Reviews

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf

cat_herine's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

spookytrashlover's review

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

a_p101's review

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hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

2.5

bvic's review against another edition

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Misinformation. 

After years of Wolf’s intense decline into conspiracy, I find this book hard to stomach regardless of its initial impact. 

abaugher's review

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5.0

written decades ago but still very relevant today. reading this helped me become aware of so much that we experience that we need to change. we haven't come as far as we'd like to think.

mrs_bonaventure's review against another edition

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3.0

Heavy going but insightful ...
Dated, yes, but it needed saying at the time (published 1990, so essentially a product of 1980s culture), and it shocked me putting together some of the evidence in court cases with the times I grew up as a teenager. My memory is of a much more enlightened time but maybe I was just lucky.
The air of conspiracy theory is wearing to say the least and it was that which got me down reading it...
But, there's no denying structural inequality and some of the truths here are uncomfortable and necessary.
It takes until the conclusion for the polemic to come through most clearly:
"The real issue has nothing to do with whether women wear makeup or don't, gain weight or lose it, have surgery or shun it, dress up or down, make our clothing and faces and bodies into works of art or ignore adornment altogether. The real problem is our lack of choice."
And
"When faced with the myth, the questions to ask are not about women's faces and bodies but about the power relations of the situation. Who is this serving? Who says? Who profits? What is the context?"
Glad I have finally read it.

lbaireid's review

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3.0

Only read the intro/conclusion and specifically the religion chapter for my dissertation. Helped define some of my interview themes

poetandseal's review

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

mariamaresia's review

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

suzukabunny's review

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4.0

data dan sejarahnya oke, tapi narasinya terlalu menuduh, keras, dan ndakik-ndakik