Girl Defined: God’s Radical Design for Beauty, Femininity, and Identity

Title: Girl Defined: God’s Radical Design for Beauty, femininity, and Identity

Author: Kristen Clark & Bethany Baird

Genre: Bible Study/Devotional

“God’s design for the female isn’t a cookie-cutter mold but one that all women in every stage of life can embrace. God’s design transcends time and culture and is always relevant.”

Girl Defined is written by two sisters as an encouragement to women to step away from the world’s definition of womanhood and step into the truth of it revealed in the scriptures. As late teens the sisters were approached to become models. One was uncomfortable enough during the interview that she refused to alter her values for a job. Her sister was made to believe she could have more control over what they wanted her to do and so lasted a very short time. Both girls recognized a need to rediscover what beauty, womanhood and femininity really were and what God’s Word says about them. Women are known to place impossibly high standards on themselves when it comes to beauty and what’s expected of them as women, but in many ways those standards just aren’t the same as God’s. The world is known to place a woman’s value on a woman’s outward beauty, and if a woman isn’t a “feminist” in today’s society they are basically outcast. This book shares that Biblical womanhood is worth not only pursuing but also fighting for. As Christian women we hold a real identity in Christ and it’s one worth growing in and sharing with others.

Rating: 

Age Appropriateness: The examples in this book are more relevant to young adult women, but it’s something that younger girls could read as well. I actually found this book while looking for a study that could be good for middle-school-aged girls. It’s a book that I think can be used for a broad age-range. While the stories shared are most relevant to young adults, the emotions they have and the encouragement they long for can be felt across the ages.