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
Women who are beautiful or who achieve beauty according to the imposed standards are rewarded; those who cannot or choose not to be beautiful are punished, economically and socially.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Society often rewards women who conform to beauty standards and penalizes those who do not.
This quote by Naomi Wolf highlights the societal pressures placed on women regarding beauty standards. It suggests that women who fit the conventional definitions of beauty are often rewarded in various aspects of life, such as economically and socially, while those who either do not meet those standards or choose to reject them face negative consequences. This reflects on the deeper implications of societal expectations and their impact on women's lives.
Themes
BeautySocietyWomenStandardsRewardPunishment
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on body positivity, this quote can be used to highlight societal pressures on women.
More from Naomi Wolf
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.
Naomi WolfRead
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