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Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West

(Women and Psychology)

Sheila Jeffreys

3.97 · Rating details · 246 ratings · 25 reviews

Should western beauty practices, ranging from lipstick to labiaplasty, be included within the United Nations understandings of harmful traditional/cultural practices? By examining the role of common beauty practices in damaging the health of women, creating sexual difference, and enforcing female deference, this book argues that they should.

In the 1970s feminis ...more

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Paperback, 216 pages

Published June 23rd 2005 by Routledge (first published May 1st 2005)

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· 246 ratings · 25 reviews

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Nov 04, 2013 Anna rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, feminism, gender, sexuality

Although there is a certain amount to recommend in this thorough critique of beauty practises, it also contains some significantly problematic elements. I found it deeply thought-provoking, though, so much so that I started writing my review before I’d even finished reading. For that, it deserves three stars.

‘Beauty and Misogyny’ links neatly to Gail Dines’ Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, which provides quite a bit of practise to back up Jeffreys’ theory in chapter four. It also Although there is a certain amount to recommend in this thorough critique of beauty practises, it also contains some significantly problematic elements. I found it deeply thought-provoking, though, so much so that I started writing my review before I’d even finished reading. For that, it deserves three stars.

‘Beauty and Misogyny’ links neatly to Gail Dines’ Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, which provides quite a bit of practise to back up Jeffreys’ theory in chapter four. It also addresses the theme of Natasha Walter’s Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism; the commoditisation of stereotypical femininity and its rebranding as empowerment. The overall framing device of the book is the UN’s concept of ‘harmful traditional/cultural practises’. This provides an interesting perspective on how the Western-dominated UN only admits the existence of cultural practises that are harmful to women in the developing world. Although the term is generally applied to female genital mutilation and forced marriage, it could apply to elements of Western beauty practises.

The strength of this book is its emphasis on how requirements for women’s appearance are reinforced and internalised. In particular, I would pick out the commentary on how a community of women discussing and enforcing beauty rules (be it for foot-binding or dieting) does not mean that these beauty rules are generated by women themselves. Such communities arise from the oppression that obliges women to bind their feet or diet in order to be culturally acceptable. Moreover, Jeffreys comments in chapter eight on plastic surgery discussion fora that, 'they demonstrate how forms of interaction that women have developed to deal with oppression - that is, gossip, sharing of experiences, encouragement and support - have been exploited to increase the profits of the industry'.

There are major elements of the book that trouble me, however. Chapter three is especially problematic, as it discounts any biological basis for being trans and elides trans issues with sexual fetishisation of gender roles. This seems to me (a cis person) pretty offensive to trans people and their struggles to achieve recognition of their gender. To her credit, Jeffreys identifies why this problematisation occurs; she wishes gender to be destroyed. This she contrasts with Judith Butler and postmodern/queer theorists, who (I simplify) consider the strict gender binary and gender roles to be a problem, rather than the notion of gender itself. I’m unsure of my personal opinion about whether gender should exist, but the debate seems pretty theoretical anyway. At heart I am a pragmatist and object to picking on an oppressed group for no apparent reason.

I am somewhat ambivalent about the chapter on fashion. It raises some important points that I agree with. Firstly, Jeffreys highlights the increasing use of pornographic imagery in fashion editorials and fashion advertising. Secondly, she comments on the use of nudity in fashion shows, seemingly for shock value. Thirdly, she articulates very neatly a gender divide in clothing that constantly annoys me:

’The casual observer wandering through the areas devoted to male and female fashion in a department store will notice that all fashion is overwhelmingly, and before all else, gendered… It hardly needs to be said that the men’s department generally offers clothes that are not full of holes to show the body, there are no skirts or dresses, clothes are not skintight, they tend to be functional and look as if they are well-suited to a number of activities. They are not devoted to revealing the male body as a sex object to the female viewer.’

I was reminded of this just today, when I went into a department store menswear area (which was very carefully delineated from womenswear) for Christmas shopping. I saw all these lovely tweed coats, woolly jumpers, tailored shirts, and waistcoats... I would gladly have worn them, as they looked warm, practical, and smart. But as I am short and have hips and breasts, not a one was available in my size. What rankles most to me, and Jeffreys also picks this up, is that men get the choice to wear suits. It is so difficult to find a well-fitting trouser suit in womenswear! What’s more, tailored suits used to be more readily available for women, but not in recent decades. That’s a particular bugbear of mine and I’ve never come across mention of it in a book before.

