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A review by boykatie
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf
5.0
SO glad I read this despite how long it took me (I would read a chapter at a time over a few months basically). Each chapter is focused on a different topic (sex, religion, violence, hunger, etc.). I wish I had taken more notes or highlighted more while actually reading it.
Though it was a bit heavy and dense for me at times, it has some really good info and explanations of feelings I have that I have trouble vocalizing or understanding. These problems are not just personal, they are cultural and they are part of our subconscious, everyday lives. Wolf did a lot of research and gave some great facts, stats, quotes, studies, and other references. How can you argue with that? Those hard facts can be quite depressing of course though.
It was also very interesting how relevant all of this info is almost 25 years after it was first published. For example, she frequently uses mainstream women's magazines as examples of a representation of our culture and even hints at how those images will become more and more manipulated to instill unrealistic beauty standards (hello Photoshop...?).
If you're not up for the whole book, I recommend at least reading the last chapter, Beyond the Beauty Myth. It was a great recap and look at next steps. These are important parts of our culture that we should all take time to think about.
Some of my main take aways are:
- Basically, the Beauty Myth tells us beauty (the one type of beauty that is sold by the industry) is what brings happiness and success in all aspects of life. Ugly, fat is the worst thing a woman can be. If she is busy worry about her appearance, she can't have the strength to fight for equality.
- The Beauty Myth takes different forms over time. As women have received more freedom in the outside world, the Beauty Myth had to evolve to keep women unhappy internally. From sexual freedom to food to our own bodies, the Myth has quietly taken over our lives.
- The Beauty Myth tells us to strive for something that is impossible. If make-up and anti-aging products did what they were supposed to do, they would put themselves out of business…The ads straight out lie to us.
- It's also about choice and perceived choice. How much choice do we really have? I CHOOSE to shave my armpits and legs but what would happen if I chose not to? Would I be shamed by strangers, friends, family? Most definitely. Feminism is not about not shaving or not wearing makeup - the problem lies within how you feel when you DON'T follow the rules and do those things. There are unspoken but real consequences for not conforming to the rules of the beauty industry.
- GUILT traps us. If you don’t buy into the make-up/beauty/anti-aging industry, it will be YOUR fault when you age and wrinkle etc. If you do spend money on these beauty products, regardless of their effectiveness, at least you’ve tried and it’s not your fault. There is guilt associated with not trying hard enough — if you are lonely, old, sad, unpretty... it can be blamed on you.
- I could go on and on but you get the point. Maybe I will go back and take more notes and add to this sometime...
NOTE: I was leaning towards giving this a 4-4.5 rating because of its dense, academic nature, which is evident in how long it took me to get through this BUT the amount of thought and questions this brought up for me during and after reading it proves its strength.
Though it was a bit heavy and dense for me at times, it has some really good info and explanations of feelings I have that I have trouble vocalizing or understanding. These problems are not just personal, they are cultural and they are part of our subconscious, everyday lives. Wolf did a lot of research and gave some great facts, stats, quotes, studies, and other references. How can you argue with that? Those hard facts can be quite depressing of course though.
It was also very interesting how relevant all of this info is almost 25 years after it was first published. For example, she frequently uses mainstream women's magazines as examples of a representation of our culture and even hints at how those images will become more and more manipulated to instill unrealistic beauty standards (hello Photoshop...?).
If you're not up for the whole book, I recommend at least reading the last chapter, Beyond the Beauty Myth. It was a great recap and look at next steps. These are important parts of our culture that we should all take time to think about.
Some of my main take aways are:
- Basically, the Beauty Myth tells us beauty (the one type of beauty that is sold by the industry) is what brings happiness and success in all aspects of life. Ugly, fat is the worst thing a woman can be. If she is busy worry about her appearance, she can't have the strength to fight for equality.
- The Beauty Myth takes different forms over time. As women have received more freedom in the outside world, the Beauty Myth had to evolve to keep women unhappy internally. From sexual freedom to food to our own bodies, the Myth has quietly taken over our lives.
- The Beauty Myth tells us to strive for something that is impossible. If make-up and anti-aging products did what they were supposed to do, they would put themselves out of business…The ads straight out lie to us.
- It's also about choice and perceived choice. How much choice do we really have? I CHOOSE to shave my armpits and legs but what would happen if I chose not to? Would I be shamed by strangers, friends, family? Most definitely. Feminism is not about not shaving or not wearing makeup - the problem lies within how you feel when you DON'T follow the rules and do those things. There are unspoken but real consequences for not conforming to the rules of the beauty industry.
- GUILT traps us. If you don’t buy into the make-up/beauty/anti-aging industry, it will be YOUR fault when you age and wrinkle etc. If you do spend money on these beauty products, regardless of their effectiveness, at least you’ve tried and it’s not your fault. There is guilt associated with not trying hard enough — if you are lonely, old, sad, unpretty... it can be blamed on you.
- I could go on and on but you get the point. Maybe I will go back and take more notes and add to this sometime...
NOTE: I was leaning towards giving this a 4-4.5 rating because of its dense, academic nature, which is evident in how long it took me to get through this BUT the amount of thought and questions this brought up for me during and after reading it proves its strength.