For some parents, raising their daughters in a largely male-dominated society calls for some changes in how we raise our children in order to level the playing field. One way to accomplish this would be to give these young girls more of an edge to start with, so to speak. Here are 10 tips to toughen up our daughters:

1. Give them more physically demanding chores at an early age. It can help them to be less dependent on their male counterparts when they reach adulthood.
2. Play the same games with them as with your sons when they are young. Allow them to feel like equals, with the same rules applied.
3. Stress the importance of physical activity equally to both sons and daughters. Don’t perpetuate the myth that being a girl, and being physically active, are mutually exclusive.
4. Don’t discourage daughters who demonstrate an interest in activities that are considered to be meant for boys. Lose that whole “tomboy” stigma, and allow girls a full spectrum of choices.
5. Rather than fostering an environment in which your daughter believes that she can “win” by crying, giving up, or asking for help, parents could instill in them a belief that they can – and should – take care of themselves.
6. Include self-defense training in Phys Ed. This seems to us to be a good idea for all kids at a proper age; but more important for young women especially.
7. Encourage girls to participate in sports. This shouldn’t to be restricted to traditional venues like gymnastics and volleyball; nor should girls and boys be required to play in separate leagues.
8. Include women in the draft, offer more encouragement and incentive for them to enlist.
9. Stop sending subliminal messages that femininity requires that women be soft in every way. Provide them with examples of women who could be self-assured and gritty without sacrificing their womanhood.
10. Avoid instilling the notion that a woman is somehow incomplete without a male partner. Marriage may or may not be her goal, or even an interest, but it should never be portrayed as a necessity for self-fulfillment, nor as a lifeline in lieu of self-support.