The reason why I am ambivalent about the fashion chapter, though, is Jeffreys’ critique of several fashion designers, including two of my favourites, Alexander McQueen and Thierry Mugler. I consider both of them to have created some truly beautiful pieces of clothing. However Jeffreys rightly points out that their fashion shows include a lot of misogyny (for instance, McQueen’s collection titled ‘Highland Rape’). To me this ambivalence is much as if I were looking at a beautiful painting depicting some misogynistic scene. Some part of me finds beauty in the craft on display, even if that craft is being used to purvey messages that I dislike. It is tempting to ignore the misogyny in order to appreciate the beauty. I feel similarly about high heels - they can sometimes be lovely to look at as objects, so long as I ignore how painful they are to actually wear. Of course, my cultural perceptions of what is beautiful are unavoidably shaped by the society I’ve grown up in, as everyone’s are.

In the latter chapters, I find that this book spends excessive time and places excessive importance on male sexual fetishism and sadomasochism. Again the assumption that the vast majority of fetishists are male gets an airing. This has always seemed to me like an odd quirk of sexuality research - how can you be sure that women aren’t fetishists? Maybe they have been socialised not to consider their fetishes as such. Perhaps the whole concept is deliberately defined in masculine terms. I am reminded of the section in Understanding Asexuality when female sexuality is painted as terribly mysterious and complex. If that’s the current state of sexuality research, how is it possible to make sweeping generalisations about whether women have fetishes (sexual or otherwise).

Despite Jeffreys’ disparagement of psychoanalytic theory at several points, this book cannot seem to stray far from psychological speculation. There seems to me to be a great irony in this. Jeffreys repeatedly mentions that the growth of current ‘harmful cultural practises’ coincides with the rise of neoliberal free market economic ideology, yet this ideology and its institutionalisation of sexism for the purposes of profit is not addressed. Instead, she seemingly internalises the individualism of this ideology by focussing her critique on individual male psyches. This seems to me ultimately unhelpful as it does not lend itself to useful responses or potential solutions. Jeffreys suggests giving up beauty practises and campaigning for government regulation. These proscriptions do not seem to me new, nor sufficient. Thus I am still searching hopefully for a critique of sexist capitalism - where is the feminist economic theory? ...more

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Jul 07, 2014 Yve rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, 21st-century, 2000s

“In the west women are supposed to be empowered, possessed of opportunities and choices unimaginable only a generation ago, yet these same women are hobbled by clothing and shoes, maimed by surgery in way that the feminist generation of the 1970s could not have imagined.”

If you care about women, this book will make you angry. Jeffreys makes lucid and incisive analysis of the harmful standards of beauty and the choices women have under them, which are no choices at all. A true antidote to the pois ...more

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Jan 05, 2012 missy jean rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

Jeffreys details the physical and psychological harms caused by Western beauty practices, and argues that they should be considered as being from the same mold as harmful cultural practices from other parts of the world. I completely agree with this-- FGM in Africa and labiaplasty/breast implants in the USA grow from similar male-centric ideologies, that women's sexual attractiveness to men and their ability to meet arbitrary cultural beauty standards are paramount pursuits for women, worth cutt Jeffreys details the physical and psychological harms caused by Western beauty practices, and argues that they should be considered as being from the same mold as harmful cultural practices from other parts of the world. I completely agree with this-- FGM in Africa and labiaplasty/breast implants in the USA grow from similar male-centric ideologies, that women's sexual attractiveness to men and their ability to meet arbitrary cultural beauty standards are paramount pursuits for women, worth cutting/mutilating/altering female bodies to achieve. I think this is such an important perspective, and one that can help Western feminists avoid slipping into paternalistic language about the ways in which "other" women suffer, because it binds cultural oppressions (from foot-binding to high heels) together into whole cloth.

