Cinderella Ate My Daughter
by Peggy Orenstein
Harper Audio (audiobook)

Right and wrong are difficult to determine in the debate about whether parents should encourage, or even allow, their daughters to play-sexy in the way 'girly-girl culture' encourages them to do. As Peggy Orenstein asks, does playing Cinderella prime them for early sexualisation? And are these phases to blame for an unhealthy obsession with the way one looks? Orenstein doesn't provide firm answers but Cinderella Ate My Daughter provides fascinating fodder, and not just for parents. What role, if any, did feminism play in buoying the popularity of tiaras and girls such as Britney Spears who flaunted their wares even before they had any? How much did marketers contribute to girls' penchant for pink? Children weren't 'colour-coded' until the 20th century. White used to be worn by both sexes (the only way of cleaning clothes was to boil them) and pink was considered more masculine than blue, which symbolised femininity because of associations with the Virgin Mary. Orenstein, whose reading voice is younger than her age, wrote the book as much for herself as for others.