Book Review: The beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

Title:The beauty Myth
Author: Naomi Wolf
Publisher: Vintage books
Pages: 348
Price: Rs 405
ISBN:0099861909
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Personal
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Summary:(from the back cover)
In the struggle for women's equality, there is one subject still shrouded in silence - women's compulsive pursuit of beauty. The myth of female beauty challenges every woman, every day of her life. The author exposes the tyranny of the beauty myth through the ages and its oppressive function today, in the home and at work, in literature and the media, in relationships between men and women, between women and women. With examples, she confronts the beauty industry and its advertising and uncovers the reasons why women are consumed by this destructive obsession

Review:
This book falls into the third wave of feminism..The female Eunuch reminded me of this one by Wolf and  its been there in my folder for sometime now..The book is about  beauty myth that women fall prey to, the false believes and impression that is been around the world all over the century... Wolf explores the extend of women running fast, inviting pain to attain the flawless face and imprint the airbrush touched images of the celebrities....Seriously there would be very few women who wouldn't bear pain at least for the sake of  wonderful eyebrow or to get rid of those white black heads..Though there were certain instincts that pricked me for the facts she has put forth openly I would  only wish if the book to sustain the tempo throughout...The chapters "culture" and "sex" appealed to me the most...According to her it all starts with the  pre-conceived notion on beauty that goes with the fair skin tone , perfect waistline, fuller lips, longer legs and so on and failing to achieve leads to depression in many..Though it is important to be healthy, what happens as a result of diet plans are often unhealthy too much of wrong type of exercises without considering a person's physique, capacity  leads to extortion  mounting on mental agony...

This book is a result of years of research and countless interviews by Wolf..Though she is onto feminist mode, certain figures can slap you on face...In spite of all this, to me the reading went slow still it was all worth it...Woman want to change everything that nature has bestowed upon her, right from her hair color to texture to size of breast and bust, color of eye, even to the extend to go under the knife in the name of cosmetic surgery to get those perfect size of nose,chin, lips, jaw ,etc etc..Though some do end up looking better but many others end up looking just a shadow of their older selves for which we have names of celebrities to add to the list..I have always felt that people are bit harsh towards the to so called perfect image of a celebrity in a show bizz where they are always expected to look in shape no matter of their physical state be it pregnancy or any other ailment failing which, media creates a hype going far on creating a collage of their photos that has their older self with that of current state, based on which they are thrashed severely for not looking in shape while lucky men are not treated in the same light, but why is that so??.

 I have many wonderful women around me who are battling their way with their self image and the image, the  beauty industry is trying to commercialize...To be honest I too have my moments though off late I have learnt my to clearly distinct between beauty, health, and self image..For me beauty is not just the thing that one can see in mirror but something that carries more shades and meaning on how one feels about oneself...

Wolf covers violence , sex, culture parallel to beauty and how the problems are often interconnected to women..She accuses the advertising companies, the corporate world  and media who cast a kind of image that often creates insecurity in the mind of women who don't fit into the terms the industry is trying to project... Selling their product at the expense of stakeholders who do things in vain...She explains how the concept of beauty is often misinterpreted giving a whole new wrong dimension to it...

The problem is that these images of celebrity images are unattainable for many as those image are a collective effort a group of people who are working towards the looks of this particular person, while this does not hold good for a normal girl who tries hard to to attain her so called size zero image failing which leads to a lower self esteem..

Only problem I had with this book was the opinions which were quite generalized..Not every woman feels the same way towards beauty and looks so it would have been great had she given the benefit of doubt to that creamy layer...Wolf  takes are bit harsh upon certain religious projections which could spoil  the mood of reading..

In spite all these problems the book does paints a clear picture on the perception of beauty and the danger it poses on women who push themselves to much to look beautiful...In spite of being a social critic she has exaggerated and generalized many beauty myth but then it could have been the case back  in 20 years..But the funniest part is many women want to look like an image of a celebrity who don't look anything like the image that the magazine carry.. That being said, when and how  can we really break free from all these and begin to be proud of  looks, nature has blessed  with!!! Well that is another topic of discussion entirely...

