The Myth of Beauty. Stereotypes Against Women

A cult work by American writer and journalist Naomi Wolf. In it, the author discusses where stereotypical ideas of female beauty come from and why they limit women's freedom no less than patriarchal "household slavery." Physical perfection becomes an obsession for women, and non-compliance with it is a source of suffering. But even achieving the ideal, a woman still loses, as she sacrifices her natural beauty, health, energy, sexuality, and sometimes even life to conform to the accepted standard of appearance. The author argues that in the modern world, a woman is capable of deciding how she wants to live and look, without regard to the dictates of the ruthless "myth of beauty." Undoubtedly, the book can be engaging and useful for men too, as in the process of its transformation, the myth increasingly involves them within its influence, imposing sometimes harsh and meaningless rules on them as well.