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 women’s history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one.
Naomi WolfRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques societal beauty standards that prioritize external appearance over internal health, especially for women.
Naomi Wolf highlights the problematic nature of societal beauty norms that place a higher value on outward appearance than on health. She argues that women often face pressure to conform to these ideals, leading them to make choices for short-term beauty benefits that may negatively impact their long-term health. This reflects the deeper issues in society where cultural and economic motivations often contradict the need for sustainable well-being.
Themes
BeautyHealthSocietyWomenHealthcare
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on body image at a women's conference.
More from Naomi Wolf
All quotes →Looking 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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Peaceful, lawful protest - if it is effective - IS innately disruptive of “business as usual.” That is WHY it is effective.
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