The Beauty Myth (54 page)

beauty as, 46

beauty myth used to undermine women’s access to, 20–27;
see also
professional beauty qualification

immigrants’ access to, 21–22

maleness of, 210

subjectivity of beauty and, 36

pregnancy, 40

Victorian view of, 222, 223

“Prices” (Wells), 120

primates, sexual behavior of, 13, 132

Private Eye
, 61–62

professional beauty qualification (PBQ), 27–57, 276

background of, 31–37

guilt and, 29–30

legal upholding of, 36–48

social consequences of, 48–57

television journalism and, 34–37

vital lies and, 28

women’s magazines and, 71

professions, display, 27

profit, medical system and, 232–234

Prometheus, myth of, 61

prostitutes, 15, 50

Protestantism, 89, 91, 92

psychology of women, PBQ and, 48, 52–54

Psychology Today
, 248

punishment, sex and, 219–220

purification, cycle of, 98–102

Pyke, Magnus, 195

Rabidue
v.
Osceola Refining Co
., 51–52

radiance, 103–105, 261

Radiance
, 161, 187

rape, 38, 115, 136, 159, 161, 162, 164–168, 220, 313
n
–315
n

date, 165–167

fantasy of, 137–138, 141, 162

survey on, 164–167

Redbook
, 43, 72, 300
n

Reed, Evelyn, 13

Rees, Thomas D., 95, 244, 256

Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious Hereditary and Congenital Diseases, 265–266

religion, 11, 86–130, 308
n
–311
n

decline in influence of, 89–90

feminization of, 91–92

Goddess, 13

solidarity and, 90

see also
Rites of Beauty

Re-Making Love
(Ehrenreich, Hess, and Jacobs), 143

Renaissance, 103

“Report of the World Conference for the United Nations Decade for Women,” 23

reproductive rights, 9, 11

Retin-A, 105, 111, 239, 258

Rich, Adrienne, 155, 255

Rites of Beauty, 86–130

caste system and, 87

Creation story and, 93–95

cult sales and, 106–128

food and, 96–98

light and, 103–106

medieval Catholicism compared with, 88–89, 100, 102

memento mori
and, 102–103

original sin and, 95–96

purification cycle and, 98–102

social effects of, 128–130

structure of, 93–128

ritual, female, 279–280

Roddick, Anita, 110–111

Rodin, Judith, 187

Roe
v.
Wade
, 134

role models, 74, 210

male vs. female, 58–59

Romulus, laws of, 220

Room of One’s Own, A
(Woolf), 181

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 71

Rossetti, Christina, 216

Rumania, 120

Russell, Diana, 159, 160

sadomasochism, beauty, 132, 133, 136–138, 140–142, 163

St. Cloud State University study, 166

St. Cross, Margarita, 32, 38

St. Cross
v.
Playboy Club of New York
, 32–33

salespeople, 49, 56

cult sales and, 107–108, 121–122

Sarler, Carol, 81

Sarton, May, 104

Saudi Arabia, 220

Sawyer, Diane, 36, 299
n

Scherr, Raquel, 213

Schlafly, Phyllis, 150–151

Schmidt, M., 39–40

Scientific American
, 192

Scott, Steve, 241

Screen Actors Guild, 137

Screw
, 148

Second Shift, 25–26

secretaries, 31, 50

Seeing Through Clothes
(Hollander), 184

Seid, Roberta Pollack, 67, 88, 182, 193, 195, 196

self-esteem, 14, 25, 26, 29, 49, 115, 150, 224, 276–277

sexuality and, 36, 146, 150

weight obsession and, 187–188, 197

self-hatred:

cosmetic surgery and, 232

weight and, 185, 186

Self Magazine
, 242

Seneca Falls convention, 68

separate sphere,
see
domesticity, cult of

Sex and the Single Girl
(Brown), 31

sex discrimination:

