Mary Pipher, author of best-selling book “Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls,” will speak at the Memorial Union Wednesday night as part of Women’s Week.

In “Reviving Ophelia,” Pipher addresses media and culture-related problems that girls encounter in America.

“I think that one of the biggest problems women deal with is time,” the clinical psychologist told the Daily in a phone interview. “So many women I know are stressed, rushing from place to place.”

Pipher said insecurities about outer appearance is another problem women face.

“With younger women, how they look is a big problem,” she said.

“It takes so much energy, money and workout time to achieve that look [the media tells us is beautiful].”

Pipher warns against the negative effects of media exposure on women and girls, citing television shows and movies that show women as sex objects and “arm candy.”

Many college-age women have eating disorders, which can be traced back to their image of beauty, Pipher said.

“One of the best things you can do is not watch TV,” she said. “The less media you consume, the less you’re affected by it.”

Pipher said she encourages women and girls to develop talents and interests that “have nothing to do with how you look.”

Pipher uses Shakespeare’s Ophelia as a reference point in her 1994 book, comparing the loss of self Ophelia experiences to abrupt changes in adolescent girls today.

“As a girl, Ophelia is happy and free, but with adolescence she loses herself. When she falls in love with Hamlet, she lives only for his approval,” Pipher wrote.

Penny Rice, director of the women’s center, located at Sloss House, helped bring Pipher to campus.

“The subjects that Mary talks about are timely,” Rice said. “We can learn about By Katie List

Daily Staff Writer

Mary Pipher, author of best-selling book “Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls,” will speak at the Memorial Union Wednesday night as part of Women’s Week.

In “Reviving Ophelia,” Pipher addresses media and culture-related problems that girls encounter in America.

“I think that one of the biggest problems women deal with is time,” the clinical psychologist told the Daily in a phone interview. “So many women I know are stressed, rushing from place to place.”

Pipher said insecurities about outer appearance is another problem women face.

“With younger women, how they look is a big problem,” she said.

“It takes so much energy, money and workout time to achieve that look [the media tells us is beautiful].”

Pipher warns against the negative effects of media exposure on women and girls, citing television shows and movies that show women as sex objects and “arm candy.”

Many college-age women have eating disorders, which can be traced back to their image of beauty, Pipher said.

“One of the best things you can do is not watch TV,” she said. “The less media you consume, the less you’re affected by it.”

Pipher said she encourages women and girls to develop talents and interests that “have nothing to do with how you look.”

Pipher uses Shakespeare’s Ophelia as a reference point in her 1994 book, comparing the loss of self Ophelia experiences to abrupt changes in adolescent girls today.

“As a girl, Ophelia is happy and free, but with adolescence she loses herself. When she falls in love with Hamlet, she lives only for his approval,” Pipher wrote.

Penny Rice, director of the women’s center, located at Sloss House, helped bring Pipher to campus.

“The subjects that Mary talks about are timely,” Rice said. “We can learn about ourselves and how to parent young women in the future.”

Pipher will speak about the state of affairs for families in the United States, Rice said.

“That’s our nucleus, and if that’s hurting, we’ll all be hurting,” she said.

Pipher is also the author of “Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders,” “The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding our Families” and “The Middle of Everywhere: The World’s Refugees Come to Our Town.”

Her lecture, titled “Ophelia’s Family: Women and Families in 2002,” will be held at 8 p.m. Sunday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

She will also be available after the lecture to sign copies of her books.