Rating: 
Summary: An interesting look into social perspectives and beauty...
Review: This book was an enlightening look into our society's expectations of beauty and the ideals that are placed on women. Wolf covers the exploitation and idealization of beauty at every opportunity to demonstrate how this detracts from women as human beings and objectifies them within a social hierarchy. Though some of her conclusions may seem far-fetched and unsupported, many women can understand the trappings of attempting to fit in and will find Wolf's writings particularly meaningful. As a young girl, for instance I often felt depressed and dejected because I did not exemplify our culture's standards of beauty. Bombarded by magazines and movies showcasing rail-thin models with ridiculously over-exaggerated features, I judged myself harshly- one reason why my self-esteem plummeted during my teenage years. Perhaps if I had read this book earlier I might have been spared years of discontent.The Beauty Myth helped me to realize the fallacy in this desire to fit within this pre-arranged standard, and led me instead to focus on my own sense of beauty- a keen intelligence, understanding, and strength of will. This is perhaps the most redeeming quality of her writing: Wolf has an uncanny ability to connect to other women and promote an image of self-acceptance, beyond the cliché stereotypes that control beauty. Wolf covers everything from cosmetic surgery to religion with adept poise, and asks us why we are so inclined to judge our manner of appearance as critical to ourselves. Though I disagree with some of her primary conclusions, of beauty being utilized as a form of subjugation against women and so forth (these ideals seem intrinsic to our culture of "sex sells" and are not necessarily related to patriarchal tendencies), I do agree that many of the unrealistic standards of beauty in our country place women at a disadvantage because they draw our attention to exterior features rather than more important aspects- our mind and character. I must admit that much of Naomi Wolf's conclusions are based on her perception, filtered through her feminist positions and observations on a personal and social level which probably don't represent the whole. I give it four stars instead of five because, even though the writing is superb and many of her ideas on the mark, She doesn't back up her conclusions with factual information or evidence. The suggestion that men specifically use beauty as a means to control women seems a bit ridiculous and over-inflated. This is America, after all- and women have more opportunities than ever before. Overall, this book is a remarkable read for those interested in the social perception of women or women's studies.
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