tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687975489922145220.post1771495225989839857..comments2023-08-10T04:03:44.387-04:00Comments on This Book and I Could Be Friends: "Ideal beauty is ideal because it does not exist:"Eileenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11058705381647529328noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687975489922145220.post-28615958477995270882011-10-01T01:46:40.421-04:002011-10-01T01:46:40.421-04:00And what a seminal text The Beauty Myth is, that I...And what a seminal text The Beauty Myth is, that I too think has acted as a springboard for many women. I don't normally do this, and I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to add a link here to a couple of blog posts that I wrote ages ago about feminist issues. It's just another female perspective. http://scribeswindow.blogspot.com/2005/07/feminism-some-questions-about-sex-and.html<br /><br />http://scribeswindow.blogspot.com/2005/07/feminism-stop-stepping-on-my-painted.htmlscribeswindowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05724431705478298675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687975489922145220.post-75621007774221285722011-10-01T00:49:37.449-04:002011-10-01T00:49:37.449-04:00Good points all ways 'round. I have trouble w...Good points all ways 'round. I have trouble with feminist work that is unable to take its exploration beyond the neat white boundaries that society imposes. The failure to recognize other experiences and reactions that are rooted in something beyond the middle class white American female is pretty meaningless.<br /><br />This is where I recommend Dorothy Allison's essay collection - <i>Skin: Talking about Sex, Class and Literature</i>. Kathy Acker is also important. I also find Pat (now Patrick) Califia's work enlightening - not just the erotica, but also the essays in <i>Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex</i>, <i>Macho Sluts</i> is also excellent.<br /><br />There are oodles of alternative views on what it means to be female, beautiful/not beautiful, and all the different ways that women express themselves that have nothing to do with makeup counters or middle class white uptightness. I always find Naomi Wolf interesting to read, but ironic in actual life given her clear personal commitment to standard beauty as a way to be heard. I wish she was more self-aware.<br /><br />Great review.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00374987261333318644noreply@blogger.com