Beautiful Girlhood

By Mabel Hale
There has been a ton of books on teenage girls in the last few years. Having read the reviews on many of them they seem to lie in two camps, the "Fundamentalist" and the "liberal". The first vary in beliefs from the people that say you ought to wear only dresses, never work outside the home or go to college to the "courtship versus dating" debate that is so hot right now. The "liberal" books are certainly less restrictive but they can cross the line into giving too much freedom. This book does not address the courtship issue directly as that was the only way that "good" girls got married. But I still think that is was a lot less restrictive back then than some of the "Fundamentalist" groups which go back even further, some to Puritan standards.
This book somehow seems more balanced because it was written so long ago. It is far easier to see the difference in time periods and the good and bad things about the time. The chapters on dress, obeying parents, being cheerful and God are still very relevant. While this book is slightly old-fashioned on some of the other topics, Hale never demeans women or limits their purpose. She makes a good point that girls should be careful in getting too emotionally involved when they are still in high school as they can end up with multiple "broken hearts" before they grow up.
She also talks about what work that a girl should take up, such as being a doctor or nurse or teacher. She stresses that a girl should have some sort of useful skill that she can use to support her family if need be. Most of this book deals about attitude, what kind of attitude we have and what sort of one we should have.
On the whole this book makes so very valid points and while I disagree with Mabel Hale on a few minor points I think that it is well worth reading, maybe more than some of the more modern books.
Reviewed by Elizabeth