A review by littleroseygirl
Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women by Renee Engeln

4.0

This was a fascinating study of society and the expectations it places on women in regards to dress, make-up, weight, and beauty/appearance in general. The author's thesis, that a cultural focus on beauty serves only to hurt women, is well thought out and backed up through interviews and studies she discussed in the book. Interestingly enough, I finished this book and then logged in to Twitter to see that AOC's expensive (and borrowed) Vanity Fair photoshoot outfit was causing an uproar. It was an excellent example of what I had just read about: how society expected women to look flawless while also punishing them for the effort it takes to look that way. I would be interested to see Engeln dive deeper into the correlation between weight loss and beauty sickness. She seemed to come to the conclusion that intentional weight loss of any kind is the result of beauty sickness. I do appreciate her point that, if you notice someone has lost weight, it's better to ask them whether or not it was intentional instead of ascribing value to it without knowing the whole story. There's a lot to unpack in this book and a lot to simmer on. I appreciate and have learned a lot from Engeln's work and effort.