—convinced Kindlon that today’s American girls are pro￾foundly di≠erent from their mothers. “They were born into a di≠erent world,” he says of girls and young women born since the early 1980s. He began to think of them as “alpha girls.” These girls—Kindlon uses the term because his research fo￾cuses on female development up to age 21, the period covered by pediatric medicine—were not the self-loathing, melancholic teens at risk portrayed in such former bestsellers as Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap (Peggy Orenstein), Failing at Fairness: How America’s Schools Cheat Girls (Myra and David Sadker), and Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (Mary Pipher). Girls today “take it for granted that it is their due to get equal rights,” Kindlon says. “They never had to fight those battles over fertility control, equal educational and athletic access, or ille￾gal job discrimination.” As a result, “girls are starting to make the psychological shift, the inner transformation, that Simone de Beauvoir predicted” in 1949 when she wrote, in The Second Sex, “sooner or later [women] will arrive at complete economic and social equality, which will bring about an inner metamorphosis.” Recognizing that a new psychology was necessary to describe his daughters’ generation, Kindlon studied more than 900 girls and boys across the United States and Canada and wrote about his findings in Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She Is Changing the World (2006). This new “girl power” is char￾acterized by what Kindlon calls an “emancipated confidence” that is raising self-esteem, reducing depression, and altering gen￾der roles among girls and young women. “Alpha girls” did not appear overnight, however. A century of social and economic change first tipped and then leveled the playing field, creating the circumstances for unprecedented gains for women in education and the labor force. These gains appear across socioeconomic strata, but they are less widespread among low-income and minority girls. To rectify the disparities, Girl Power W What has changed for women—and what hasn’t by HARBOUR FRASER HODDER Illustrations by ANNIE BISSETT