The Beauty Myth

Review:
'By the time I had read twenty pages of The Beauty Myth, I realized that this is one of the most important books I will ever read. Admittedly, I was initially skeptical of Wolf's central thesis-- that the cultural "myth" of feminine beauty is a political and economic weapon used by the male-dominated world to undermine women's advancement in society-- but, by the time I had finished reading the first chapter, I had a changed perspective of the world. This is a book, in my opinion, that should be required reading. It is a book about the very atmosphere women negotiate daily, and from an early age-- one in which we intuit the importance of our looks, and are apprehensive about our "beauty" as an indication of our status, competence, wealth, power, and credibility-- one in which we are manipulated by powerful corporate advertisers to feel insecure, so we will remain the largest underpaid labor pool, and simultaneously the largest consumers of unnecessary products, in the world. Without this dichotomy, created by the beauty myth, the world's economy would collapse.' - Goodreads review