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The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women | 
 enlarge | Author: Naomi Wolf
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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You Save: £8.39 (93%)
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Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 7071
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0099861909
Dewey Decimal Number: 305
EAN: 9780099861904
ASIN: 0099861909
Publication Date: January 3, 1998
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 interesting and well researched December 2, 2007
Paul J. Fitzgerald
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm not an expert in feminist literature and don't have any strong opinions on the subject. I found this to be a very interesting read, though quite a bit of it bordered on the unpleasant and the disturbing--rape, violence, surgical violation of the body. It also treads the line between the scholarly and the general interest book, although it's probably much closer to the latter. Very well written, it felt a bit tragic, poetic, philosophical, and almost Freudian in style. A general criticism: could it be that some women seek to beautify themselves, even in an extreme manner, somewhat independent of modern societal, or patriarchical, influences? An evolutionary biologist might argue that some if not most women might have an emphasis on beauty that is hardwired into their brains, and we are simply observing a manifestation of that inherent nature in the modern environment. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.
 Great Idea for a Book July 27, 2007
Lark (Ireland)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
But it falls short.
I was very eager to buy this book, the contents and a brief scan through it would give it the appearence of a great read and insightful source of information on how beauty, particularly female beauty, has been mythologised and effects work, culture, religion and sex but the writing is like that of a columnist or a collection of magazine shorts, which is a real, real shame.
The problem I found was that you could agree with the essential premise and perspective under pinning the whole work, many of the examples and illustrative points are brilliant, if largely anecdotal or journalistic, but the writing style, seriously labouring some points and dragging them out to fit entire chapters when a few pages would have sufficed proved a real stumbling block for me when trying to finish it.
I had hoped for a book which would be largely like Simone de Beauvoir's classic The Second Sex which ranged across psychology, philosophy, religion and politics to describe the differentiated status of women in society and how it proves unfair and oppressive to women, and ultimately men too, but with a finer focus upon the topic of beauty and body image, however I hope without being unkind to Naomi Wolf this isnt it.
If it is pop feminism for a younger audience, particularly those troubled by their body image, then perhaps this is the read for you, if you want a more weighty feminist anthropology or psychology then perhaps look to another source.
 Wonderful ideas, yet incomplete September 21, 2006
Awarenessing (London, England, via, Sydney, Australia, via wherever we are.)
6 out of 16 found this review helpful
I found this to be a wonderful first point of call on issues of negativity surrounding the eternal feminine.
I'm not a fan of turning sexuality into an idea. Outer beauty has clear subjective (conscious) and biological (unconscious) causes and conditions, which can only ever be understood in the present moment through direct experience. However, for the sake of debate, I feel that this book certainly provides a 'cat amongst pigeons' offering for people to reconsider how their subjective view of female (and male for that mattter) beauty can be so incorrect, and harmful.
The pain some women feel at the hands of ideation of beauty is certainly afflictive and a tragedy for their consciousness. However, all of us being interdependent, their pain is our responsiblity. In this way, Wolf is worthy of utter gratitude for her responsible bone-pointing at the media beauty industry. I have always found it amusing that magazines seem to hand our humanity to us as a package to purchase and aspire to. That point alone is enough to heap some praise on this work.
Calls on our comments on this page to reject the views offered in her book on the basis of her being a model are simply ad hominem, and therefore fallacious.
However, I find this work to be incomplete in not offering a consideration of the possible positive workings of beauty. Of course beauty isn't a "thing", yet it certainly is a quality of conscousness or at least mind which, when experienced non-judgementally, brings us to our most wonderful core. In this way, I think Wolf falls short by taking the assertive or aggressive tack of the violent feminist movement archetype rather than offering a much more humane treatment of our underlying capacity to experience beauty without the violence of personal judgement. In this way, beauty doesn't need to be undermined, considered a myth, and dissociated from - but rather, experienced maturely, with non-judgemental awareness and therefore through deep association, is capable of being transcended.
Why deny the splendor of our existence? Why deny desire? That is weakness. Real strength of character and compassion is to transcend the creation of suffering of others thorugh miscalculations of reality. Moreover, transcendence can only occur through acceptance and equanimity and a full and thorough non-violent expression of our deepest desire. We are all beautiful, and yet some may seem more attractive simply on the basis of their physical appearance, and when we can truly see and live that truth, rather than rejecting beauty as an experience of consciousness, then we're capable of personal and interpersonal freedom. Beauty and attraction are very different qualities, and I wish Wolf would have dealt with that point. It would have made this book so much more true to our honest human nature.
The beauty myth July 6, 2004
Louise Hampshire (england)
8 out of 21 found this review helpful
I am currently researching body image for my final year dissertation. I found this book absolutley fantatsic for quotes and information/facts. Although some of the points she makes are abit laughable, i.e. blaming all of this body consiousness on men, who are eveil and do it to keep us in line, this can be excused for the fact that it was written about 15 years ago. and she does admit right at the end that in the not too far future this body myth could be felt by men aswell.
However, extremely recommmend this book, it will have you scared about what the future could hold if we dont do something about it now!
happy reading!
 Invaluable for both men and women April 3, 2004
26 out of 33 found this review helpful
Wolf is a highly effective writer, and I was unable to put The Beauty Myth down. I wonder if those who have claimed the book will fuel "inferiority complexes" have actually read it from cover to cover. As a young woman who suffered in high school with what doctors call "Body Dysmorphic Disorder", where the patient is obsessed with flaws in her body that she perceives as hideous deformities, often to the point of delusion, I found The Beauty Myth to be liberating and would recommend it to any woman who has dealt with eating disorders or insecurity.This book is not a diatribe against men; it is an enlightening read for both women who are tired of adhering to damaging gender roles, and men who want to better understand the female psyche. Criticizing Ms. Wolf for her chosen occupation is ignorant in light of the content of this book. Wolf does not say that women should refuse to be models or to dress provocatively; what she does say is that women should be free to have the choice to pursue whatever occupations they like, and to dress however they like, without feeling pressured. So what if Naomi Wolf is goodlooking? Does that mean she isn't allowed to write a book that "ugly" women can relate to? That attitude is exactly what she is addressing in The Beauty Myth.
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