The Feminist Revolution And How Society Uses The Power Of The Beauty Myth

The Beauty Myth’s central argument is the growing standards of physical beauty of women as they grow stronger. This standard has affected women in many ways, such as in the workplace, culture, and religion. The standard has taken over the work of social harassment. The beauty myth expands the belief an unbiased measurement of beauty exists and that women want to express it and men would want that women. The author, Naomi Wolf, states that the beauty myth is not about women themselves, it is about the power of men and their society. The myth supplies power to multibillion dollar cosmetics industries and it keeps women from rising too high in the workplace. Within this book, Wolf shows how the beauty myth functions and affects women in the workplace, media, sex, religion, culture, violence against women by men, and by women themselves in the configuration of cosmetic surgery and eating disorders.

There is a cliché quote that people say, “Beauty is in the eye of beholder.” But in the essay “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” (1998) Dave Barry argues about how women who spend countless hours on their so called “beauty” whereas men seem not to care. Barry uses juxtaposition and exaggeration to poke fun at men and women behavior and shed light on the harm that the beauty industry is doing. When Barry argues his point of his essay he addresses both genders, but more specifically teenage to middle age men and women, but he writes about it in a humorous and light-hearted manner.

The beauty standard is a culturally constructed notion of physical attractiveness that has become increasingly imperative for women and men. However, this standard has become extremely perilous to men and women’s self-image. Camille Paglia, a highly educated individual who earned her PhD at Yale University and became a highly acclaimed author, explicates this conception in her essay “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery”. Paglia suggests that the beauty standard idealizes women to look like “sex symbols with an unattainable grandeur” (776). She continues to claim that it forces her audience of higher class women to pay large sums of money in order to alter their features ultimately conforming to a very “parochial” definition of beauty (776). Although Paglia is a highly credible source, she illogically appeals to the reader’s fears in order to persuade them. Paglia fails to give any credible outside sources which affirms her preposterous beliefs. Contrary to her inconsistencies, Daniel Akst, a social journalist and graduate from New York University provides his audience with reputable sources in order to persuade his audience. Daniel Akst believes that there needs to be a “democratization of physical beauty” in which instead of attempting to alter the beauty standard, we must first change how we view ourselves. Akst provides credible sources to establish his credibility where he observes cases studies and cultural experiments from scientists and organizations including:

Women wanted to improve education in both university courses and at a school level. They wanted to open up career opportunities for girls that were once just meant for men, some examples of these were in sport and science. While this was happening other women were focussing on meeting women’s specific safety and health needs, this included greater access to contraception, abortion, and protection from domestic violence.

“The Beauty Myth” written by Naomi Wolf is an essay written to present how the advancements of women in social power lead to a societal backlash that lead to a woman’s value being equated to her appearance by both sexes. This devaluation of women has led to a harmful relationship with food and women subjecting themselves to mental and physical torture to be thin. Wolf describes in the 1920s was the first time that women became “preoccupied with dieting and thinness” after receiving the right to vote. In the 1950s, women’s curves were celebrated again because “their minds were occupied in domestic seclusion.” According to Wolf, when women were in male spheres, “that pleasure had to be overridden by an urgent social

Since the beginning of time, men have taken on the role of protecting their loved-ones, leading their families, and making sacrifices. Still to this day, every male, including Don Sabo, former football player and author of “Pigskin, Patriarchy, and Pain”, is stuck in this dominant patriarchal society. On the contrary, Naomi Wolf, feminist activist, would argue in her essay, “The Beauty Myth”, that women have made significant strides in raising the standards and claiming their independence. Throughout both essays, Wolf and Sabo prove how the “average” man or women always focuses on improving their physical appearance and gaining ground in their respective social fields. Both authors show to readers that gender stereotypes and high standards

It’s difficult to envision a world where idealized female imagery is not plastered everywhere, but our present circumstance is a relatively new occurrence. Before the mass media existed, our ideas of beauty were restricted to our own communities. Until the introduction of photography in 1839, people were not exposed to real-life images of faces and bodies. Most people did not even own mirrors. Today, however, we are more obsessed with our appearance than ever before. But the concern about appearance is quite normal and understandable given society’s standards. According to Jane Kilborne, “Every period of history has had its own standards of what is and is not beautiful, and every contemporary society has its own distinctive concept of the

I have recently been concerned about the prevalence in society of certain stereotypes for girls and women about what it is considered to be beautiful. This idea of beauty is focused more on their appearances than in their inner character. Every girl deserves to feel beautiful because they all are, but how can girls think that they are beautiful if there is always that constant reminder of unattainable, air-brushed perfection presented in the media. Often seen on TV, and various different shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras, Painted Babies and Baby Beauty Pageants, where little girls are being judged by the way they walk, turn, how their makeup and hair is done and what they are wearing, and obviously their beauty. Society has set such high

