A girl who likes herself knows how to ask for what she wants

Girls are often rewarded for being powerless by hinting rather than asking for what they want. This passive mindset is the opposite of the power perspective that our girls need to thrive.

Build your girl’s power perspective by reframing her thinking about problems into solutions.

Transcript

A more subtle way girls are encouraged to be powerless and are sometimes rewarded for is to hit rather than ask. They'll say, I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. It's broken or it's lost rather than coming out and asking for what they want. Does your daughter do that too? These are passive ways of engaging with the world. They're not even requests for someone else to fix the problem. In these cases, girls simply put a fact out there and hope or expect that someone else will, A, come up with a solution, and B, deliver that solution. An external force is required to solve their problems. This is a passive mindset, far away from the power perspective we're trying to instil in our girls. If your girl does tend to hint rather than ask, encourage her to reframe her thinking about problems in to solutions. For example, when our girls say, I'm hungry. We answer with the dad joke. Hi, hungry. Nice to see you. When they follow-up with an exasperated. No. I'm hungry. We tell them, that's the problem. So what's the solution? Soon enough, they will get the point and reply, can I have something to eat, please? The hope and optimism of girls with a power perspective stems from their confidence. Confidence in their own abilities, confidence to articulate their wants and needs. Confidence that their determination and hard work are most likely to get them what they want.