Book Review: The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer

Title:The Female Eunuch
Author: Germaine Greer
Pages: 431
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Online
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With international woman's day gaining much of global recognition, the word feminism is undergoing a whole radical shift in our thoughts and outlook..Now days being a feminist can  lead to be labelled into certain class whose thoughts are largely ignored as being mental frustration.. but then what is really being a feminist mean??? In early days when women where refused their share of right, a group of women with similar thoughts, theories and philosophy on women decided to fight for themselves, though largely shunned away in a male dominated society, women of today should be thankful to them...According to the history of feminism , feminism itself is divided into three waves..First wave was during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, second during the 60's and 70's the third and final wave began in 90's extending till date...The book The female Eunuch  was one of the major work during the second wave of feminism..

The female Eunuch  is  one of the classic feminist literature..I was specially interested in this book to learn how things were back in 70's  being a woman from a feminist angle...A time when gender equity was absent, women didn't dream of career and an independent life..This book is a comprehensive outlook on how women where looked upon in the despotic time when a woman's position in family was invisible and her status at work place was nil...A time when marriage and love  were looked upon as a mode for financial  and mental security rather than for companionship,she quotes from famous authors to support her arguments...Even today teen girls dream of  magical  kiss and romance when they should be thinking of lot many important things in life...Somehow women are sidelined as weaker sex and noticed for their beauty and glamour than for the essence of it, there are even quotes that say beauty and brains don't go together which is just not true......Even when a man is not good looking he always expects his wife to be glamorous and beautiful which he eventually succeed to find and that is  because of the society that believes that women are supposed to look good with tonnes of make up products brimming up every single day...

Though certain things went over the head for me, she does point out the sexual difference created by force  of society than by nature are all around us...Her skepticism on women buying expensive cosmetics and apparel to look beautiful stands true even  for today...He writing is fierce when fighting for equal legal rights for women...I can imagine the kind of stir it would have caused in those time. She even goes to the extend of nailing down the bestselling romantic fiction for instilling crazy, silly ,magical theme about love and status of women in family and society...According to her right from the day when a woman  is born she is chained under the security of father later on oppressed by a husband.. She speaks about the psychological shaping brought in the upbringing that forces a woman to accept them without any question or regret and be happy in it living a life of an epitome of sacrifice and perseverance..No intellect in woman is appreciated, accepted leave alone valued but admired...I believe she is not speaking for women but also for men to make them look  at women beyond the external texture and nurture the  person in her for a better living..But at times I felt her take where too harsh on men, going too far generalizing her theory I'm sure that could have been avoided to strike a balance of her contemplation...I'm sure there were times when degree were just a better qualification for women in order to find a good  husband..Education and academic degree  really didn't serve the purpose of  enlightening or enriching the lives ..In spite of having in depth knowledge and being a visionary Greer has never stated on how things could be changed..You might feel the heat of too much of blaming and cornering of men all through but  I would like to appreciate her brilliance in it, she hasn't written the book to impress anyone or to mellow down her critic but hers is a solid work of her fearlessness clear and loud...

This book also serves as a historical reference for the feminist outlook for reader of modern age ...Her views and points are clear and  she doesn't waste her writing beating on the bush..Her insights are quite revealing yet witty at the same time..Though I may not be the right person to comment on the reality of the situations back then,  but the very fact that the book is been celebrated over the years is the living testimony of the authenticity (really??)...There are boxed quotes which I didn't find it relevant to any particular subjects. Though many issues discussed by Greer just doesn't fit into the world we live now..I'm so glad that we live in this present era where I don't have to strive hard for my basic rights nor I'm discriminated because of being a woman...Though the contents seems quite outdated for people like us, still  they make you think, some might  hate it or love it ...

Food for thought after reading is the need for clarity of thought and thinking as a woman upon most things around me..

From being bound to a male all her life , life of a woman has been through a long road of transformation. Today she has her own thoughts and ideas according to which she leads her life, at a time evenhandedly taking over an entire household keeping a good career front and a high social life with her friends and acquaintances..Though there are instances of cases were women are oppressed, we can say that things are on a positive note...I would strongly recommend this book for its historical significance and the revelation that makes us appreciate the life we are leading now...