Naomi Wolf Quote
Only then will women be able to talk about what beauty really involves: the attention of people we do not know, rewards for things we did not earn, sex from men who reach for us as for a brass ring on a carousel, hostility and scepticism from other women, adolescence extended longer than it ought to be, cruel aging, and a long hard struggle for identity. And we will learn that what is good about beauty—the promise of confidence, sexuality, and the self-regard of a healthy individuality—are actually qualities that have nothing to do with beauty specifically, but are deserved by and, as the myth is dismantled, available to all women. The best that beauty offers belongs to us all by right of femaleness. When we separate beauty from sexuality, when we celebrate the individuality of our features and characteristics, women will have access to a pleasure in our bodies that unites us rather than divides us. The beauty myth will be history.
Only then will women be able to talk about what beauty really involves: the attention of people we do not know, rewards for things we did not earn, sex from men who reach for us as for a brass ring on a carousel, hostility and scepticism from other women, adolescence extended longer than it ought to be, cruel aging, and a long hard struggle for identity. And we will learn that what is good about beauty—the promise of confidence, sexuality, and the self-regard of a healthy individuality—are actually qualities that have nothing to do with beauty specifically, but are deserved by and, as the myth is dismantled, available to all women. The best that beauty offers belongs to us all by right of femaleness. When we separate beauty from sexuality, when we celebrate the individuality of our features and characteristics, women will have access to a pleasure in our bodies that unites us rather than divides us. The beauty myth will be history.