While I'm not sure about some of her assertions (including her take on transfemininity and social constructions of homosexuality), so much of this book really resonated with me. I've had so many conversations with women who think they look weird and bad without the accouterments of stylized femininity--women who think their faces look strange without makeup, their feet look weird without nail polish--because we are so conditioned to see decorated/depilated/altered female bodies as the norm and the ideal. I think it's so critical for women to consider where we get these ideas that the natural forms of our bodies are somehow strange--that undecorated women are somehow aberrant (and decorated men are aberrant in their own way, because the male form demands no alteration). Jeffreys argues that the main purpose of cultural practices like these is to further (visually and viscerally) encode perceived differences between the sexes as a method of perpetuating power structures in relationships and societies. Once we start thinking about where these ideas come from, it is possible to start seeing who is benefiting from them, both financially and in terms of power dynamics. ...more

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Apr 10, 2016 Liz Gum rated it really liked it

Fantastic book. As a recent "born again" radical feminist (former liberal feminist), I have been digging into any radical feminist literature I can get my hands on. I learned so much from this book. Things that I feel like I always "knew" but could never quite come to terms with psychologically. Jeffreys makes clear the material reality that Western women live in, and it can be hard to swallow for some. However, she ends on a hopeful note, showing the reader that just because misogyny is the nor ...more

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Aug 07, 2014 Dernica rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction

An eye opening read for sure, especially as Sheila Jeffreys is my lecturer at the moment. Her commentary though radical is thought provoking and that I can appreciate. Though I didn't agree with it all, I was able to indulge in new viewpoints that I've ner considered before.

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Nov 16, 2012 Melanie rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

I found this book of hard-core, old-school feminism whilst browsing the half-empty shelves of my soon-to-be demolished local library.

The central tenant of this book is that western beauty practices (from lipstick wearing to high heels and breast implants) should be registered with the UN as ‘harmful cultural practices’.

Not sure that I understood all of it (I skipped some pages), nor agreed with everything, but I do agree that most of us are spending too much time waxing, plucking, d ...more

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May 03, 2013 Lestari Hairul rated it it was amazing

The book that haunted me long after I was done with it. I stopped wearing makeup and bras, f'real.

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Mar 04, 2017 Oliver Björnsson rated it did not like it

I hasten to insert myself into feminist debates, but this book is hateful.

I'll let Judith Butler take over:
" I have never agreed with Sheila Jeffreys or Janice Raymond, and for many years have been on quite the contrasting side of feminist debates. She appoints herself to the position of judge, and she offers a kind of feminist policing of trans lives and trans choices. I oppose this kind of prescriptivism, which seems me to aspire to a kind of feminist tyranny.

If s ...more

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Feb 03, 2017 Kenny! rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

I give this book 5 stars for presenting fresh, controversial perspectives on sexism and gender in America and the UK. I found this book randomly and read it from start to finish in one day. I lowered my rating to 4 stars because I reserve 5 stars for books I would happily read more than once.

I don't need to agree with all or most of the arguments an author presents. What I need is for an author to present arguments and ideas in a way that blows my mind and makes me critically think about how I ...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing

This book deserves to be more popular in my opinion. It highlights something that many people in the West take for granted. Women are expected to wear makeup, remove all body hair, diet until they are an `acceptable' weight and even contemplate drastic cosmetic surgery if their bodies do not match up in every way to modern society's ideas of beauty. Where is the difference between some cosmetic surgery practices and cultural practices in other countries which mutilate women as a matter of routin This book deserves to be more popular in my opinion. It highlights something that many people in the West take for granted. Women are expected to wear makeup, remove all body hair, diet until they are an `acceptable' weight and even contemplate drastic cosmetic surgery if their bodies do not match up in every way to modern society's ideas of beauty. Where is the difference between some cosmetic surgery practices and cultural practices in other countries which mutilate women as a matter of routine?

As someone who does not wear makeup and refuses to remove body hair I found this book echoing many of my own half formed thoughts on the subject. The book examines some of the influences which ensure the majority of women spend a great deal of time conforming to beauty stereotypes regardless of their own preferences. The author shows how women themselves police the `system' by criticising and ostracising their friends until they conform. Online communities discussing cosmetic surgery after effects read like a network supporting the oppressed - rather than a group of empowered women making informed choices about their bodies.

