The Beauty Myth
The Beauty MythBy: Kelly Winch
The Beauty Myth, published by Doubleday in New York City, hit the shelves in 1992. Naomi Wolf wrote this 348-page book. Wolf attended Yale University and New College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Her essays have been printed in many well-known magazines and newspapers, including Esquire and the New York Times. The Beauty Myth was Wolf�s first book. She has also written two other books, Fire With Fire and Promiscuities. Wolf is a recognized feminist. She has done a lot of writing and has spoken to many audiences about issues involving feminism. In The Beauty Myth, Wolf�s basic thesis states that there is a connection between female liberation and female beauty. She writes: The more legal and material hindrances women have broken through, the more strictly and heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have come to weigh upon us�.During the past decade, women breached the power structure; meanwhile, eating disorders rose exponentially and cosmetic surgery became the fastest-growing medical specialty�.Recent research consistently shows that inside the majority of the�attractive, successful working women, there is a �dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control. (Wolf 10) Wolf�s research shows that there is an attack against feminism that uses images of female beauty to keep women �in their place�. Women today are more powerful than ever before, yet they are more self-conscience as well. The media has created a standard of beauty that is impossible to attain and women are developing obsessive behaviors trying to measure up to that standard. We are constantly surrounded by images of the �perfect� woman. She is tall, thin and beautiful. She rarely looks older than 25, has a flawless body, and her hair and clothes are...
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