Everything about The Beauty Myth totally explained
The Beauty Myth, published in
1991, is a
book by
Naomi Wolf. It examines
beauty as a demand and as a judgement upon women. Subtitled
How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, Wolf examines how
modern conceptions of women's beauty impact the spheres of
employment,
culture,
religion,
sexuality,
eating disorders, and
cosmetic surgery.
Wolf argues that women in
Western culture are damaged by the pressure to conform to an idealized concept of female beauty—the
Iron Maiden throughout modern society, from Victorian Times to today. She argues that the beauty myth is political, a way of maintaining the
patriarchal system. It allows women to enter the labour force, but under controlled conditions. She also claims that this system keeps women under control by the weight of their own insecurities. The beauty myth is sometimes viewed as succeeding
The Feminine Mystique, which relegated women to the position of housewife, as the social guard over women. In this sense, Wolf claims that public interest in a woman's virginity has been replaced by public interest in the shape of her body.
It was republished in
2002 with a new introduction by Wolf.
Christina Hoff Sommers criticized Wolf for publishing the claim that 150,000 women were dying every year from
anorexia. Sommers claimed that the actual number is closer to 100, a figure which others, such as
Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, claimed to be much too low. In the same interview, Sommers stated that Wolf had retracted the figure.
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Beauty Myth'.
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