The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385423977 ISBN 13: 9780385423977

Publisher: Anchor, 1992

Explores the phenomenon of the violent backlash  against feminism that uses images of female beauty  as a political weapon against women's advancement.

Review:

In a country where the average woman is 5-foot-4 and weighs 140 pounds, movies, advertisements, and MTV saturate our lives with unrealistic images of beauty. The tall, nearly emaciated mannequins that push the latest miracle cosmetic make even the most confident woman question her appearance. Feminist Naomi Wolf argues that women's insecurities are heightened by these images, then exploited by the diet, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industries. Every day new products are introduced to "correct" inherently female "flaws," drawing women into an obsessive and hopeless cycle built around the attempt to reach an impossible standard of beauty. Wolf rejects the standard and embraces the naturally distinct beauty of all women.

From the Publisher:

Explores the phenomenon of the violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women's advancement.

"The Beauty Myth is a smart, angry, insightful book, and a clarion call to freedom. Every woman should read it." -- Gloria Steinem.