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Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women

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This was a really interesting read that has me thinking a lot about how I talk to other women. It is second nature to compliment something about how another girl or woman looks, but I'm trying to jump to more important things in my conversations. Here are my notes on the book, mostly for myself so I can remember it for later. Recently I was with friends & plastic surgery came up— one said since everyone is doing it, it’s only a matter of time we do too, otherwise we’ll “fall behind.” Another agreed & said her job depends on it. While I vehemently disagreed, I sadly understood where their thinking came from— we do live in a world where beauty is currency & is often valued above most else.

An award-winning Northwestern University psychology professor reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Naomi Wolf, Peggy Orenstein, and Sheryl Sandberg. I particularly admired Engeln’s criticism of the highly lauded Dove beauty campaign. She broke down exactly why the campaign is not empowering. I already agreed with Engeln, and her examination only reinforced that agreement. Dove has good intentions, but, as Engeln explained, the company is misguided and its campaign problematic. Also enlightening is her very needed argument against fat shaming as motivation to lose weight and the parts on the influence of parenting and self-objectification (especially pertinent). Talk positively about what your body can do and talk with your kids about what their bodies can do. Reading this book made me excited to talk with my kids about things that we love that our bodies can do. I would like to say, "My body made you! My body allows me to cuddle with you guys, go on walks, laugh, read, swing, bake, and write. I like to do things that give me energy and that will help my body have energy and feel good for a long time so that I can keep doing things with our family. What do you like about your body?" The thing is--Engeln had some good ideas, and I think her thesis as a whole is something that is worth looking in to. Award-winning Northwestern University psychology professor Dr. Renee Engeln reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms their ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Naomi Wolf, Peggy Orenstein, and Sheryl Sandberg.

She also has some suggestions: Move towards more self-acceptance by weaning yourself from digitally-enhanced, photoshopped images on tv, movies, magazines, and social media. Wean yourself from that mirror obsession and making comparisons to others! Help teach our little girls that attributes like being kind, brave, smart are more important than size and appearance. Break free from body stereotypes with deliberate intent and perseverance! Watch what you say to others. If you wouldn't say it to a guy, don't say it to a woman. "Compliments about appearance don't actually seem to make girls and women feel better about how they look. Instead, they're just reminders that looks matter."

There's a lot of righteous indignation in here, and it gets pretty pretentious. Especially that bit at the end, where she's like "I mean I guess... some women... want to look pretty and they enjoy it... but THINK about it really THINK about it" really rubbed me the wrong way. Though it could just be because I am someone who likes to put effort into my appearance because I like it. Would i hate this about myself if i was born completely alone. Stranded on a island. Is a question that i asked myself a lot in 2022. It helped me recognize the absurdity in my insecurities, and helped me with my decision making, moving forward with my life. Furthermore, I think she frequently mistakes a socioeconomically based anxiety--fear of appearing inappropriate for a social group--with her more body obsessed target group. This is clearly a different thing and far more gender neutral. Ah, naturalmente al posto dello specchio in frantumi della copertina originale, simbolo della liberazione della donna dall'ossessione per l'aspetto fisico, in Italia ci hanno messo un bel torso femminile con il metro da sarta intorno a misurare meticolosamente il punto vita.

An award-winning Northwestern University psychology professor reveals how the culturalobsession with women's appearanceis an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Naomi Wolf, Peggy Orenstein, and Sheryl Sandberg. Non ci vogliamo veramente far mancare nulla, come sempre siamo troppo avanti in materia di femminismo. Avoid media that objectifies women and help others avoid it as well. Voice critiques out loud to help children process what is wrong with the media they are seeing, otherwise we allow media and society to perpetuate ideas that women are only as valuable as they look, that looks should be one of the top things they care about, and that it is normal and acceptable to comment on women's looks in ways that it would never occur to us to talk about how men look. I found this to be remarkably sage advice from the author's grandfather: "Never be too proud of your youth or your beauty. You did nothing to earn them and you can do nothing to keep them."

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