The author points out with telling detail the way the media constantly reinforce what people have to do to be a woman. She also analyses the way fashion is controlled by mainly gay men who appear to project their own hatred of women onto the models they use for displaying their outlandish creations on the catwalk. She describes some of the more extreme `clothes' and uses examples of the way fashion advertisements have changed in the late 20th century and early 21st century until they are almost pornographic in content. Jeffreys shows how the fashion industry is controlled by men and how all fashion is designed to make women sexually attractive to men.

Clothes, makeup and beauty practices are all aimed at fulfilling the sexual fantasies of men. The author quotes from Internet sites showing how advice given to women querying extreme beauty practices or cosmetic surgery is that they must conform or they will never attract a man. A woman's body, by definition, is inferior - however beautiful she is naturally. The author quotes research showing how women in the workplace are pressured into wearing certain clothes if they want to be taken seriously. She compares the wearing of stiletto heeled shoes with the Chinese practice of foot binding - which was a revelation to me.

The author suggests things have got worse from the point of view of women's freedom and equality in the last twenty or thirty years and I would agree with her. Cosmetics are big business now and everything is aimed at women continuing to use them on a large scale. Makeup is marketed at small children to get them used to it at an early age in order to recruit future consumers. She questions why women need to follow beauty routines or alter their bodies to conform to stereotypes and suggests that if they didn't do so, they would have far more time and energy available to do the things they really want to do. She advocates women wearing clothes they can move in and which are suitable for a variety of tasks and occasions and shoes they can run in and which don't seriously damage the feet in normal wear.

I found this book an eye opener especially as regards some of the more extreme beauty practices and the way fashion is influenced by men. It covers some of the same ground as Natasha Walter's `Living Dolls', Naomi Wolf's `The Beauty Myth' and Nina Power's `One Dimensional Woman' and will appeal to anyone who is interested in gender from an academic or lay perspective. It provides a comprehensive bibliography and index and quotes a great many less well known studies, so there is plenty of material for further research. Though it is aimed at the academic market it is well written and accessible to anyone with some familiarity with the issues covered. As the previous reviewer says, I wish I had written this book. ...more

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May 30, 2015 Gayle Noble rated it really liked it

Shelves: feminism, non-fiction

I'm not sure that 'enjoyed' is the right way to describe my experience in reading this book as parts of it made me absolutely furious. It was certainly very informative though.

Being naturally tall, I've never felt the need to wear heels so have been spared the pain and I rarely wear make-up but even I have not been immune to some of the demands talked about in this book. I find it depressing that women, from being young girls, are made to feel that every bit of their bodies are not g ...more

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Jun 19, 2014 Roane Swindon rated it really liked it

I absolutely enjoyed this book from cover to cover. It is filled with interesting anecdotes, little-known facts, and theories on sexuality and the media that will open your mind. Highly recommended!

Read my full review on my blog here.

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Dec 11, 2008 Ellie rated it really liked it

Sheila Jeffries is a very extreme militant kind of feminist, and so she gets alot of bad press. HOWEVER....IF you put that aside, and read this book, some of the points about plastic surgery, make up, sex industries, and fashion, are extremely thought provoking and interesting.

While I do not buy Jeffreys' idea that as a women, you cannot be a feminist if you sleep with men, I do think she makes some excellent observations about society, and the roles and perceptions of women within t ...more

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Aug 06, 2013 Anna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ö-lemmed, nf-feminism, z-lc-english

I'm just not able to finish this. There are some interesting ideas in this book, although I think the whole take on homosexuality and transgender is a bit simplified and, to be honest, strange. For the subject matter I'd love to finish it, but this would need some editing... On the other hand this doesn't really give me a lot of new ideas, so decided to lem it. If you want to feel sick all over, read the chapter about labiaplasty...

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Sep 29, 2016 Kimberly rated it it was amazing

Just amazing. Sheila Jeffreys is never afraid to name the truth. Clear and concise

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Apr 08, 2013 Peter rated it really liked it

scary , insightful, clever, "ballsy" ;) feminism with hammers.

