The Beauty Myth

[alias_sqbr]

Am currently reading "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf. I was a bit worried it would be a strident polemic (I hate those, even when I agree) but while (as you'd expect) she takes a more extreme view of the situation than me (and tends to stretch her metaphors and arguments further than is wise) she doesn't hit you over the head too much and far from being anti men is if anything a bit soppy about the joy of an equal romantic partnership. I'm not sure I agree with her overall premise, that the focus on Beauty(*) is recent and the result of a backlash against womens lib, but many of her descriptions of the effect it has on women really rang true.

For example: have a listen to love songs on the radio. The ones from men to women often focus on how sexy/beautiful the woman's body is, "I love the feel of your skin" etc. But I can't think of a single love song from a woman to a man where she compliments any part of his body apart from maybe eyes. Feel free to point out the gazillion I'm missing :) EDIT: and you did. I still think it's a tendency, but one which does appear to be changing.

(*)The main aspects are afaict:

• There is an unrealistic, unattainable (too thin, artificial) standard of female beauty
  
• womens self worth is presented as directly related to their similarity to this standard, yet they are judged for being shallow/asking for sexual assault if they try to attain it
  
• Uh..I forget. I may edit this post when I remember :)
  

Comments

[firefly21.livejournal.com]

That 'Ain't No Other Man' song by Christina Aguilera has the line "You got style, you got class, with your smile and your bad ass'

...but that's about the only one I can think of!

[fallimar.livejournal.com]

there are a lot of man-ass songs out there, one point for man-bums!

[alias_sqbr]

Hmm. True. Though many aren't about love exactly :)

[fallimar.livejournal.com]

True, and annoying.

Then again, a song starring a woman serenading a fluttery-eyed man in a flowing dress with permed hair and lip gloss would be too priceless for the world to handle.

Though I'd LOVE to see it.

[purrdence.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there a Janet Jackson song where she's checking out a guy's package?

[alias_sqbr]

Possibly, but I'm not going through her songs to check :)

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

Liz Phair's song "Supernova" about some guy includes the line

Your eyelashes sparkle like gilded grass / And your lips are sweet and slippery like a cherub's bare wet ass

as well as

Your kisses are as wicked as an F-16 / And you fuck like a volcano, and you're everything to me

So there's one I guess :-)

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

Oh, so obviously the non-eye body part is lips. Maybe that doesn't really count. Hmm. Does include the words "bare wet ass" though!

[alias_sqbr]

Hey that's totally true. *is all counterexampled*

[miss-kittylix.livejournal.com]

I've wanted to read that book for a while now. I've just started "The Book Thief" so I guess I'll read "The Beauty Myth" in a few months.

[alias_sqbr]

What's "The Book theif" about?

[miss-kittylix.livejournal.com]

I'm only up to chapter two, but it seems to be about a young german girl in world war 2. It also features the figure of death as the narrator. I think its called the Book Thief because she ends up stealing books from the Nazi book burnings. Adam's mum recommended it and it has also won this years Perth Festival One Book Award. It's by a guy named Markus Zusak.

[kadeton.livejournal.com]

The song thing sounds more like evidence for a general trend; men think more in terms of physical and visual cues, and women in terms of emotional and social triggers.

Perhaps I should read the book and make my own judgement. :P

[alias_sqbr]

The point she makes is that women are triggered by men's bodies, at least the ones they're involved with. They're just (generally) not as interested in pictures etc of unknown guys without context, though there's still a market for that too. Look at slash, or romance novels, much of which is basically porn where you're attached to the characters.

Sorry I took so long, I've been Very Behind on my mail.