Today there are more opportunities than ever for young women to become whatever they wish to be. There are fewer limitations and a lot more opportunities to succeed, and yet being a woman can still be very difficult. The girls of this world are brave creatures that have to fight a near constant barrage of negative images presented by the media, and this can influence their self-esteem greatly. With all the social expectations and pressure, your daughter is at risk of growing insecure about her own body and skills. To prevent this, there are things you can do that will help her gain more confidence and accomplish everything she sets her mind on.

Help her build a positive body image

We’re taught from young age that a woman’s worth lies in her beauty. We pity those who aren’t beautiful and we envy those who are, creating a vicious cycle of insecurity and anger, which can lead to eating disorders and depression, especially in teenage girls. Your daughter needs to know that there’s more to life than good looks. Instead of shallow celebrities, teach her about women like Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program, or Frida Kahlo, the famous painter, or Marie Curie who won two Nobel prizes, in physics and chemistry. Teach her about Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou and Angela Davis. Introduce her to other cultures through Queen Isabella of Spain, or Catherine the Great. Tell her of Khutulun, the fierce Mongolian princess. There are countless of women who are interesting, brave, and did a lot more for this world than Kim Kardashian ever will.

Beauty comes in many forms, and your daughter needs to know that she doesn’t have to be a stick thin model to be considered pretty. If she likes makeup, teach her to use it as a form of self-expression rather than a tool to hide flaws. Teach her how to dress with style, to appreciate the long history of fashion rather than just follow trends blindly. Most of all, teach your daughter that she can be both smart and pretty, and that nothing and no one can limit her.

Teach her the importance of education

True power lies in knowledge, and this is the most important lesson that a person can learn. Whether your daughter wants to be a NASA engineer or a fashion designer, having a strong academic background will help her accomplish her goals. Allow her the freedom to learn and explore, teach her how to be curious and to question everything around her. Encourage her hobbies and help her get into good schools that can provide her the education she can later use to find a good job. If you can’t afford pricey education, look for available high school scholarships for girls that can help disadvantaged families and allow young girls to pursue their dreams. It’s important to get into the right mindset while they are young, so they wouldn’t have issues later on when they get into college.

Communicate

A good mother-daughter relationship is a priceless thing to have, and you can achieve this by allowing open communication between the two of you at all times. Never dismiss your daughter, instead learn to be patient and to always listen carefully to what she has to say. Let her live her own dreams, instead of trying to push her into something that makes her unhappy, or uncomfortable. Your child will thrive if you set up guidelines, help her build positive routines and then allow her the freedom to learn and to grow. This doesn’t mean to just let your daughter do whatever she wants unsupervised, but to grant her the chance to express herself and discover what she wants to do.

For a young girl to grow up into a fierce woman, she needs to learn to think with her own head. So, above all, teach your daughter to love books. Even when all else fails her, books never will. Teach your daughter to be hungry for knowledge, to become passionate and strong and independent. Do this, and she will conquer the world.