Rating: 
Summary: If you're not angry, you're not awake
Review: The day before I read this book, I was leafing through a fashion/beauty magazine which included a breakdown of what the "average woman" spends on beauty products and treatments each year. Their featured "average woman" spent around $12,000 a year on cosmetics, hair cuts, face cream, facials, and other beauty "essentials." How lucky for their average woman that she's not earning minimum wage!The magazine, seeming to realize how excessive that figure was, gave women tips on what products they could cut back on and only buy the $7 version of because the $25 version is no better. So why do women still spend money on $25 wrinkle treatments? Perhaps because magazines like this spend a couple of pages every month hard selling them? What Naomi Wolf's book really made me realize was not so much how much our culture sells women pointless products and pressures them into striving for a certain narrow picture of beauty, but the extent to which it has harmed women in so many areas - not just with obvious things like eating disorders, but with the degree of violence which women become willing to perpetrate against themselves, as well as the ecomonic impact on women. Men may argue that they too have things they are "pressured" to take part in or judged by, but these examples are disingenous, things that large numbers of men do not take part in, and not something on which their ability to even hold a job is affected by. Men are not fired as they get older, *purely because of their looks.* Men who feel attacked by the fact that Wolf regards this control of women as part of the patriarchal structure and plan evidently miss the point that patriarchy does not equal all men. Wolf is not blaming men, she is blaming patriarchy - and there is a big difference. It is about a consciousness, a structure, a manner of relating and behaving to the world, whether the people working in the beauty companies or the media are male or female (though it is a truth that the vast majority of the financial/corporate and political power in the Western world is controlled by men). Men can be and are oppressed by patriarchy, and other books have addressed this topic, but they don't happen to be oppressed in this particular way so it is not something relevant that Wolf's book needed to address.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and disturbing
Review: I have read many books on feminism over the past few years, and have read books that dispute some of the statistics in this book. Nonetheless, it is a good read, because it makes you aware of things that are going on in the lives of young women. Whatever the numbers, the fact remains that young women are slowly killing and disfiguring themselves in the name of that ever-unattainable, ever-subjective idea, "beauty." Is it really significant is five women a year die of bulimia or anorexia or if it's closer to five hundred? The fact remains that something is seriously wrong with these girls to make them think that they have no other way of being socially accepted. Does it matter how much the cosmetic surgery industry really grosses annually? After all, ten years or so after this book is written, we have shows on prime-time television like "Extreme Makeover," in which someone contacts the show and tells them how horrible they feel about themselves because of a physical flaw--a nose that is too big, eyes that are too wide-spaced--and the show promptly signs them up to be hacked away at, made into a modern-day Galatea, for the viewing pleasure of America. If you have watched this show, you also know exactly what Wolf is trying to convey in her chapter on Violence. She states that women are always told that they can look better in some way...and sure enough, once they get into the doctor's office, suddenly the nose is not the only problem anymore. Liposuction, [body part] job...sign me up. In watching another special on cosmetic surgery on MTV not long ago, two women were portrayed whose highest goal was to be--of all things for young women today to desire--[Magazine] bunnies. They went in for things like a nose job and a [body part]job, and suddenly you saw the doctor pointing out all the other things "wrong" with them. The two relatively thin (and when I say "relatively," I mean they were probably underweight, but not as skinny as anorexic-looking models) girls were told that they should do something about invisible "saddlebags" and also maybe should consider doing something about the excess fat on their thighs--again, barely visible to the naked eye. Wolf claims all this is political--a move to keep women down. And I'm not sure if I completely buy into the fact that it is all a political move to do just that, but I certainly realize that there is a definite cause for concern. If even one girl binges and purges, it's too many...and the fact remains that models are, in fact, horribly underweight, and then they have their photos retouched and airbrushed to make them look even skinnier. Women cannot compete with that which does not exist. This book is definitely a good buy--it's easy reading and thought-provoking. I would recommend it to anyone interested in women's studies...and I would also recommend it to any woman, especially one who plans on having children, because it is so important to break this cycle of unattainable expectations.
Rating: 
Summary: EVIDENCE, anyone?
Review: I read this book to expose myself to the feminist perspective. It was very disconcerting, to say the least. You have to read this book to be able to appreciate how insane this woman is. Firstly, reality check, Naomi- about 70 girls die annually from anorexia, not 150 000.
How did that one get past the editor? If all the 'evidence' that you can offer to support your theories are anecdotes, people's statements of their feelings, statements of your feelings, and incorrect stastitics that have no scientific link to your claims in the first place, then I hope your theory doesn't relate to surgical procedures, because a lot of people will likely be hurt at your and your followers' hands. Pedictably, though, this 'theory' appeals to many people's feelings. It's too bad rationality and skepticism aren't prevalent in the population- especially amongst the members of the population who think that Women's Studies is an academically respectable course. How do I know that a computor is in front of me? I can see it, I can touch it; if anything exists, there must be physical signs of its existance, even if we can't measure them.
This woman does not require physical evidence to believe that something is true. It does not matter that 150 000 women don't die of anorexia anually- she believes that there is an anorexia epidemic. To her, you wouldn't have to see, feel, or measure physical properties to determine whether a computor existed or not; if she 'felt' it existed, then it would.
