What can I say about this book but WOW!  I figured this would be your basic super-models-make-girls-anorexic book, but it went so far beyond that.  The author Naomi Wolf examined all aspects of life touched by a woman's appearance, including many I had never even considered.  For example, she pointed out how women are already expected to have a career AND do the majority of the housework and childcare, but society has added what Wolf calls a "third shift" to a working woman's life: her appearance.  Men are basically "wash and wear," while a woman must do her make-up, her hair, and purchase an extensive wardrobe.  Throw in gym time and appointments for hair and nails, and the woman barely has time to breathe.  By focusing so much attention on maintaining her appearance, she is drained of money, time, and energy that might be better focused on her job and her family.  In essence, she is kept poorer than a man of similar status because he is not expected to spend large quantities of money and time on the latest cosmetics and surgical procedures.  I have seen this first hand.  My mother-in-law is the director of nursing at a small hospital, and she has to spend much of her income on triple-digit haircuts, expensive cosmetics, and gorgeous business outfits that individually cost more than my entire wardrobe.  She gets up at 5:00 in the morning to be at a 7:30 meeting, and her commute is less than half an hour.  I sincerely doubt that her male colleagues spend close to this amount of time, money, and energy to prepare for a basic day at work.

Wolf went on to examine the cosmetics industry itself.  She explained how companies use pseudo-science and fear to sell their products.  How many times have you heard the phrase "the latest technology" or "the latest scientific advancement" in a cosmetics ad?  Add in the fear of growing old and losing one's beauty, and the cosmetics industry has women right where they want them.  And on top of it all, false claims made by cosmetics manufacturers are not even pursued by the US government, but allowed to continue as women spend more and more money on lies.

Wolf also examined the pornography industry and how it has hurt women.  She spoke of how women were objectified:  their sole purpose was to satisfy men sexually.  She also pointed out how sexual violence has become commonplace, and even accepted as normal.  We see it everyday on crime dramas, web sites, and even our local news.  Date rape has become an epidemic, and rape victims are often disbelieved.  If soft-core porn makes men less likely to believe a rape victim and desensitizes them to violence against women, then what is its effect on the women?  I love this quote from the book: “The debate continues about whether classic pornography makes men violent toward women.  But beauty pornography is clearly making women violent toward ourselves.”  Wolf examines how pornography can make any woman, beautiful or plain, feel bad about herself.  Pornography makes regular women feel ugly, and beautiful women feel like objects.  In fact, in the words of the author,  “Beautiful women may be more vulnerable to pornography than others because they can see themselves in the pornography whereas others can not.”  I can attest to this myself.  When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I was quite attractive, and yet I always felt ugly.  I bought into society's lie that a beautiful woman exists to be used by men.  Although I was attractive, I felt ugly and useless.  I had severe self-esteem problems which most women would scoff at since I was "beautiful."  Ironically, once I gained weight and became less beautiful, my self-esteem increased as I learned that I had intrinsic value that didn't rely on a pretty face or a perfect figure.

Wolf went on to compare nakedness to powerlessness in relationships: prisoners strip before guards, slaves were stripped at the marketplace before potential buyers.  In the same way, the naked female body is considered acceptable and even desirable today, while the naked male body is taboo.  Much was made of Dennis Franz's bare bottom on NYPD Blue, and yet women have appeared nude on TV for years with opposition only from the Religious Right.  The message is clear: a woman's body is exposable, but a man's body is worthy of being covered.  This happens in everyday life as well.  Think of a typical wedding.  The bride is often in a sleeveless or even strapless gown while the groom is covered completely in a tux or a suit and tie.  And even in normal fashion, women wear mini-skirts, low-ride jeans, and belly shirts, while men's fashions provide decent cover.  The very thought of a man walking around with an inch of belly exposed sounds ludicrous, and yet the same look is so common for women that it appears on even the most family-oriented shows.

Wolf, as I had expected, did in fact discuss the anorexic epidemic.  She gave startling statistics that 1/10 of American women, and 1/5 of university female students are anorexic, and that 90-95% of all anorexia victims are women.  Even more startling were the statistics that 150,000 US women die from anorexia each year.  This is 17,024 more deaths in the US alone than worldwide AIDS deaths (tabulated by the World Health Organization).  She points out that if this disease were a male disease, every effort would be made to stop it.  And anorexia is not the only eating disorder plaguing American women.  Bulimia (binging and purging) affects even more women.  In fact, high-end estimates suggest that out of every ten female American college students, two will be anorexic, six bulimic, and only two healthy.  The preoccupation with weight and the societal pressure to be thin and beautiful is overwhelming for many women.  (Sidenote: I remember being in a store once, and the Muzak was playing a stupid song that said "stay young and beautiful if you want to be loved."  Is this the message we want to be sending to the public?)

Wolf went on to describe what she calls "The One Stone Solution" (1 stone = 14 lbs.): “By simply dropping the official weight one stone below most women’s natural level, and redefining a woman’s womanly shape as by definition 'too fat,' a wave of self-hatred swept over First World women, a reactionary psychology was perfected, and a major industry was born.”  In other words, women are made to feel that their natural bodies are unnatural, and thus they spend their time, energy, and money trying to obtain a body that is contrary to nature.  By running on the hamster wheel of dieting and exercising, they get nowhere but expend all of their energy.  It's like Third World dictators who deliberately deny their citizens basic needs (food, medicine, and shelter) in order to keep them focused on their everyday suffering instead of rebelling against an unjust government.

There was so much more in this book that I don't have time to cover!  Wolf devoted an entire chapter to "Violence," which I assumed was about domestic violence.  Instead, Wolf described the cosmetic surgery industry, and how women are pressured into violent procedures in pursuit of beauty.  The danger of complications is downplayed, and women are encouraged to have more and more procedures done.

A change needs to occur in America, and it can only happen one person at a time.  I urge you to read this book and really think about what it says.  Teach your daughters, sisters, and mothers that they are not defined by their appearance.  Teach them to love themselves for who they are, and to accept their bodies and faces just as they are.  Whether you are a man or a woman, READ THIS BOOK NOW! 

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