Naomi Wolf said, "More women have more money and power and scope and legal recognition than we have ever had before, but in terms of how we feel about ourselves physically, we may actually be worse off than our unliberated grandmothers." The images that girls are surrounded by have changed so much in the past 20 years, and they are manipulated to such an extent that they set an unattainable standard for women and girls. Anorexia is starting earlier and earlier, with girls as young as 7 or 8 believing they should be dieting. Eating disorders are underdiagnosed in women of color but occur as often as they do in white women.
Keynote speaker Nell Merlino, founder of Count Me In (http://www.makemineamillion.org/) and Take Our Daughters to Work Day, spoke about the conference theme: Why Girls?. She said, it will be Why Girls? for her until women are paid the same as men in the work place and have equal opportunities. It will be Why Girls? for us until then too.
Let's help build a world where our girls believe in themselves as much as we believe in them, where they love themselves as much as we do. Let's start today.
I also champion the outreach to girls becoming healthy women. In the horrible world of eating disorders, let's not forget that boys are victims too. Factors include body image and sports performances, as well as emotional instability.
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