At least, if she had consistency, she would make that judgement, but she most likely does not. Consistency in analysis procedure suggests rationality. This woman is clearly not rational, to say the least. Save your brain and your money. If you want to learn about beauty, read about research into beauty- averageness studies, studies with babies(who have had no exposure to the media). Read about evolutionary biology. Evolution- mountains of evidence. The Beauty Myth- none.
Nuff said
Rating:
Summary: Changed the way I think about beauty
Review: I read this book as I was passing my 30th birthday, and it gave me a lot to think about. At the time I was living with a roommate, a woman about my age. One day I came home to find her sobbing over a pile of Vogue magazines, despairing that she would never look like the models on those pages. I thought my friend was beautiful, but because she was short and curvaceous instead of tall and thin, she felt hopeless about her looks. Then someone gave her this book. We passed it back and forth between us, discussing it for several weeks. The end result was that we both realized how much the media affects how we see ourselves. Both of us came out of this experience with a much saner view of beauty, both for ourselves and the women around us. It was a real eye-opener! I didn't agree with all the conclusions the author drew, but the ideas were powerful enough to stick with me to this day, 11 years later. I am able to admire tall, thin women without idealizing them, and I consider my short, petite figure to be just fine, thank you very much.
Rating:
Summary: The best eye-opener in a long time
Review: Naomi Wolf hits the nail square on the head with her analysis of the beauty myth and has put a name on my past feelings of discomfort when looking at a beauty ads. Since reading this book, I have felt a new confidence in myself awakening which is not dependent on comparison with unreal images for nourishment. Wolf's acknowledgement that the beauty myth also damages men and their relationships with women is also an important step in overcoming this unecessary wedge which has been driven between the sexes. My simple advice: Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good wake up call
Review: This book really hit home. Naomi Wolf touches on a lot of the same things that I have observed around me and wondered why nobody is talking about. I wam also a former anorexic who grew up in a school where three of my friends were anorexics and many others had issues with their weight and food. I was always very aware that I was starving myself to be skinny like the girls in the fashion mags. This is an epidemic resulting from a social problem, not just an "individual" weakness, which is why the number of anorexics and other women with eating disorders is increasing. The only problem I have with the book is that not enough solutions and encouragement are offered, and I believe we will overcome these social problems through actions of both men and women. However, raising awareness of the issue is a big step. Womens studies courses are another valuable way to raise recognition of both problems facing women and society and give some recognition to the strong women of history who were left out of the history books. Perhaps in the future womens' issues we be adressed in mainstream classes along with those of men.
Rating: 
Summary: Wake up call without any resolution...
Review: I first read this book years ago back in college during the midst of my feminist study phase. What this book has in information, it also lacks tremendously in formulating a resolution. Although a lot of her facts stated in the book can be categorized as a bit farfetched in leaping to conclusions with a lack of control in her research, it does provide substantial information on the influence of the media and how the status quo goes on about controlling women. I do appreciate her references to Betty Friedan's "Feminine mystic", (a much more accomplished and important work), and I do agree with her view on the creation of the physical awareness on women after WWII, especially when females realized that they could work for themselves while their hubbies were away fighting a war. It was during this time, that the media saturated the airwaves with the creation of the stay-at-home mom as more women began working. The popularity of the television only heightened the media influence on society as a powerful tool to mislead people into insecurities and fears to create more consumption on products that would inherently make people feel better about themselves.
As expected, the majority of this book focuses on eating disorders and plastic surgery that is so common in western culture. I also appreciated her comment on how the media are now exposing men into similar physical abuse as can be seen by the recent exploits of the metrosexual male, but I was rather angry toward her conclusion, toward which she devoted just a few pages. In her conclusion, she states that no male - not even one who is concerned about media and corporate mis-portrayal of the ideal female - can be involved in solving this problem. It is up to the women and women alone. Furthermore, she develops no resolution or even a hint of an idea to pursue in order crack that self-image, which she calls the iron-maiden. Naomi Wolf clearly wrote this book to create a buzz, which it definitely does, even if it does lack a resolution and a clear concise view on how to tackle this problem. More than anything, this book does inform about the past and the present state of the women movement. It may cause some anger for those who attempt to read this book but it's important nonetheless to create awareness on the media power of social repression.
Rating:
Summary: Misunderstanding of anorexia and bulimia
Review: Given recent research that indicates that anorexia and other eating disorders are the result of obsessive-compulsive disorder, there is no reason to condemn fashion magazines or the ad industry as "causing" this disease. Wolf's attempt to explain this disorder through looking at the media surrounding women is no doubt well-intentioned but simply incorrect.
Rating:
Summary: Great.
Review: Great. Now, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will be coauthoring a book called "The Work Myth" describing what an utter waste of time our national preoccupation with resume' writing, pouring over want ads, professional preparation and vocational education, networking and the like are, while in other venues, mocking those who are not wearing the latest designer labels and owning the latest expensive toys.
Rating:
Summary: feministic to the core
Review: This book is not for everyone. I read the chapter on religion and threw it aside. I was rather disgusted by the whole feel of the book. The overly feministic view puts one on the warpath with men and that to me is just as harmful as any other type of war. Blaming scripture for making women inferior is a longshot and ludicrious at best. Do we really have to reach this far to find someone to blame? Cant find anyone? Blame God! No thanks I dont need more negativity in life. I dont need to go searching for a reason to be MAD like people suggest.
|
