Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________BAD GIRL BY NELL BERNSTEIN (10/22/97)

Like so many well-meaning people, Nell's naiveté about the complexity of teens like L leads her to cripple the young girl she tries so hard to help. She talks about self-esteem, relationships, etc., yet she is unable to accept as "real" the parts of L that she does not value, thus not really accepting her at all. L is encouraged to view herself as a powerless victim who MUST vent her rage on others in order to be her true self. This is dangerous nonsense, and only pushes L further away from the brighter future Nell wants for her. How sad that Nell's sense of her own "truth" and goodness undermines a vulnerable yet promising young woman who needs and deserves better.

-- Barbara Heath

SALON | Oct. 29, 1997

R E C E N T L Y+| FOXY LADY: ALLY MCBEAL By Joyce Millman

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_______________BAD GIRL BY NELL BERNSTEIN (10/22/97)
	Like so many well-meaning people, Nell's naiveté about the complexity of teens like L leads her to cripple the young girl she tries so hard to help. She talks about self-esteem, relationships, etc., yet she is unable to accept as "real" the parts of L that she does not value, thus not really accepting her at all. L is encouraged to view herself as a powerless victim who MUST vent her rage on others in order to be her true self. This is dangerous nonsense, and only pushes L further away from the brighter future Nell wants for her. How sad that Nell's sense of her own "truth" and goodness undermines a vulnerable yet promising young woman who needs and deserves better. -- Barbara Heath SALON \| Oct. 29, 1997