Before a girl grows up into womanhood, she tends to face many oddities with the potential to stifle her leadership qualities. Even though the US female population is 50.52% and slightly higher than males, there are still nuances that go against girls. For this reason, it would be in your best interest to raise your daughters in preparation for what lies ahead. These are some points to throw more light on the issue.

 

• Be specific in giving compliments

According to psychologists, compliments are confidence-boosting remarks, no matter who hears them. However, your girls would require more clarity and specificity in giving compliments. For example, if you want to compliment your daughter’s smartness, you can say, ‘you have excellent memory,’ or ‘you have great listening skills.’ The act of being exact in your compliments allows your daughter to know exactly what she is receiving praise for. The objective for this is to build their emotional intelligence. More importantly, it is to help them understand that compliments are targeted and sincere praises for actions or deeds.

• Encourage reading of helpful books  

Over the years, there have been many great books focused on building character and teaching relevant life lessons. Some of these books also focus on upholding personal values and building integrity. If you’re interested in helping them expand their cognitive horizons, you may want to introduce social emotional learning books which tackle different areas of your child’s growth.

• Encourage your girls to have a healthy body image

At some point, as a parent or guardian, your daughter is bound to ask if they’re pretty or looking good in their clothes. As innocent as these questions may sound, your girls look for affirmations about their image and appearance in these subtle ways. It might be tempting to answer with a casual ‘yes’ and move along. However, you may want to approach this differently and with more enthusiasm. 

According to research, females form body impressions from an earlier age than boys. Research has also shown that exposure to media content plays a significant role here. Even in animated movies, your girls can begin to formulate perceptions about what seems like the perfect body image. 

For instance, many animated movies based on fairytale princesses often present their main characters as slender, pretty, flawless, with long flowing hair. What happens if your girl does not have a body image that conforms to what she sees in the animated movies? Imagine how momentous it was for young black girls to see themselves represented in The Princess and the Frog So, you see, the work starts with you before anyone else. It would surprise you to know that many of these image perceptions can remain through to adulthood.

• Teach her about positive role models

Whenever you can point out positive role models, it is advisable to seize the moment. Whether it is on the news, in newspapers, or in sports shows, you cannot overlook the importance of these life lessons. The objective is to look beyond yourself (parent) as the primary role model. As your girl grows up, she begins to look beyond the home for people she can admire. By filling in this gap, you will be teaching her to focus on the positive characteristics of role models in leadership positions.

Raising girls can be different in many ways compared to boys. Therefore, you may want to educate yourself first on the salient issues before imparting this knowledge to the younger generation.