What a Young Girl Ought to Know
Title
What a Young Girl Ought to Know
Subject
Health
Description
Part of the "Self and Sex Series" for men and women and includes detailed advertisements with tables of contents for the other books.
"Dedicated to the thousands of girls whose honest inquiries concerning the origin of life and being deserve such a truthful, intelligent, and satisfactory answer as will save them from ignorance, enable them to avoid vice, and deliver them from solitary and social sins."
The book is structured as a series of sixteen "Twilight Talks" a mother has with her child before bed. Each talk builds on the previous one from plant reproduction to the biological changes of puberty. Topics include: plants, fish, birds, mammals, God's reason for parenthood, heredity, public health, masturbation, bathroom etiquette, diet (tea and coffee), smoking, positive thinking, posture, choosing books, choosing same and opposite sex friends, and mental and physical puberty. Wood-Allen's language is delicate throughout but surprisingly thorough when it comes to such intimate subjects.
According to the title page, Mary Wood-Allen was the National Superintendent of the Purity Department of the W.C.T.U. at the time of publication. According to American Motherhood, vol. 22, no. 1 (November 1905) Wood-Allen rose within this organization swiftly due to publishing several articles and books explaining puberty, parenthood, and child-rearing in concise language with a Christian focus for both men and women.
"Dedicated to the thousands of girls whose honest inquiries concerning the origin of life and being deserve such a truthful, intelligent, and satisfactory answer as will save them from ignorance, enable them to avoid vice, and deliver them from solitary and social sins."
The book is structured as a series of sixteen "Twilight Talks" a mother has with her child before bed. Each talk builds on the previous one from plant reproduction to the biological changes of puberty. Topics include: plants, fish, birds, mammals, God's reason for parenthood, heredity, public health, masturbation, bathroom etiquette, diet (tea and coffee), smoking, positive thinking, posture, choosing books, choosing same and opposite sex friends, and mental and physical puberty. Wood-Allen's language is delicate throughout but surprisingly thorough when it comes to such intimate subjects.
According to the title page, Mary Wood-Allen was the National Superintendent of the Purity Department of the W.C.T.U. at the time of publication. According to American Motherhood, vol. 22, no. 1 (November 1905) Wood-Allen rose within this organization swiftly due to publishing several articles and books explaining puberty, parenthood, and child-rearing in concise language with a Christian focus for both men and women.
Creator
Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D.
Publisher
Vir Publishing Company
Date
1897
Format
Title Page
Language
English
Type
Book
Files
Citation
Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D., “What a Young Girl Ought to Know,” The Vice Collection, accessed May 2, 2024, https://vice.omeka.net/items/show/56.