A culture fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in womenβs history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one.
Naomi WolfRead
What editors are obliged to appear to say that men want from women is actually what their advertisers want from women.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the disparity between societal expectations placed on women and the commercial interests driving those expectations.
Naomi Wolf's quote critiques the media's portrayal of women's roles and desires, illustrating how editors often reflect not the genuine wants of men, but rather the interests of advertisers who shape public perception. This suggests that women's identities and desires are often overshadowed by commercial agendas, pushing a narrative that may not align with reality.
Themes
WomenAdvertisersMediaSocietyExpectations
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about modern advertising and its impact on women's self-image.
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All quotes βLooking back on 200 years of feminist agitation in this country, we've got to get it that the moral high ground doesn't get us anything. Pleading with powerful men never gets us what we need. Talking doesn't do it. Being right doesn't do it. Hardball politics does it ... and a political strategy.
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The more legal and material hindrances women have broken through, the more strictly and heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have come to weigh upon them.
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The woman wins who calls herself beautiful, and challenges the world to change to fit her vision.
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The beauty myth moves for men as a mirage; its power lies in its ever-receding nature. When the gap is closed, the lover embraces only his own disillusion.
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Our society does reward beauty on the outside over health on the inside. Women must not be blamed for choosing short-term beauty "fixes" that harm our long-term health, since our life spans are inverted under the beauty myth, and there is no great social or economic incentive for women to live a long time.
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