Authors: Naomi Wolf
beauty as, 46
beauty myth used to undermine women’s access to, 20–27;
see also
professional beauty qualification
immigrants’ access to, 21–22
maleness of, 210
subjectivity of beauty and, 36
pregnancy, 40
Victorian view of, 222, 223
“Prices” (Wells), 120
primates, sexual behavior of, 13, 132
Private Eye
, 61–62
professional beauty qualification (PBQ), 27–57, 276
background of, 31–37
guilt and, 29–30
legal upholding of, 36–48
social consequences of, 48–57
television journalism and, 34–37
vital lies and, 28
women’s magazines and, 71
professions, display, 27
profit, medical system and, 232–234
Prometheus, myth of, 61
prostitutes, 15, 50
Protestantism, 89, 91, 92
psychology of women, PBQ and, 48, 52–54
Psychology Today
, 248
punishment, sex and, 219–220
purification, cycle of, 98–102
Pyke, Magnus, 195
Rabidue
v.
Osceola Refining Co
., 51–52
radiance, 103–105, 261
Radiance
, 161, 187
rape, 38, 115, 136, 159, 161, 162, 164–168, 220, 313
n
–315
n
date, 165–167
fantasy of, 137–138, 141, 162
survey on, 164–167
Redbook
, 43, 72, 300
n
Reed, Evelyn, 13
Rees, Thomas D., 95, 244, 256
Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious Hereditary and Congenital Diseases, 265–266
religion, 11, 86–130, 308
n
–311
n
decline in influence of, 89–90
feminization of, 91–92
Goddess, 13
solidarity and, 90
see also
Rites of Beauty
Re-Making Love
(Ehrenreich, Hess, and Jacobs), 143
Renaissance, 103
“Report of the World Conference for the United Nations Decade for Women,” 23
reproductive rights, 9, 11
Retin-A, 105, 111, 239, 258
Rich, Adrienne, 155, 255
Rites of Beauty, 86–130
caste system and, 87
Creation story and, 93–95
cult sales and, 106–128
food and, 96–98
light and, 103–106
medieval Catholicism compared with, 88–89, 100, 102
memento mori
and, 102–103
original sin and, 95–96
purification cycle and, 98–102
social effects of, 128–130
structure of, 93–128
ritual, female, 279–280
Roddick, Anita, 110–111
Rodin, Judith, 187
Roe
v.
Wade
, 134
role models, 74, 210
male vs. female, 58–59
Romulus, laws of, 220
Room of One’s Own, A
(Woolf), 181
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 71
Rossetti, Christina, 216
Rumania, 120
Russell, Diana, 159, 160
sadomasochism, beauty, 132, 133, 136–138, 140–142, 163
St. Cloud State University study, 166
St. Cross, Margarita, 32, 38
St. Cross
v.
Playboy Club of New York
, 32–33
salespeople, 49, 56
cult sales and, 107–108, 121–122
Sarler, Carol, 81
Sarton, May, 104
Saudi Arabia, 220
Sawyer, Diane, 36, 299
n
Scherr, Raquel, 213
Schlafly, Phyllis, 150–151
Schmidt, M., 39–40
Scientific American
, 192
Scott, Steve, 241
Screen Actors Guild, 137
Screw
, 148
Second Shift, 25–26
secretaries, 31, 50
Seeing Through Clothes
(Hollander), 184
Seid, Roberta Pollack, 67, 88, 182, 193, 195, 196
self-esteem, 14, 25, 26, 29, 49, 115, 150, 224, 276–277
sexuality and, 36, 146, 150
weight obsession and, 187–188, 197
self-hatred:
cosmetic surgery and, 232
weight and, 185, 186
Self Magazine
, 242
Seneca Falls convention, 68
separate sphere,
see
domesticity, cult of
Sex and the Single Girl
(Brown), 31
sex discrimination:
BFOQ or GOQ and, 27–28
Craft suit and, 35–38
hearings and rulings on, 31–33, 37–41
Sex Discrimination Act (1975), 28, 40
sex education, asymmetry in, 152
sex, lies, and videotape
(film), 168
sexual capacity, of women, 131–132
sexual fantasy, 16, 137–138, 140–141, 163–164
sexual harassment, 199, 300
n
pinups as, 52
self-blame for, 43
work and, 37–38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 51–52, 116, 300
n
sexual intercourse, orgasm in, 146–147
sexuality, sexual behavior, 131–178, 273, 279–280, 311
n
–316
n
of animals, 13, 132, 311
n
anorexia and, 199
beauty and, 150–151, 168–173
beauty pornography and, 132–142, 145–152
fat and, 184, 192–193
female, suppression of, 154–162
pain and, 218–220
punishment and, 219–220
Rites of Beauty and, 96–98, 119
work and, 31, 44–46
of young people, 162–168
Sexuality of Organization, The
(Sheppard), 42–43
sexual revolution, 11, 97, 132, 145, 146
sexual selection, 12–13, 294
n
sexual surgery, 241–249
She
, 244–245
Sheppard, Deborah L., 42–43
Shiseido, 227–228
Shoemaker Mine, 51
Showalter, Elaine, 99, 222, 245, 250, 260–261
Sidel, Ruth, 29, 49, 53
silicone, 239
sin, original, 95–96
single women, 31
Siskel, Gene, 136–137
Sisley
v.