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Nov 28, 2017 Tash rated it liked it

Honestly regardless of the ideology this was such an amazing reading experience. I was googling things (if anyone is tracing my internet usage and history I'm sorry for the ... alarming searches), having a perpetual internal debate and pacing around my room thinking about this book and my own opinions

I really adored that the writing style for this book was so simple and straightforward which allows your time and focus to be devoted to the actual content, rather than having to google Honestly regardless of the ideology this was such an amazing reading experience. I was googling things (if anyone is tracing my internet usage and history I'm sorry for the ... alarming searches), having a perpetual internal debate and pacing around my room thinking about this book and my own opinions

I really adored that the writing style for this book was so simple and straightforward which allows your time and focus to be devoted to the actual content, rather than having to google obscure jargon- yet as an academic work it still cited sources frequently and correctly

Soo, this is a work of radical feminism so naturally there were tonnes of things I agreed with... and tonnes that I.. did not agree with

The book focuses around beauty practices in the West (obviously). Jeffreys asserts that beauty practices in the West (and more or less everywhere else) all stem from male oppression. Beauty practices are used to create and assert sexual differences between men and women (also look I feel like Jeffreys was perpetually conflating sex and gender but whatever). This is done to 'other' women, to identify them and mould them into a submissive sex (gender). Beauty practices are not only used to subdue women but also to reduce them to sexual objects. So beauty practices are driven by male sexuality and male fetishes. This is seen through the impact that prostitution has upon beauty standards and practices. Beauty practices have become evermore extreme and constraining as women continue to obtain 'more' rights. The beauty practices are used to reassure men of their ever dominant status over women. Jeffreys equates beauty practices in the West to what the UN defines as harmful cultural practices. These harmful beauty practices in the West have been exacerbated by the free market, capitalism, postmodernism, the sexual revolution/liberation and the West's continual refusal to acknowledge its own culture, and that it in fact does possess culture. Postmodern ideologies and liberal feminists have asserted that it is a woman's right to be able to choose to engage in sexual (gendered) practices, as these practices are no longer or never were innately linked to male dominance. Jeffreys argues that the practices that these women 'choose' to engage in are innately damaging and patriarchal and in fact women do not possess the freedom to choose these practices. Western culture of male dominance compels them to perform these harmful acts of femininity. So Jeffreys calls for the UN to ban western beauty practices, for women to stop performing them and for sexual difference (gender) to be abolished.

Ok so this is the watered down gist of what is a very extreme and opinionated book.. I haven't touched upon chapter three which discusses trans people and as Jeffreys wants to abolish sex (gender) .. it's not a very trans inclusive chapter. So I mean.. there are lots of #problematic aspects to this book. Although I think those aspects were part of what made it such an interesting reading experience for me, as there were things that I agreed with, and things that I did not. When the things that I disagreed with were logical extensions of what I did agree with I had to stop and seriously think if Jeffreys' logic was wrong, or if I actually did agree or disagree with her. So I think I'll be doing a lot of soul searching for a while (esp. about the concept of choice) ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Marie rated it really liked it

Shelves: feminism

This book was more than I was expecting in many senses. I do not agree with her interpretations of Christianity, but I do sure agree that many beauty practices directed towards women are influenced by prostitution and pornography, and she's quick to criticize the liberal movement for it. This is sure some level of awareness worth mentioning in the Left. Especially relevant for its callout of Bill Clinton's positive attitude towards the sex industry (and women in the US were supposed to vote for ...more

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Feb 23, 2018 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebooks, feminist-non-fiction, non-fiction

theres a lot of controversial stuff in here regarding transgenderism but i really think this is so essential for women.
i've been having a lot of trouble recently with the idea in popular feminism right now that turns makeup, heels, and hypersexualisation into some kind of empowering tool. jeffreys critiques the ways these things restrict and harm women, maintaining inequality, and details all the toxicity and damage which products, fashion, and cosmetic surgery result in which is largely i ...more

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Feb 11, 2017 Juliana Santos rated it really liked it

