Raising confident daughters of color while not forgetting Obama is black
By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Feb 8, 2010 8:35 AM
The study also found that African-American girls had the highest self-esteem among the four groups studied. That's because the emaciated supermodels they see are almost all white. So instead of aspiring to be like them and developing all sorts of body-image neuroses as the Caucasian girls did, the African-American girls chose their own African-American role models and developed their own fashion sense. Who cares about Britney Spears when you have Destiny’s Child?
So I began to think about how to raise my girls as strong and confident Asian-American girls, with respect for Asian culture, tools for succeeding in American culture, and how to have fun with both. I read them stories with strong Asian-American girl heroines, I taught them to read the media and critique stereotypical portrayals of all sorts, I introduced them to role models both famous and local, I helped them see alternative beauty standards, I taught them to speak up, and I prepared them for sexism from both sides. They learned how to stand up for themselves and how to do it in a nuanced way that both Asians and Americans can accept (like code-switching).