Britannia Security Systems
, 40
skin care, 69–70, 109, 116, 118–120
slavery, 55
Slaves of New York
(Janowitz), 168
smoking, 229
Snowball
v.
Gardner Merchant, Ltd
., 41
Society of Civil and Public Servants, 52
Soderbergh, Steven, 168
Solon, 219–220
Sontag, Susan, 220
South Dakota, University of, 166
Soviet Union:
eating disorders in, 183
feminism in, 80
women’s magazines and, 80, 81
Spare Rib
, 138
spas, 101, 120
Spender, Dale, 106
Spenser, Edmund, 59
“standards of near perfection,” 33
starvation, semistarvation, 193–196
see also
anorexics, anorexia
State Department, U.S., 243–244
Stein, Gertrude, 174
Steinem, Gloria, 68, 81–82, 162
Stevens, Judge, 37
stewardesses, 31, 40, 298
n
Stock, Wendy, 141
stomach stapling, 261, 323
n
Stone, Lucy, 11, 18–19
Strathclyde Regional Council
v.
Porcelli
, 52
Stuart, Richard, 100
success:
dressing for, 43–45
women’s definition of, 145
Sudan, sex in, 147
Sugiyama, “Sam,” 111
Sullivan, Jack, 136
sun-phobia, 105–106
Supreme Court, U.S., 134, 219
surgery:
bypass, 261
cosmetic,
see
cosmetic surgery
plastic, 234, 256, 266–267
sexual, 241–249
surveillance of women, 99–100
Sweden:
eating disorders in, 183
pornography in, 79, 138
sexual harassment in, 43
sexual violence in, 159
working women in, 21
Swept Away
(Cassell), 159
Symington-Brown, Dr., 244
Tamini
v.
Howard Johnson Company, Inc.
