After immersing in Naomi Wolf's profound work, "The Beauty Myth," I experienced an awakening that prompted a reevaluation of the authentic message I aspire Woolson to convey. Wolf's book serves as a radical, compelling, and unapologetic expose of the oppressive nature of the beauty myth and the detrimental obsession it fosters. Her exploration delves into how this myth infiltrates various aspects of our lives, from work and culture to sex, hunger, and violence.
Personally grappling with issues of self-love, fostering connections with fellow women, and cultivating robust female relationships, my mission is to embolden women to wholeheartedly embrace themselves. I encourage them to proudly showcase their bodies, heads held high. Concurrently, I advocate for women to actively support and uplift one another. Instead of allowing another woman's beauty to diminish one's own, I urge a celebration of that beauty, recognizing that it doesn't diminish the inherent value each woman possesses.
Wolf's core message encourages us to break free from the shackles of beauty-centric control. Our worth as women extends beyond societal beauty standards, challenging us to contemplate the true meaning of ugliness and beauty, acknowledging their subjectivity on an individual level.
In essence, the Woolson brand stands as a symbol of confident women – those who embrace self-love, exude sexiness, and carry a sense of pride without tearing down others. We champion a culture of upliftment, where women unapologetically love who they are without resorting to diminishing others. Woolson embodies the spirit of female friendship, resilience, power, and love, forging a community where women empower and celebrate one another.
quotes:
"'Beauty' is a currency system like the gold standard. like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the west it is the last, best belief system that keeps ale dominance intact." pg 5
"Culture stereotypes women to fit the myth by flattening the feminine into beauty-without-intelligence or intelligence-without-beauty; women are allowed a mind or a body but not both." pg 32
"Male culture seems happiest to imagine two women together when they are defined as being one winner and one loser in the beauty myth." pg 32
"Women rarely - and almost never outside a competitive context - see what other women look like naked; we see only identical humanoid products based loosely on women's bodies." pg 43
"How can an 'ideal' be about women if it is defined as how much of a female sexual characteristic does not exist on the woman's body, and how much of a female life does not show on her face?" pg 72
"The cosmetic surgery industry in the United States grosses $300 million every year, and is growing annually by 10 perfect... if women suddenly stopped feeling ugly, the fastest-growing medical specialty would be the fastest dying." pg 73
"A woman wins by giving herself and other women permission - to eat; to be sexual; to age; to wear overalls, a paste tiara, a Balenciaga gown, a second-hand opera cloak, or combat books; to cover up or to go practically naked; to do whatever we choose in following - or ignoring- our own aesthetic. a woman wings when she feels that what each woman does with her own body - unforced, uncoerced - is her business. when many individual women exert themselves from the economy, it will begin to dissolve." pg 107
"A woman-loving definition of beauty supplants desperation with play, narcissism with self-love, dismemberment with wholeness, absence with presence, stillness with animation. it admits radiance: light coming out of the face and the body, rather than a spotlight on the body, dimming the self. it is sexual, various, and surprising. we will be able to see it in others and not be frightened, and able at last to see it in ourselves." pg 109
"The next phase of our movement forward as individual women, as women together, and as tenants of our bodies and this planet, depends now on what we decide to see when we look in the mirror. what will we see?" pg 109
If you haven't read this work of literature, please add it to your list, return here and leave your review! What were your main takeaways? How will this book leave a lasting impression? Is there anything you're going to change about your own character?