Quem tem medo do feminismo radical ?
Não resta pedra sobre pedra após a leitura atenta deste que é um divisor de águas para a interpretação de tradições culturais de beleza no ocidente escrito pela feminista Sheila Jeffreys. No livro, ela expõe a hipocrisia de feministas ocidentais em taxar práticas de beleza direcionadas exclusivamente a mulheres como “escolha” e “capacidade de exercer agencia” quando na cultura ocidental e taxar práticas similares das culturas orientais como “opressivas”. Quem tem medo do feminismo radical ?
Não resta pedra sobre pedra após a leitura atenta deste que é um divisor de águas para a interpretação de tradições culturais de beleza no ocidente escrito pela feminista Sheila Jeffreys. No livro, ela expõe a hipocrisia de feministas ocidentais em taxar práticas de beleza direcionadas exclusivamente a mulheres como “escolha” e “capacidade de exercer agencia” quando na cultura ocidental e taxar práticas similares das culturas orientais como “opressivas”. ( ex footbinding na China x saltos altos)
No primeiro capítulo, Jeffrey começa a questionar todo o conceito de escolha que está implicado nas análises feministas feitas sobre as práticas de beleza. A pergunta colocada por ela as feministas não estruturalistas é porque mulheres “escolhem” as práticas de beleza e homens não fazem o mesmo? Essa pergunta que mudaria toda a discussão em torno da beleza não é feita por correntes feministas que vivem em paralelo a Jeffrey. Ela então critica o livre The Beauty Myth (O mito da beleza) por não fazer essa pergunta e aponta que é esta pergunta não feita que o torna um livro de feminismo liberal. Embora eu ache que o livro em questão seja poderoso, realmente ele não questiona as estruturas patriarcais que levam mulheres a praticas de beleza (tradução livre).
No segundo capítulo, ela propõe que todas as práticas de um sexo devem ser examinadas para o propósito político de manter o sistema vigente de dominância masculina. Esta reflexão seria a que nos levaria a questionar as práticas de beleza oriundas de mulheres. As contínuas práticas de beleza são feitas por mulheres para que a diferença entre homens e mulheres seja acentuada com o propósito de apaziguar o sentimento de perda de dominação sentido por homens que convivem com mulheres no seu meio de trabalho. Por isso, mulheres dentro da forçada de trabalho são assediadas moralmente a usar sapatos de salto. Toda essa análise é feita no capítulo 7 onde ela também aborda o fetichismo ao redor dos saltos altos na imaginação masculina tanto hetero quanto homossexual.
No terceiro capítulo, Jeffrey fala a divergência entre a transfeminilidade da feminilidade impostas as mulheres, sendo a ultima parte do status inferior de cidadão de segunda classe que mulheres possuem em uma sociedade patriarcal. Jeffrey também explicita que existe uma “arrogância em homens que acham que seu interesse sexual em subordinação os faz mulheres” ( MTL). E ela conclui demonstrando que apesar da realidade nua crua da dominação masculina é claramente revelada dentro da transfeminilidade, muitos autores queer a proclamam transgressora.
Já no quarto capítulo a autora mostra como pornografia entrou dentro da cultura pop e foi normalizada através de cantoras como Madonna, e estilistas gays que projetam sua idéia de feminilidade em corpos femininos. Aqui a autora faz a pergunta que deve ser reproduzida dentro de toda a indústria da moda:
“ The question of why gay men should be so interested in creating clothes for women, who are not their sexual partners, or, probably, the focus of their erotic imaginations, is an important one.” A pergunta de porque homens gays estão tão interessados em criar roupas para aqueles que não são seus parceiros sexuais ou, provavelmente, o foco de suas imaginações eróticas, é importante. Jeffreys não pouca ninguém de sua critica, e parte daí para explicitar a misoginia dentro da cultura fashion gay.
O livro também demonstra como praticas de beleza hoje normalizadas como depilação íntima e implantes de seios tem suas raízes na normalização de imagens pornográficas no imaginário masculino, uma vez que essas práticas não são feitas para satisfazer o prazer sexual feminino.
Aqui também cai por terra a idéia falaciosa de que uma vez que essas práticas são passadas de mãe para filha elas seriam menos agressivas e se agressivas total responsabilidade de mulheres. Tirar a dominância masculina da cultura e ver o fenômeno somente como algo somente feminino é recusar a existência da sociedade patriarcal.
O livro é essencial para um primeiro entendimento de criticas de feministas radicais a praticas de beleza, mas Jeffrey não é perfeita, ela cita uma única vez a situação de mulheres negras dentro da força de trabalho e embora ela muito corretamente mostre que beleza está completamente associada a supremacia branca ela não dedica um capítulo de sua obra a essa discussão. Ela também está em ponto de vista que a permite concluir que a recusa total de usos de símbolos de feminilidade poderiam levar a criação de uma resistência maior, assim, ela ignora o assédio que muitas mulheres sofrem no dia a dia por essa recusa. Em suma, ainda que poderoso, o livro ainda é sobre feministas brancas de classe média que estão criticando uma sistema de dominância que não as coloca no mesmo patamar que seus pares do sexo oposto, mas de mesma raça. Recomendo a sua leitura atenta, porém aliado a leitura de livros de feministas negras.
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Jun 17, 2019 Liz Leaf rated it it was amazing