BFOQ or GOQ and, 27–28

Craft suit and, 35–38

hearings and rulings on, 31–33, 37–41

Sex Discrimination Act (1975), 28, 40

sex education, asymmetry in, 152

sex, lies, and videotape
(film), 168

sexual capacity, of women, 131–132

sexual fantasy, 16, 137–138, 140–141, 163–164

sexual harassment, 199, 300
n

pinups as, 52

self-blame for, 43

work and, 37–38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 51–52, 116, 300
n

sexual intercourse, orgasm in, 146–147

sexuality, sexual behavior, 131–178, 273, 279–280, 311
n
–316
n

of animals, 13, 132, 311
n

anorexia and, 199

beauty and, 150–151, 168–173

beauty pornography and, 132–142, 145–152

fat and, 184, 192–193

female, suppression of, 154–162

pain and, 218–220

punishment and, 219–220

Rites of Beauty and, 96–98, 119

work and, 31, 44–46

of young people, 162–168

Sexuality of Organization, The
(Sheppard), 42–43

sexual revolution, 11, 97, 132, 145, 146

sexual selection, 12–13, 294
n

sexual surgery, 241–249

She
, 244–245

Sheppard, Deborah L., 42–43

Shiseido, 227–228

Shoemaker Mine, 51

Showalter, Elaine, 99, 222, 245, 250, 260–261

Sidel, Ruth, 29, 49, 53

silicone, 239

sin, original, 95–96

single women, 31

Siskel, Gene, 136–137

Sisley
v.
Britannia Security Systems
, 40

skin care, 69–70, 109, 116, 118–120

slavery, 55

Slaves of New York
(Janowitz), 168

smoking, 229

Snowball
v.
Gardner Merchant, Ltd
., 41

Society of Civil and Public Servants, 52

Soderbergh, Steven, 168

Solon, 219–220

Sontag, Susan, 220

South Dakota, University of, 166

Soviet Union:

eating disorders in, 183

feminism in, 80

women’s magazines and, 80, 81

Spare Rib
, 138

spas, 101, 120

Spender, Dale, 106

Spenser, Edmund, 59

“standards of near perfection,” 33

starvation, semistarvation, 193–196

see also
anorexics, anorexia

State Department, U.S., 243–244

Stein, Gertrude, 174

Steinem, Gloria, 68, 81–82, 162

Stevens, Judge, 37

stewardesses, 31, 40, 298
n

Stock, Wendy, 141

stomach stapling, 261, 323
n

Stone, Lucy, 11, 18–19

Strathclyde Regional Council
v.
Porcelli
, 52

Stuart, Richard, 100

success:

dressing for, 43–45

women’s definition of, 145

Sudan, sex in, 147

Sugiyama, “Sam,” 111

Sullivan, Jack, 136

sun-phobia, 105–106

Supreme Court, U.S., 134, 219

surgery:

bypass, 261

cosmetic,
see
cosmetic surgery

plastic, 234, 256, 266–267

sexual, 241–249

surveillance of women, 99–100

Sweden:

eating disorders in, 183

pornography in, 79, 138

sexual harassment in, 43

sexual violence in, 159

working women in, 21

Swept Away
(Cassell), 159

Symington-Brown, Dr., 244

Tamini
v.
Howard Johnson Company, Inc.
, 39

Tatler
, 133

Taylor, Debbie, 131, 140, 161

Taylor, Lou, 67

teachers, 50

technology:

