The Beauty Myth

plummyjellyfish · 2021-01-25T03:26:53+00:00

I read this book when I was 10 (it was on my mother's shelf and I basically read anything at that age). I re-read it several times as a teen. The book had a great effect on me because I became aware of how in our society a woman's worth is defined by her appearance beyond anything else. It goes into detail about how marketing and advertising demean and humiliate women to make a buck.

As an aside, years back when Susan Boyle took to the stage and made headlines for her singing, I was struck by the attitudes of the judges and the audience. They felt very comfortable degrading this woman simply because she wasn't conventionally attractive. But the reaction of the world was even more disheartening (and predictable).

It seemed that everyone was surprised that a woman, who is not attractive, could possibly have any other value to her. That an ugly woman does still in fact have merit and beauty to her in other facets (namely, a generous spirit and divine voice) seemed to be unbelievable to people. The reverse is not true for men. Men can be ugly and many other things. And for a man to be ugly is not a moral failing, whereas for women, to be ugly, is like an act of sedition.

I believe that if you read the Beauty Myth you will identify more and more scenarios in your life and others were women are being judged based on appearance rather than merit. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's everywhere and impacts us directly.

zycwrzyc · 2021-01-25T11:17:08+00:00

I own a copy of the Beauty Myth. It is enlightening altho the statistics are a little bit dated now, plus it's American-centric (I'm European so I noticed that). The makeup and diet culture has changed enormously since the book was written. But I think the most important takeaway from it is the difference between how society treats women and men and how many areas of our lives are deeply affected by sexism. And this situations hasn't changed. I'd recommend it the book, and if you're looking for something even more shocking there's Woman Hating by Andrea Dworkin. Her writing style is incredible, it's raw and uncompromising. Her societal critique is by far the book that had most (good) influence on me.

azureangel35 · 2021-01-24T23:35:16+00:00

I loved Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Givens.

PollyAnnaSunshine · 2021-01-25T01:17:26+00:00

I read it before (about 10 years ago) and from what I can remember it does fall in line with FDS. The main premise (if I can remember correctly) is that beauty standards are largely contrived to market products and services to women, and that the disembodied women shown in advertising (think when they show just a woman's legs, feet, hands, etc. to advertise a product) is contributing to wide scale dehumanization and objectification of women. There might have been some stuff in there too about why porn is bad but that I don't remember.

scrotesmadsosad · 2021-01-25T01:18:47+00:00

The best FDS book I ever read was The Gift of Fear, really is a must read.

_RustInPiece_ · 2021-01-25T00:43:29+00:00

No recommendation so far, just wanted to tell you there is a [BOOK REPORT] flair. You can use it to filter for books too. Maybe you'll find something there.

glittersparklesglitz · 2021-01-25T04:56:22+00:00

[deleted]

sahu_ · 2021-01-25T05:59:27+00:00

I want to escape to a cabin in the mountains just to read all the FDS recommended books and reflect on them. I find so many good books to read here, love it! Adding all these to my list..

wagonwheel_ · 2021-01-25T04:58:20+00:00

That book should be required reading for all women. I got the audiobook for a road trip and I ended up listening to it twice straight through.

hippiepotomus · 2021-01-25T17:46:25+00:00

It is depressingly eye-opening. Tbh, I've only read the first third so far. It was really bringing me down so I had to take a break from it. I find it very difficult to read about all ways women have been and continue to be objectified, belittled, controlled, and subjugated by men. Andrea Dworkin's book Pornography: Men Possessing Women is another one I've seen recommended a lot. I couldn't get through that one for the same reason. Eventually I'd like to finish both of them, but they really wore on me mentally. They really put into perspective how shitty society is to women. The truth hurts.

Peak_Tree · 2021-01-25T21:58:10+00:00

100% recommended. It's one of those books that when you read it you can "unread" it and you start to see certain things in different ways. Disclaimer: it can be a hard read for some.

I'd also reccomend "why does he do that?". That book should be mandatory for all women before they start dating.

Title	The Beauty Myth
Author	glittersparklesglitz
Upvotes	88
Comments	19
Date	January 24, 2021 11:18 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/l4ab1b/the_beauty_myth/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/the-beauty-myth.742938 https://theredarchive.com/post/742938

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