DR. MARY WOOD-ALLEN ON PROPER BEHAVIOR FOR AMERICAN GIRLS AT PUBERTY—A 1905 VIEW
1975; American Academy of Pediatrics; Volume: 55; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1542/peds.55.4.538
ISSN1098-4275
Autores Tópico(s)Child and Adolescent Health
ResumoMary Wood-Allen, M.D., World Superintendent of the Purity Department, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, was the author of a widelyacclaimed book entitled What A Young Girl Ought to Know. This book first appeared in 1897 and received high praise from many contemporary physician reviewers. An example of Dr. Wood-Allen's advice to pubescent girls is as follows: It is far better for the young girl at puberty to be gently active in household duties than to be lying around reading love stories. These exciting stories do her great harm, physical as well as mental. They are like forcing houses that hurry the buds into blossoms. Many little girls are being hurried into the physical developement of womanhood through novel-reading. I want you to be my little girl as long as you can, and, therefore, I ask you not to read lovestories and silly books of romance. Let me choose your story books for you for a few years longer. There are so many beautiful books nowadays for young people that you can find plenty of healthful reading. And nature is the roost delightful book of all. Read the lives of plants and flowers as they grow in the garden, read the experiences of the living birds in the trees. Learn to know their songs, so that you recognize them whenever you hear them. I know a young girl who keeps an opera glass always at hand and I have often seen her jump up from the dinner table, catch up the glass and rush out to examine some bird whose song was new to her.
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