female body and, 266–269

female employment and, 26

as instrument of control, 14, 15, 16, 109

television, exportation of beauty myth and, 80

television journalism, women in, 34–37, 48–49, 278, 299
n

Tess of the D’Urbervilles
(Hardy), 61

Texier, Catherine, 168

Third Shift, 25, 26

Third World, food distribution in, 190–191

Time
, 31, 36, 78, 208–209

Tong, Rosemarie, 51

Tostesen, Daniel C., 227, 228

transformer, beauty myth as, 20–21

Turkey, food in, 190

Twiggy, 184–185

UCLA survey, 165, 167

Ugly Feminist, caricature of, 18–19, 68–69, 208–209

UNICEF, 244

Unification Church, 125, 126

uniforms, 40, 43–46

United Kingdom,
see
Great Britain

USA Today
, 40

Vassar College, 212

Venus Syndrome, The
(Chandris), 226

Victorianism, 146, 220

clitoridectomy and, 244

female hysteria and, 198, 221

female piety and, 92

feminism and, 18–19

separate sphere and, 15

women’s magazines and, 62

Vinson, Mechelle, 38–39, 41

violence, 218–269, 320
n
–328
n

cugenics and, 264–266

health and, 222–227

sex and, 159–168;
see also
rape; sadomasochism, beauty

virginity, “beautiful,” 14

vital lies, 17, 18, 68, 200, 221, 223, 225, 295
n

in ideology of beauty, 28

medical coercion and, 239

Viz
, 137

Vogue
, 67, 72, 133, 134, 184

volunteer work, 23

von Wangenheim, Chris, 133

waitresses, 40, 41

Walker, Alice, 149

Waring, Marilyn, 23, 25

War Manpower Commission, 62–63

Warner, Dr., 244

Warner, Marina, 58

Washington Star
, 69

Wedderburn, Buddy, 110

weight loss, 94, 98–102

as female goal, 10, 186

feminism and, 184, 188, 196–197, 208–209

as legal sentence, 32

of women vs. men, 94

see also
diets, dieting; eating disorders

Weight Watchers, 99–100, 125

Weir, Jeremy, 242

Weldon, Fay, 245, 326
n

Wells, Linda, 118, 120

Werner, Bobby, 201

Wilde, Oscar, 93

Wileman, Miss, 41

Wileman
v.
Minilec Engineering Ltd
., 41

Wilson, Elizabeth, 67

Wilson, Sally, 93

Winfrey, Oprah, 245

Winship, Janice, 81

Winship, Thomas, 78

Wodaabes, 13

Woman
, 81

Woman Hating
(Dworkin), 254–255

Woman’s Dress for Success Book, The
(Molloy), 43–44

Women
(Taylor), 140

women’s magazines, 61–85, 181, 183, 304
n

advertising in, 62, 64–67, 73–84, 305
n
, 307
n

beauty myth fantasy and, 70

censorship and, 77–84

changes in social roles and, 62–64

as club, 74–75, 77

feminism and, 66–72

mass culture and, 70–72

political importance of, 72–73

rise of, 62

sit-ins and, 70, 71

solidarity and, 75–77

women’s movement,
see
feminism

Wooley, O. W., 187

Wooley, S. C., 187

Woolf, Virginia, 11–12, 181, 197

work, 20–57, 296
n
–302
n

career advancement and, 54–55, 301
n

female professionals and, 25, 33

ideal employee qualities and, 26

job discrimination and, 11, 21

mothers and, 26

PBQ and,
see
professional beauty qualification

sexual harassment and, 37–38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 51–52, 116, 300
n

underpayment of women and, 18, 23–24, 48–52

value of women based on, 14

Victorian view of, 15

of women vs. men, 21, 22–24

World Wars and, 62–64

World Health Organization (WHO), 182, 235, 243–244

World War I, 62

World War II, 62–64

famine in, 194–195

Worldwatch Institute, 160

Wyden, Ron, 240

Xerox Corporation, 33, 298
n

Yale Club, 210

Yale University, 49, 167–168, 212–213

Yeats, William Butler, 172, 218

youth, as “beautiful,” 14

Zacharova, Natalia, 80

Zap
, 137

‘A daring, startlingly brilliant book’

Carol Gilligan

In this dynamic new book Naomi Wolf explores and celebrates the phenomenon of female sexuality – empirically, imaginatively, anatomically and personally. By following a group of four contemporary girls – including her younger self as they come of age in the seventies, Wolf shows how our culture tries to shape and confine women’s desire. Embarking on a voyage of discovery, she illustrates how flawed and prescribed are the notions of what women want, and how these change through the ages – from Taoist techniques for giving women pleasure, to Victorian repression, and the so-called liberated nineties. Drawing on scholarly texts, secret diaries, real life and fantasy, she demonstrates that female sexuality is wilder, more demanding and more powerful than our culture dares to accept.

‘The prevailing fantasy is that, while men have a sexual “past”, women have none . . . Wolf, in
Promiscuities
, smashes that taboo, both directly by talking about herself, and indirectly by relaying the confidences of her pseudonymous friends. The result makes fascinating reading.’

The Times