Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture

Written by: Peggy Orenstein

First line: Here is my dirty little secret: as a journalist I have spent nearly two decades writing about girls, thinking about girls, talking about how girls should be raised.

Why you should read this book: Like many modern mamas, Orenstein thought she could shield her daughter from the pernicious effects of gender-based body and education issues, only to find that there is no escaping the culture at large and that her daughter would admire the Disney princesses without ever having watched a Disney film. She embarks on an in-depth examination of the commercialization of childhood, particularly as it pertains to girls' concepts of agency, self-image, achievement, and sexuality. From the Disney marketing machine and the American Girl flagship to toddler beauty pageants and social networking, Orenstein observes the way little girls are marketed to and (if the parents don't express their own values) molded by a materialist culture that seeks to commodify their innocence and profit from their insecurities.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your job involves figuring out how to make money from the natural proclivities of children.