Reddit mentions of The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women

In addition to the other great suggestions in this thread, check out feminism, too. While these consumerist trends are certainly universal, I noticed that many of the topics you particularly felt pressured by were ones directed extra strongly towards women. Reading up on society's views of sex and gender and how it often tries to pigeonhole us, women and men, into sexist stereotypes, can give you the mental ammo to better deal with this consumerism.

Where to begin? A really good book about consumerism and beauty pressures is Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth. The blurb:

>The bestselling classic that redefined our view od the relationship between beauty and female identity.

>In today's world, women have more power, legal recognition, and professional success than ever before. Alongside the evident progress of the women's movement, however, writer and journalist Naomi Wolf is troubled by a different kind of social control, which, she argues, may prove just as restrictive as the traditional image of homemaker and wife. It's the beauty myth, an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society's impossible definition of "the flawless beauty."

Sound somewhat familiar?

^Wow, ^there's ^a ^typo ^in ^the ^official ^blurb.

These decisions that we make are not created in a vacuum. We have all been socialized to accept skin "imperfections" on men more than women. The high standards of beauty have caused us to self police. So no one has to tell the woman that doesn't wear makeup that she looks tired---it might be on her mind anyway and that's not an accident. There's an entire billion dollar industry that tells us that beauty is self care, self esteem, and self improvement. And there are rewards for buying into this idea. So I wouldn't ever lay the responsibility on women for making these decisions---some people are more affected by this marketing than others but none of us are immune.

I used to think that I was "lazy" when it came to my appearance. But I had a therapist point out to me that that it's BS. All that is required of me as a human (regarding my appearance) is that I maintain good hygiene and dress appropriately for the occasion. I've realized that women are made to feel lazy if they don't go above and beyond because our appearance (unfairly) plays such a huge role in our status. Heels, makeup, hair appointments, waxing and on trend fashion are all ~extra~. Finding "flattering" clothing is all about hiding the things that we have been socialized to believe are unsightly. We are made to believe that we are supposed to be skinny, poreless, hairless art objects.

This book is not perfect, but The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf is about this very subject....published in 1990, critics saw it as heresy!

I would first recommend reading the Beauty Myth.

https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Myth-Images-Against-Women-ebook/dp/B0014H32D0