, 39
Tatler
, 133
Taylor, Debbie, 131, 140, 161
Taylor, Lou, 67
teachers, 50
technology:
female body and, 266–269
female employment and, 26
as instrument of control, 14, 15, 16, 109
television, exportation of beauty myth and, 80
television journalism, women in, 34–37, 48–49, 278, 299
n
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
(Hardy), 61
Texier, Catherine, 168
Third Shift, 25, 26
Third World, food distribution in, 190–191
Time
, 31, 36, 78, 208–209
Tong, Rosemarie, 51
Tostesen, Daniel C., 227, 228
transformer, beauty myth as, 20–21
Turkey, food in, 190
Twiggy, 184–185
UCLA survey, 165, 167
Ugly Feminist, caricature of, 18–19, 68–69, 208–209
UNICEF, 244
Unification Church, 125, 126
uniforms, 40, 43–46
United Kingdom,
see
Great Britain
USA Today
, 40
Vassar College, 212
Venus Syndrome, The
(Chandris), 226
Victorianism, 146, 220
clitoridectomy and, 244
female hysteria and, 198, 221
female piety and, 92
feminism and, 18–19
separate sphere and, 15
women’s magazines and, 62
Vinson, Mechelle, 38–39, 41
violence, 218–269, 320
n
–328
n
cugenics and, 264–266
health and, 222–227
sex and, 159–168;
see also
rape; sadomasochism, beauty
virginity, “beautiful,” 14
vital lies, 17, 18, 68, 200, 221, 223, 225, 295
n
in ideology of beauty, 28
medical coercion and, 239
Viz
, 137
Vogue
, 67, 72, 133, 134, 184
volunteer work, 23
von Wangenheim, Chris, 133
waitresses, 40, 41
Walker, Alice, 149
Waring, Marilyn, 23, 25
War Manpower Commission, 62–63
Warner, Dr., 244
Warner, Marina, 58
Washington Star
, 69
Wedderburn, Buddy, 110
weight loss, 94, 98–102
as female goal, 10, 186
feminism and, 184, 188, 196–197, 208–209
as legal sentence, 32
of women vs. men, 94
see also
diets, dieting; eating disorders
Weight Watchers, 99–100, 125
Weir, Jeremy, 242
Weldon, Fay, 245, 326
n
Wells, Linda, 118, 120
Werner, Bobby, 201
Wilde, Oscar, 93
Wileman, Miss, 41
Wileman
v.
Minilec Engineering Ltd
., 41
Wilson, Elizabeth, 67
Wilson, Sally, 93
Winfrey, Oprah, 245
Winship, Janice, 81
Winship, Thomas, 78
Wodaabes, 13
Woman
, 81
Woman Hating
(Dworkin), 254–255
Woman’s Dress for Success Book, The
(Molloy), 43–44
Women
(Taylor), 140
women’s magazines, 61–85, 181, 183, 304
n
advertising in, 62, 64–67, 73–84, 305
n
, 307
n
beauty myth fantasy and, 70
censorship and, 77–84
changes in social roles and, 62–64
as club, 74–75, 77
feminism and, 66–72
mass culture and, 70–72
political importance of, 72–73
rise of, 62
sit-ins and, 70, 71
solidarity and, 75–77
women’s movement,
see
feminism
Wooley, O. W., 187
Wooley, S. C., 187
Woolf, Virginia, 11–12, 181, 197
work, 20–57, 296
n
–302
n
career advancement and, 54–55, 301
n
female professionals and, 25, 33
ideal employee qualities and, 26
job discrimination and, 11, 21
mothers and, 26
PBQ and,
see
professional beauty qualification
sexual harassment and, 37–38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 51–52, 116, 300
n
underpayment of women and, 18, 23–24, 48–52
value of women based on, 14
Victorian view of, 15
of women vs. men, 21, 22–24
World Wars and, 62–64
World Health Organization (WHO), 182, 235, 243–244
World War I, 62
World War II, 62–64
famine in, 194–195
Worldwatch Institute, 160
Wyden, Ron, 240
Xerox Corporation, 33, 298
n
Yale Club, 210
Yale University, 49, 167–168, 212–213
Yeats, William Butler, 172, 218
youth, as “beautiful,” 14
Zacharova, Natalia, 80
Zap
, 137
‘A daring, startlingly brilliant book’
Carol Gilligan
In this dynamic new book Naomi Wolf explores and celebrates the phenomenon of female sexuality – empirically, imaginatively, anatomically and personally. By following a group of four contemporary girls – including her younger self as they come of age in the seventies, Wolf shows how our culture tries to shape and confine women’s desire. Embarking on a voyage of discovery, she illustrates how flawed and prescribed are the notions of what women want, and how these change through the ages – from Taoist techniques for giving women pleasure, to Victorian repression, and the so-called liberated nineties. Drawing on scholarly texts, secret diaries, real life and fantasy, she demonstrates that female sexuality is wilder, more demanding and more powerful than our culture dares to accept.
‘The prevailing fantasy is that, while men have a sexual “past”, women have none . . . Wolf, in
Promiscuities
, smashes that taboo, both directly by talking about herself, and indirectly by relaying the confidences of her pseudonymous friends. The result makes fascinating reading.’
The Times