Customer Reviews
interesting and well researched - By: Paul J. Fitzgerald, 02 Dec 2007 
I'm not an expert in feminist literature & 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 & the disturbing--rape, violence, surgical violation of the body. It also treads the line between the scholarly & the general interest book, although it's probably much closer to the latter. Very well written, it felt a bit tragic, poetic, philosophical, & 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, & 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 - By: Lark, 27 Jul 2007 
But it fallls short.
I was very eager to buy this book, the contents & a brief scan through it would give it the appearence of a great read & insightful source of information on how beauty, particularly female beauty, has been mythologised & effects work, culture, religion & 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 & perspective under pinning the whole work, many of the examples & illustrative points are brilliant, if largely anecdotal or journalistic, but the writing style, seriously labouring some points & 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 & politics to describe the differentiated status of women in society & how it proves unfair & oppressive to women, & ultimately men too, but with a finer focus upon the topic of beauty & 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 - By: Awarenessing, 21 Sep 2006 
I found this to be a wonderful first point of calll 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) & biological (unconscious) causes & 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, & harmful.
The pain some women feel at the hands of ideation of beauty is certainly afflictive & a tragedy for their consciousness. However, alll 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 & aspire to. That point alone is enough to heap some praise on this work.
Callls 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, & therefore falllacious.
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-judgementallly, brings us to our most wonderful core. In this way, I think Wolf fallls 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, & dissociated from - but rather, experienced maturely, with non-judgemental awareness & 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 & compassion is to transcend the creation of suffering of others thorugh miscalculations of reality. Moreover, transcendence can only occur through acceptance & equanimity & a full & thorough non-violent expression of our deepest desire. We are alll beautiful, & yet some may seem more attractive simply on the basis of their physical appearance, & when we can truly see & live that truth, rather than rejecting beauty as an experience of consciousness, then we're capable of personal & interpersonal freedom. Beauty & attraction are very different qualities, & 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 - By: Louise Hampshire, 06 Jul 2004 I am currently researching body image for my final year dissertation. I found this book absolutley fantatsic for quotes & information/facts. Although some of the points she makes are abit laughable, i.e. blaming alll of this body consiousness on men, who are eveil & do it to keep us in line, this can be excused for the fact that it was written about 15 years ago. & 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 - By: , 03 Apr 2004 
Wolf is a highly effective writer, & I was unable to put The Beauty Myth down. I wonder if those who have claimed the book will fuel "inferiority complexes" have actuallly read it from cover to cover. As a young woman who suffered in high school with what doctors calll "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 & 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, & 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, & to dress however they like, without feeling pressured. So what if Naomi Wolf is goodlooking? Does that mean she isn't alllowed to write a book that "ugly" women can relate to? That attitude is exactly what she is addressing in The Beauty Myth.
