The Beauty Myth
How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
Wolf argues that beauty standards tightened precisely as women gained power, functioning as a political weapon.
Naomi Wolf’s 1990 polemic argues that as women won legal and professional ground, a new form of social control tightened around them: an impossible, commercially manufactured standard of beauty. She traces its operation through work, culture, religion, sex and hunger, making the case that the pressure is political rather than personal vanity. It became a foundational text of third-wave feminism. Emma Watson chose it for Our Shared Shelf in July 2017.
Recommended by 1 Person
As an Amazon Associate, bookstoread.org earns from qualifying purchases. Links to Amazon on this page may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Spotted an error on this page? Tell us and we will fix it.