About this title: In the fight for women's equality, one issue is still undiscussed, according to this book. The issue is women's compulsive pursuit of personal beauty. The book aims to confront this last taboo and expose it for what it really is - divisive, anti-erotic, hostile to love, not about women at all but about men. The author also confronts the beauty ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Chatto and Windus
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780701134310ISBN:0701134313
Description: Good. Cover type-This book is a paperback copy. Page colour-Slightly discoloured in accordance with book age. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage, London, UK
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780099861904ISBN:0099861909
Description: Book Very Good ++ in Paperback So No Dustcover jacket. 7 3/4" Tall. 348 pages incl notes, bibliography & sources. Reading crease to spine, page-edges & margins yellowed o/w a clean & tidy copy. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: CHATTO & WINDUS
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780701134310ISBN:0701134313
Description: Published by Chatto & Windus in 1990. Hardback with Dust jacket. Number of pages: 276. Condition: Very Good. May show some slight signs of wear. Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited, Mississauga, ON, Canada
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: CHATTO AND WINDUS
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780701134310ISBN:0701134313
Description: Published by Chatto and Windus in 1990. Dust jacket. Number of pages: 276. Condition: Very Good. May show some slight signs of wear. Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: VINTAGE
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Published by VINTAGE in 1991, paperback, medium size, covers good, internally good. Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780099861904ISBN:0099861909
Description: Published by Vintage in 1998. Binding: Paperback. Number of pages: 352. Condition: Very Good. May show some slight signs of wear. Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Published: 1991
Description: Near Fine. Binding Tight, Light Cosmetic wear, edges and spine crisp, Unmarked Text ** OLD RANCH BOOKS: A Brick & Mortar Bookstore ** read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of only minimal use. All pages are undamaged with no significant creases or tears. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of only minimal use. All pages are undamaged with no significant creases or tears. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House of Canada, Limited
ISBN-13:9780394222226ISBN:0394222229
Description: Good. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
"I tried. I wanted to read it, and I wanted to like it, and I wanted to learn from it. I just couldn't master the reading part.
The style can only be described as "this is the reason so many people are afraid of non-fiction". While her actual points are not difficult to grasp, especially since they are so often re-hashed in other place that they don't feel new, the language makes me feel like I'm not smart enough to read this book. The word "academia" comes to mind, along with a number of feminist bloggers who I no longer read because the education privilege is unbearable. I'm not uneducated. Just not in the right topics apparently.
I am justifying quitting because this book is nearly 20 years old. The issues remain, but the examples and the culture are laughably out of date. For the parts I did read, the out of date-ness was more interesting than the content. Examples of how far our society has come are numerous, as are examples of how much worse the beauty culture is getting."
"Part of my problem thus far is the elusive notion of an intended audience. This book is pseudo-academic but not exactly handing itself over to everyone else. As for the "point" so far: standards of beauty ARE shifting, though treated as fixed in this West and in this way used as a kind of "objective" benchmark for judging women. However, this abstracted patriarchy often alluded to might just be a stand-in for capitalism itself (which Wolf suggests), which poses problems of our status as victims. Even if we buy in, we're victims? Even if we're complicit, we're victims. Even if we love high heels and makeup and don't have a problem with plastic surgery, we're victims. Because we subscribe to the false notion of self-esteem, we're victims. Where is our own accountability? Do we have to completely opt out to be triumphant? Also, what about one's personal aesthetic -- is it too brainwashed no matter what? And if it isn't possible to triumph within the system, what is the prescription? And what about men who have self-esteem issues? Or is that a post-90s problem?"
"I especially liked the chapter on sex. A lot of women I know and have known and likely will know certainly have issues with their own sexuality and thinking about it in terms of 'am I sexy to HIM' rather than what makes me feel sated or what makes ME feel sexy. We are a very image based society. But I have also seen a turn around where men are starting to obsess about being good enough too, however, they are nowhere near the overload of an IDEAL BODY we women have to suffer through. Now that I have a daughter heading into her teen years, I realize even more how society makes women feel bad about themselves if they aren't some air brushed ideal. I don't know ONE woman who does not feel bad about herself physically be it her breasts, weight, hair, etc. Even though this book is a bit outdated now, i find it sad a lot of things still have not changed."
"Even more than 15 years after this book was first published, Wolf's ideas are, I think, still wildly relevant. While we had two women in the running in our last national election, commentary about both of these candidates was flush with talk about clothes, hair, and makeup. Who spent more money? Who looked more feminine? Why did they choose pants-suits over skirts or vice versa? It was more than a little annoying to be encouraged to consider these things, when real issues were at hand.
I love Wolf's ideas on fighting the beauty myth by embracing personal ideas of real beauty (which has no standardized weight, age, color, or style) and by redefining the notion of beauty as something available to everyone, both men and women.
Still, as I was reading, it seemed to me that Wolf was writing from more of an activist perspective than a factual one. I agree that there's a standard of beauty out there that's creepy and exerts power over women, but Wolf used some false analogies and a couple of hasty generalizations, along with the post hoc idea that, if a beauty myth exists, it must have been intentionally created to keep women out of power. I just didn't see any proof here of the causal relationship. I'd be interested in seeing a more academic take on the issue."
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