The Beauty Myth

Super Short Summary

Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, first published in 1990 and republished in 2002 with an updated introduction, examines the societal and psychological controls exerted on women through the idealization of beauty. Through eight chapters—“The Beauty Myth,” “Work,” “Culture,” “Religion,” “Sex,” “Hunger,” “Violence,” and “Beyond the Beauty Myth”—Wolf explores how the unattainable beauty standard, driven by consumerism and patriarchal concepts, impacts women's identity, perpetuates discrimination, and fosters harmful practices like cosmetic surgery and eating disorders, undermining women's progress and equality. The book references disordered eating and intimate-partner violence.