The author, Naomi Wolf, in the article The Beauty Myth addresses the issue of female beauty and its impact on female liberation. Wolf states that the modern idea of female beauty is a form of oppression that might have negated all the female liberation achieved by the Western women, since the rebirth of feminism in the1970s. Wolf argues that highly educated and liberated women of the First Word are not truly free as the contemporary ravages of beauty backlash are destroying women psychologically and physically. I agree with the author that the modern idea of female beauty is indeed a dead weight that hinders women from achieving total liberation, and is being used as a political weapon against female advancement. Wolf provides a strong argument

In today’s society, women are defined by their beauty; or what society deems attractive. This socially accepted beauty is exactly what the feminist movement tries to explicate to many- women are more than looks. However, this movement became more recently embraced compared to the past. Dating back to the time of the booming Greek mythology, women are expected to be beautiful and please those around her- a reflection of today’s society. While the legend of the Amazons highlights their strength and intelligence, modern interpretations of this myth, as in Wonder Woman, demonstrate the social influences regarding beauty standards in contemporary culture and the expectations of women.

When I asked women a series questions about themselves it was revealed that whether women want to admit it beauty standards have a huge grip over them.  Women thought of beauty as a woman who was strong and gave them empowerment this answer also reflected the women they listed as beautiful such as Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence, and Oprah Winfrey. Also many of the women interviewed said these women were more inspiration for their support of women's strength and going against standard. Although the women interviewed did say they do compare themselves to these women but not in a negative notion but to improve themselves. Additionally women were asked why they believe it’s so common for women to compare themselves  in which they responded similar saying women did see each other as competition and it’s always the goal to up the other women. The relevance of beauty was also similar answered among the women which said beauty does play a big role today still. The answer the relevance of beauty can further be noted when the women were answered how important their own appearance is in which they responded by saying very important including the fact that the same women said they felt judged by their appearance. Also when asked to describe themselves none of

It 's not a mystery that society 's ideals of beauty have a drastic and frightening effect on women. Popular culture frequently tells society, what is supposed to recognize and accept as beauty, and even though beauty is a concept that differs on all cultures and modifies over time, society continues to set great importance on what beautiful means and the significance of achieving it; consequently, most women aspire to achieve beauty, occasionally without measuring the consequences on their emotional or physical being. Unrealistic beauty standards are causing tremendous damage to society, a growing crisis where popular culture conveys the message that external beauty is the most significant characteristic women can have. The approval of prototypes where women are presented as a beautiful object or the winner of a beauty contest by evaluating mostly their physical attractiveness creates a faulty society, causing numerous negative effects; however, some of the most apparent consequences young and adult women encounter by beauty standards, can manifest as body dissatisfaction, eating disorders that put women’s life in danger, professional disadvantage, and economic difficulty.

Society is full of ideas pertaining to the definition of beauty and has been controversial for centuries. Beauty is visually pleasing and can satisfy the other senses as well, but it cannot be fully defined through only the senses. It blossoms from the soul; it is an epitome of serene emotion. Beauty is imperative to the mentality our society maintains as if the world would transform to be completely dark without it. The word “Beauty” originates from the Anglo-French term beute meaning “physical attractiveness” and “goodness and courtesy” (dictionary.com, n.p.) Beauty is charming, mesmerizing, graceful, and captivating. Brutality is invaluable because beauty brings peace to the mind.

Women of today are fortunate because they are recognized and are more powerful compared to what they have to go through years ago. They are empowered and successful because they fought for their rights. However, writer and feminist Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, is troubled. Her nonfiction book states that as women gain social power and prominence, they are expected to conform to society’s impossible standards of physical beauty.

Women have had their worth decided by their beauty since the world began. The beauty industry has made millions off telling women that they need this product to matter, literature has been painting women as plot devices or prizes for year, and television tends to only show thin and beautiful women. Even now, women call themselves “snacks” and “delicious” as if we only exist to be consumed. We are constantly taught to laugh at jokes we don’t find funny, to tear down other women, that our bodies are not our own, and that our value is determined by what size dress we wear. Women are brought up in a society that teaches them that being pretty is the price they must pay to occupy space in the world. Warsan Shire, a British-Somali poet said “It’s not my responsibility to be beautiful. I’m not alive for that purpose. My existence is not about how desirable you find me” (Shire). However, some female authors have chosen to revolutionize female narratives. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos and Black Oxen by Gertrude Atherton were a direct challenge to the idea that a woman’s identity were wrapped up in her beauty.