The Girl Within [Paperback]

Emily Hancock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 1990

Using the life stories of twenty women, psychologist Emily Hancock has identified a turning point in a women's life when a girl crystallizes a distinct and vital sense of self, which she then loses in the process of growing up, and tries to regain as an adult. A breakthrough book, this will change the way society views girls and women.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In their efforts to make their way in careers and the world, many women neglect their inner selves, according to Hancock. In what PW termed "a thoughtful self-help guide that may lead women into a re-examination of their lives," Hancock generalizes from case studies of 20 women, in search of an "authentic" sense of identity.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

While working on her doctorate at Harvard, Hancock interviewed 20 women about their development as adults. Analyzing the answers of these white, predominantly middle-class women, she concluded that for women the key to maturity often lies in reintegrating the androgynous eight- or nine-year-old "girl within" with the woman she has become. That is, modern women must look back to their early strengths to form their own role models; they can no longer follow the role of traditional mother yet at the same time find it difficult to emulate the available male roles. Hancock's effective presentation of these women's reflections makes a readable and interesting expansion of a doctoral thesis. An extensive bibliography is included. A good addition to women's studies collections.
- Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 3, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449905594
• ISBN-13: 978-0449905593
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Women rediscovering vitality, October 21, 2000

By 

M. N. Edmunds - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girl Within (Paperback)

In the author's words, _The Girl Within_ is "an arrangement of female portraits" (Introduction) rather than another inner-child book. "At the buried core of women's identity is a distinct and vital self first articulated in childhood, a root identity that gets cut off in the process of growing up female. The women in my study came fully into their own and became truly themselves only when they recaptured the little girl they'd been in the first place - before she got all cluttered up." (Chapter 1)

Few of the women Hancock goes on to describe have fully rejoined the girl within; some seem to have no hope whatsoever of recovering that girl's vitality. Rather than detracting from Hancock's thesis, this realism lends it authenticity. Descriptive rather than directive, _The Girl Within_ will spirit you on your journey to girlhood strength rather than force your girl within to appear by demand of prescriptions, steps or assignments.

Although this book - an off-shoot of the author's doctoral work - is academic in tone, it manages thoroughness without being dry. Influences are well documented, sources are dutifully cited, and still the author is present in the work, unlike dissertations written in a distant voice.

Now for the books weaknesses, as I'm a demanding reader. The scope of _The Girl Within_ is severely limited in that the subjects available for study were socially, economically and intellectually privileged women. The author's vocabulary will further deter women of lesser means from accessing the empowering thesis presented here. Hancock's editor should be reprimanded for allowing words such as "gravid" (meaning pregnant) to appear without clarification. Use of slang such as "moxie", although limited, underlines the narrow applicability of Hancock's work. A further annoyance is the frequent use of foreign phrases when the English would do just as well, such as "rite de passage" and "sotto voce". Most readers will understand "en route", but one must be privileged indeed to understand the concept of "adulte manquée".

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Girl Within, January 28, 2002

By 

Jenna Wellborn (Fairbanks, Alaska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girl Within (Paperback)

Best self help book I have ever read. Learned so much about myself from the case histories - saw parts if me in several of them. Very well written. I highly recommend it to all my friends, male as well as female, especially ones that are going through a difficult period in a relationship or have just ended one. Wish it was still in print so many more people could read it & learn!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Women rediscovering vitality, October 21, 2000

By 

M. N. Edmunds - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girl Within (Paperback)

In the author's words, _The Girl Within_ is "an arrangement of female portraits" (Introduction) rather than another inner-child book. "At the buried core of women's identity is a distinct and vital self first articulated in childhood, a root identity that gets cut off in the process of growing up female. The women in my study came fully into their own and became truly themselves only when they recaptured the little girl they'd been in the first place - before she got all cluttered up." (Chapter 1)

Few of the women Hancock goes on to describe have fully rejoined the girl within; some seem to have no hope whatsoever of recovering that girl's vitality. Rather than detracting from Hancock's thesis, this realism lends it authenticity. Descriptive rather than directive, _The Girl Within_ will spirit you on your journey to girlhood strength rather than force your girl within to appear by demand of prescriptions, steps or assignments.

Although this book - an off-shoot of the author's doctoral work - is academic in tone, it manages thoroughness without being dry. Influences are well documented, sources are dutifully cited, and still the author is present in the work, unlike dissertations written in a distant voice.

Now for the book's weaknesses, as I'm a demanding reader. The scope of _The Girl Within_ is severely limited in that the subjects available for study were socially, economically and intellectually privileged women. The author's vocabulary will further deter women of lesser means from accessing the empowering thesis presented here. Hancock's editor should be reprimanded for allowing words such as "gravid" (meaning pregnant) to appear without clarification. Use of slang such as "moxie", although limited, underlines the narrow applicability of Hancock's work. A further annoyance is the frequent use of foreign phrases when the English would do just as well, such as "rite de passage" and "sotto voce". Most readers will understand "en route", but one must be privileged indeed to understand the concept of "adulte manquée".