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Wolf The Beauty Myth

Decent Essays

Power is a trait that is admired in the American society. Throughout history power has been in the hands of the majority to do with it as they please. This includes establishing societal norms such as beauty. There have been many shifts as to what fits the standard of beauty over different time periods and no matter how many strides are made towards equality for women, there will always be a standard women are expected to live up to. The beauty myth describes how ideas and images of beauty are used against women. Wolf even says, “The beauty myth is not about women at all. It is about men’s institutions and institutional power.” Beauty is subjective to the beholder and as Wolf points out in The Beauty Myth, beauty is evolutionary and constantly evolving. The beauty myth has been around for a while but Wolf states, “There …show more content…

Youth has, for a long time, been considered beautiful for example because it entails a sense of innocence and immaturity which can be easily taken advantage of as The Beauty Myth points out. Wolf compares beauty to currency and argues that it is based on politics. Throughout the last two decades there have been many traits or styles that are required of a women to feel beautiful in the eyes of others. Wolf writes, “Most urgently, women’s identity must be premised upon our “beauty”, so that we will remain vulnerable to outside approval,” meaning that beauty must be approved by others in an attempt to restrict that individual from acquiring self-confidence. This is an idea that numerous girls struggle with on a daily basis which goes back to who has the power. Wolf stated, “The beauty myth is not about women at all. It is about men’s

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