Self-Esteem in Girls

Self-esteem is an important value in the life of any human being. Women may have emerged victorious in almost all fields. However, when it comes to self-esteem, they lose miserably. Low self-confidence is the main reason why, in spite of their brilliant achievements, they cannot stand for what is rightfully theirs.

The root cause of this lies in the way women are brought up. Since childhood, they experience discrimination in all walks of life.

The inferior treatment makes them vulnerable to low self-esteem issues, later in life. Building self-assurance in girls during childhood itself, is important if you want to see your daughter grow into a strong and proud woman.

Unfortunately, parents are responsible for fostering that feeling of low self-respect in a child. Unjust comparisons made with male siblings or friends, criticism, and lack of appreciation can all result in this negative feeling in young girls.

Another major reason is that young girls are extremely conscious of their physical appearances and expect to look absolutely perfect. Any imperfection in their physical traits, shatters their confidence and results in extreme depression.

As many as 60% of girls are dissatisfied with their bodies, where 20-40% of them go on a diet at the age of ten. Moreover, these young girls are often confronted with teen issues like dating and sex.

It is obvious that their young bodies and minds cannot deal with the stress that is a product of such adult issues; this results in depression. Low self-confidence is the final outcome when the body becomes the barometer of self-worth.

The steps on developing self-esteem should be taken right from childhood itself. There are many things you can do to improve self-confidence in little girls.

• Explain to your child that physical appearance has very little to do with a person's true worth in society.

• Emphasize on her young mind that the models on magazine covers should not be used to judge her own body type.
• Appreciate the good qualities in your child and avoid unfair comparisons with her peers.
• Assign her some daring and courageous tasks, often meant for boys, and then reward her on accomplishing them (be careful about the jobs that you assign to her). 

• Do not restrict her privileges or take away her liberty, particularly if you are offering the same to her male siblings.
• Inculcate in her mind, the importance of values, such as equality, self-esteem, standing up for one's rights, etc.

• Also, prevent her from going on fad diets or becoming obsessed with her looks. Divert her mind to hobbies like sports, reading, painting, etc.

Self-esteem and self-improvement go hand in hand. Self-assurance often determines the worth of a person in society. This is of immense importance if we wish to see a society that is free from male domination and based truly on the fundamentals of equality.