The clarity and truth that is typical for Jeffreys shines through in this stellar work. Articulating exactly why women are forced to participate in their own degradation and subjugation, she brings forth all the historical and modern reasonings behind each and every “everyday beauty routine” practice that only real feminists call out for the dangerous institution that it is. Her biting explanation for the misogyny that underlies every woman’s life is satisfying and thorough. Read this and reject ...more

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Jan 12, 2019 Nusar rated it it was amazing

This book in my opinion, is a must read for all women.

It's hard for me (a guy) to really swallow the level women have internalized culturally mandated beauty practices to a point of complete acceptance, however because of that inability, it was quite easy for me to see the institutionalized self hating of women in our culture after reading this book.

Having said that, she makes a very compelling case against Western beauty practices: make-up, cosmetic surgery, and high heels.

As a Mu ...more

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Jun 22, 2014 Siao rated it really liked it

While I couldn't quite get behind some of Jeffreys discussions about transgenderism, this is a good read nonetheless.

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Jul 06, 2018 Adrienne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: feminism

Downgrading to 3 stars on a second read-through. Review to come.

Still not wearing makeup anymore.

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Dec 20, 2010 edenstephen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: women, feminism, ebook

E-book.

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About Sheila Jeffreys

Sheila Jeffreys

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Sheila Jeffreys writes and teaches in the areas of sexual politics, international gender politics, and lesbian and gay politics. She has written six books on the history and politics of sexuality. Originally from the UK, Sheila moved to Melbourne in 1991 to take up a position at the University of Melbourne. She has been actively involved in feminist and lesbian feminist politics, particularly arou ...more

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“Both the veil and makeup are often seen as voluntary behaviours by women, taken up by choice and to express agency. But in both cases there is considerable evidence of the pressures arising from male dominance that cause the behaviours. For instance, the historian of commerce Kathy Peiss suggests that the beauty products industry took off in the USA in the 1920s/1930s because this was a time when women were entering the public world of offices and other workplaces (Peiss, 1998). She sees women as having made themselves up as a sign of their new freedom. But there is another explanation. Feminist commentators on the readoption of the veil by women in Muslim countries in the late twentieth century have suggested that women feel safer and freer to engage in occupations and movement in the public world through covering up (Abu-Odeh, 1995). It could be that the wearing of makeup signifies that women have no automatic right to venture out in public in the west on equal grounds with men. Makeup, like the veil, ensures that they are masked and not having the effrontery to show themselves as the real and equal citizens that they should be in theory. Makeup and the veil may both reveal women’s lack of entitlement.” — 12 likes

“Women incorporate the values of the male sexual objectifiers within themselves. Catharine MacKinnon calls this being "thingified" in the head (MacKinnon, 1989). They learn to treat their own bodies as objects separate from themselves. Bartky explains how this works: the wolf whistle sexually objectifies a woman from without with the result that, ``"The body which only a moment before I inhabited with such ease now floods my consciousness. I have been made into an object'' (Bartky, 1990, p. 27). She explains that it is not sufficient for a man simply to look at the woman secretly, he must make her aware of his looking with the whistle.

She must, "be made to know that I am a 'nice piece of ass': I must be made to see myself as they see me'' (p. 27). The effect of such male policing behaviour is that, "Subject to the evaluating eye of the male connoisseur, women learn to evaluate themselves first and best'" (Bartky, 1990, p. 28).

Women thus become alienated from their own bodies.” — 3 likes

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