She Deserves Better

Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self, and Speaking Up

Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, Joanna Sawatsky

• Publisher: Baker Books
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493437757
• Print ISBN:
  9781540900838
• Subtopic: Religion

You want your daughter to thrive--to be strong, confident, and equipped to step into the life God has for her.

But what if the church is setting your daughter up to be small?

Armed with data from an all-new survey of over 7,000 women, She Deserves Better reveals how experiences in church as teens affect women's self-esteem and relationships today. The authors expose common evangelical teachings that can backfire and instead advocate biblically grounded, freeing messages that are more about the dos and less about the don'ts.

By reframing (and sometimes replacing) common evangelical messages to teen girls, this book will equip you to raise a daughter who

● has strong self-esteem and confidence
● draws bold boundaries
● makes smart choices
● resists toxic teachings
● clings tightly to Jesus

Learn to raise your daughter as a strong, independent young woman who knows who she is, uses her voice, and confidently steps into the life God has for her. Because she deserves better than a faith that keeps her small.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1. She Deserves to Be Set Up for Success: Understanding How the Church Influences Your Daughter’s Self-Esteem and Well-Being
• 2. She Deserves a Big Faith: Defining Our Faith by Fruit, Not Fundamentalism
• 3. She Deserves to Be Heard: Why Emotional Health Isn’t Attained by Just Telling Her to “Be Joyful in the Lord!”
• 4. She Deserves to Be Respected: Teaching Girls to Draw Bold Boundaries
• 5. She Deserves the Whole Story about Dating: Why a One-Size-Fits-All Approach Won’t Work
• 6. She Deserves to Be Protected: Identifying Red Flags for Toxic People
• 7. She Deserves to Know about Her Body: Why Sex Ed Isn’t the Bogeyman You’ve Been Told It Is
• 8. She Deserves to Understand Consent: “Boys Will Be Boys” and Other Lies the Church Tells about Assault
• 9. She Deserves to Exist as a Person, Not as a Threat: Your Daughter Is Not a Stumbling Block
• 10. She Deserves Permission to Be Big: Girls Come Second to Christ Alone
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Back Ads
• Back Cover