Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein is a bestselling author and visionary psychologist and film maker. In the tradition of authors like Judy Blume, Dr. Holstein pushes the envelope in covering the challenges women of all ages really face.
WILMINGTON, NC, February 26, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ — Women’s roles have undergone a profound change since the 1960’s. Women have made dramatic strides in the workplace, our culture, in education and in the political arena. Many barriers have fallen, while many have stayed in place or morphed into something we don’t recognize. By examining the shifts in employment, education, and social norms, we can better understand the progress made and the road still ahead.
Bestselling author and visionary Positive Psychologist Barbara Becker Holstein has spent her entire career helping women of all ages build resilience and self-esteem. In an article on her site, titled, “Women’s Fashion Through the Decades: Then vs. Now,” she addressed some of those changes. In that article she wrote in part:
In the 1960s, women’s clothing was often characterized by dresses, skirts, and high heels. The ideal female body image was the hourglass figure, and women’s clothing often accentuated this shape. However, as women began to gain more freedom and independence, their attitudes about dressing started to change.
Today, the emphasis is on comfort and personal expression, and women are no longer confined to wearing traditionally feminine clothing. Many women choose to wear pants, sneakers, and other casual clothing, and there is a growing movement towards gender-neutral fashion.
And as we see today, most women do not try to conform to a single idealized body image. This has led to a wider range of fashion options for women, including plus-size clothing and clothing designed for women with different body shapes.
When I was a little girl, the major source of my clothing was via my cousin. If she grew that season then I would come to visit and see folded nicely on a chair the latest new clothes for me. Of course they were technically hand me downs but my aunt took such good care of my cousin’s things that they were as close to new as possible. without a stain on them, even though worn by a little girl, starched when they had to be, and folded carefully.
I loved those hand me downs. One reason was that I thought my cousin, who was two years old than I, was beautiful, much prettier than I. She had straight almost black hair that shone in the right light and I had medium brown hair that wanted to be messy and curly but was only messy. I had had my tonsils out when I was two and my mom said the ether had taken away my beautiful soft curls and left me with basically a mess of hair, never quite right.
Let me mention at this point in my essay on clothing that already I’m talking about a different world than you and I live in now. For one thing, washing clothes was in and of itself difficult. When we lived in an apartment my mother had a washing machine. Oh no, it was nothing like you know now. It was a container into which water was taken from the sink in a hose hookup, as hot as possible and then one stirred that mess of laundry round and round until you were exhausted. Then you emptied the water and did more rounds of turning and turning the water that was now cold, as you had to rinse the clothes still full of soap. Finally in exhaustion you emptied the tub and now began the adventure of hanging out the wash.
Every apartment had access to a rope line. Some lines were hanging from one tree to another. Others were hanging from fire escapes, so you had to take your clothes pins and yourself and your wet laundry in a basket and stand on a metal fire escape where you wouldn’ want to look down, as it was designed to run down stairs in a fire, made out of iron, and you could look down through all the openings.
That’s the way it was when I was little, at our apartment. My aunt had a house and more money than us and so she had to stand in her back yard with a rope that went around tree trunks.
The full text of the piece is available at https://www.enchantedself.com/womens-fashion-through-the-decades-then-vs-now/
As a school psychologist and in her private practice, Dr. Holstein has worked with many children and parents, assisting them in developing skills in decision-making, self-awareness, and courage, as well as improving inter-generational communication.
She is a visionary psychologist and filmmaker whose unprecedented selfie films have garnered over 200 placements and awards. Her singular vision is to help girls build resilience, self-esteem, and discover their own talents, abilities, and self-worth. Dr. Holstein has spent decades developing tools and techniques to help girls enhance self esteem and resilience. One of those tools, a workbook for girls titled, ‘Looking Good, Feeling Good’, achieved bestseller status, an honor that many of her other books have achieved. The ebook hit the top of the Teen and Young Adult Self Esteem eBooks.
Dr. Holstein hopes to bring parents, teachers, librarians, grandparents and media together to accomplish one goal: Change in the lives of young people who suffer from anxiety and a growing sense of hopelessness and despair. She wraps Positive Psychology concepts in forms of media that young people find engaging, relatable and inspiring. These include:
Five bestselling, award-winning books (perfect for school libraries)
Five self-esteem workbooks for girls 8 and up
Award-winning films and coming of age selfie films
Podcasts dedicated to addressing resilience and self esteem
Dedicated websites
Stage plays
A library of articles
Ted-style talks
Dr. Holstein’s workbook for kids, ‘Secrets’ also achieved bestseller status in the ‘Teen & Young Adult Nonfiction on Depression’ category.
Dr. Holstein’s cutting-edge presentations, including selfie films and resilience and self esteem podcasts can be found on both YouTube, Vimeo and on the Roku channel and Amazon Fire TV, titled as ‘The Enchanted Self Presents’.
Dr. Holstein is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at barbara.holstein@gmail.com.More information about the Selfie Showcase is available at http://www.selfiefilmmakers.com. Selfie videos and selfie films can be uploaded at the site. Potential podcast guests can contact Dr. Holstein by email. More information is available at her primary website at http://www.enchantedself.com.
Profile:
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, internationally known Positive Psychologist is the creator of The Enchanted Self ®, a positive psychology method for happiness and a pioneer in Selfies as Film. Dr. Holstein’s Enchanted Self website was included as one of the best websites in positive psychology. She is in private practice in Long Branch, New Jersey with her husband, Dr. Russell M. Holstein.
Dr. Barbara can be found on the web, interviewed, writing articles and posting video ‘TED’ style talks on Happiness, Positive Psychology, Relationships and Parenting. Her Roku channel is: The Enchanted Self Presents.
She has been a contributor to Your Tango, Heart and Soul, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Honey Good, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Redbook, Real Simple, Women’s World, The Wall Street Journal, Psychcentral.com, Time online, Readers Digest, Parade, the Today Show and Family Circle Magazine.
—
For the original version of this press release, please visit 24-7PressRelease.com here
