Girls' Day Out

At first glance it seems like a well-intentioned, uplifting idea -- Take Our Daughters to Work Day. Thousands of girls accompanying their parents to work. What a great way to build their self esteem and show them that gender stereotypes are a thing of the past in coorperate America. On closer examination, it's the sixth straight year a day has been devoted to a sexist, condescending exploitation of girls.

The company line
Girls get to ditch school and take part in a self-congratulatory dog and pony show. A public relations coup for companies. Warm and fuzzy photo ops and sound bites for the evening news.

Female role models are paraded out to tell our daughters they can have any career they choose. Too bad they won't be told not to expect equal pay for equal work. Or affordable corporate child care. Or paid parental leave that shows their company values child-raising as socially useful labor. I also doubt that our daughters will be visiting factory assembly lines to hear women extoll the virtues of repetitive manual labor. That might spoil the party.

Listening to statistics
Six years ago, the Ms. Foundation cited disturbing research (long since disputed as faulty) that girls 9-15 were losing "their voice," their self-esteem, and their aspirations for certain career and academic paths. At that same time, national standardized tests showed girls testing lower than boys in math and science. This day was a response to those findings.

For decades, boys have been testing 10% and 15% lower respectively than girls in reading and writing. Boys get kicked out of school and quit school in far greater numbers than girls. They commit suicide four times as much, which is a a rather loud declaration of low self-esteem. Aren't those statistics worrisome enough to get them a special day off from school?

A working dialogue
Let's get real. Scrap this feel-good, one-shot exploitation of our daughters (and ignoring of our sons) in favor of a commitment to exposing our children to any work that will challenge and inspire them. Teach them to find pride in their own work. Show them that dedicated work in the service of others can lend meaning and a sense of purpose to their lives.

Read Carleton Kendrick's bio.

More on: Raising Your Teenage Daughter