The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
by Naomi Wolf
★ Top 25 book of 1990 · #15 on Best Books of 1990
Naomi Wolf argues that even as women gain legal standing and career success, an obsession with physical perfection acts as a new form of social control. She says it can trap women in cycles of self-consciousness and self-hatred.
Best for: Readers interested in how beauty standards shape and restrict women's lives.
The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 1990, out of 39 1990 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women is about
Naomi Wolf argues that as women have gained social power, the pressure to meet unrealistic standards of beauty has grown heavier, driven largely by commercial interests in mass media. She calls this the beauty myth and describes an unattainable ideal, an "iron maiden", that punishes women physically and psychologically for falling short. Though she criticizes the fashion and beauty industries, she says the myth reaches much further, pressing on women at work, in religion, in sex, in violence, and around hunger. She points to rising eating disorders and the boom in cosmetic surgery as evidence. Her conclusion is that women should be free to do what they like with their faces and bodies, and that beauty standards should relax. First published in 1990, it is a pointed, provocative read for anyone interested in feminism, media, and body image.
The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women on the Best Books of 1990
The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women came out in 1990. Of the 39 books first published in 1990 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #15 on our Best Books of 1990 list.
Why it made the list: 341 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (19 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1990 list
- The Stepsister Robert Lawrence Stine, #13
- The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline B. Cooney, #14
- The Sleepwalker Robert Lawrence Stine, #16
- Dawn V.C. Andrews, #17
See all Best Books of 1990 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1991.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 306 want to read it, 13 are reading it now and 22 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 19 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 74 | 55% |
| Reader love | 21 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 51 | 20% |
Questions about The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
When was The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women published?
The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf was first published in 1990.
Was The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women one of the best books of 1990?
The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 1990, out of 39 1990 books that cleared our data bar. 341 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (19 ratings).
Why is The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women on the Best Books of 1990 list?
341 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (19 ratings).
More of the best books of 1990
- Good Omens Terry Pratchett, #1
- Jurassic Park Michael Crichton, #2
- The Eye of the World Robert Jordan, #3
- The Witching Hour Anne Rice, #4
- Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #5
- The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien, #6
See the full Best Books of 1990, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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