Customer Reviews

Beauty Bites Beast: Awakening the Warrior Within Women and Girls

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Beauty Bites Beast" is an incredible, funny, tough and smart guide to women's self-defense. According to author Ellen Snortland, women have been conditioned by society to believe that they are helpless in the face of attack. In chapter after chapter, Ms. Snortland systematically unravels and deconstructs myths, stereotypes and misguided beliefs which contribute to violence against women.

With her biting humor and irreverent style, Ms. Snortland is able to make her points, share success stories, and urge women to reclaim our power. As a practicing martial artist, all I can say is RIGHT ON to Ms. Snortland and all others like her who strive to make this world a safer place for women, children and men alike. All girls, women, men, boys and everyone else who care about women's safety, or who just want to understand the origins of violence in our culture should have a copy of this book. Or several copies. This is an excellent, funny, well-written book about a deadly important issue. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I ordered and read this book after having a daughter. I wanted to learn how I can help her grow up strong and able to fend for herself and not become a victim of any sorts.

For the most part this book was a revelation to me about the reality women face...a reality of danger, threats, bullying, discrimination, etc. It made me put myself in the shoes of the women walking to her car in a dark parking lot who fears for her safety and life due to potential dangers. Ms. Snortland shows how fear is often present in daily situations women encounter.

She also indicates changes in attitude and lessons in defense that can improve a women's posture in the world. It has encouraged me to sign my daughter up for self-defense classes as soon as it is age-appropriate. I garnered a much better understanding of many societal attitudes my daughter will face as she grows up. It will really help me be a better father to her.

A downside to this book is Snortland's political advocacy. It is clear where she stands politically and on certain issues she conveys the message that women who disagree are being duped by a male-dominated society. To me this is a totally different issue than what the book purports to focus on. She should stick to defending women not politics.

The above criticism aside, the book is worthwhile for its main message and was helpful.

Though it deals with self-defense, BEAUTY BITES BEAST definitely is not a "how-to" book; rather, it's a "go-for-it" book. Too many times woman have heeded the hackneyed advice that it's far more dangerous to fight back than simply to relax and allow rapes or assaults to occur. "El toro caca," says Snortland--not in those words, of course, but strongly and with lots of specific stories and statistics to back up her advocacy of women's self-defense.

If you are a man, as I am, and care about the women in your life, you'll buy them this book! It should be in the hands of everyone--male or female--old enough to grasp its meaning. Why? Because it literally can save lives.

Not only is Snortland right on with her advice, but the book is funny. And the humor has the same sort of knockout punch Snorland advocates in matters of self-defense. A self-defense instructor (and a born author, as well), Snortland knows whereof she writes.

Buy t! his book for yourself, for your loved ones, for your friends, for your neighbors. And then make sure they read it. Believe me, you won't regret it.

Does this book deserve a five-star rating? Naw, if I could, I'd give it at least a six.

When it comes to self-defense, women have been sold the victims' bill of goods. So says Ellen Snortland in her book Beauty Bites Beast: Awakening the Warrior Within Women and Girls. The myth of physical inferiority in the face of unending gender violence is shattered by Snortland, who claims to have the antidote for rape, abuse and boyfriends who shove their dates a little too hard after 10 beers. It's fighting back, something any properly trained woman can do effectively. And that includes EVERY woman -- from 10 year old daughters to 85 year old grande dames. But this antidote is a tough pill for society to swallow and Snortland knows why. She discusses gender expectations, history, fairy tales, religion and mythology -- all stories and structures designed to keep women mute, docile and respectful. Snortland throws a bomb on the whole guy-party, deconstructing our gender consciousness bit by bit, until a shining kernal remains. Through strength and mutual respect, women and men CAN attain true equality. Beauty, it seems, must learn to bite that damn beast when he acts up.

Some readers will want to argue with Snortland's in-your-face analysis of society. Not me. For me, this book was a huge relief. "Finally," I thought, "I can take charge, rather than worry or shrink from strangers while hurrying my children away." I came away from this book pumped, ready to take two things: a self-defense course and complete charge of my life. Few books leave a person so inspired and -- no kidding, folks -- grateful.

Ellen Snortland says she has not written a how-to book for women. She calls it a "how-come" book, but by virtue of the fact that humankind has a tendency to handle itself better when it understands a process, it becomes a how-to book. The quintessential how-to book.

This is a book that teaches self-defense and assertiveness and...well, you get the idea. It is mostly a book that helps women understand why we are "beauties" that must "bite" the beast and how that can be changed to benefit us all.

The author is well equipped to give advice. She received her J.D. degree at a time when women attending her Loyola Law School were in a small minority. She is a self-defense advocate and instructor. She is an actress, a producer, and a director. She rails-humorously-against injustices each week as a columnist for the "Pasadena Weekly" and she is a professor of Communication Studies at California State University at Los Angeles. Communication is, in fact, the crown that "Beauty" wears that covers all of these pursuits. "Beauty Bites Beast" is the culmination of Snortland's abilities and need to communicate in an area that-even after several decades of progress-still has room for a whole lot of improvement.

Oh! You should also know: It is absolutely entertaining-from beginning to end.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"

Self-defense was not a subject I was interested in reading about. The very idea was a turn-off. Until I picked up the book with the catchy title. I read Ellen Snortland's prologue and was impacted by the parallel she draws between physical self-defense and swimming. Ask yourself: if every year 6,000 people drowned and 500,000 came close because they couldn't swim, wouldn't it be a must to learn to swim? Not even think about it.

From the start I was right there with the author and her self-defense group when they learned to yell NO! I was surprised to learn how few women know how to do that. Faced with a threatening situation, we're more inclined to freeze, yelp, protest feebly or worse, plead. A lot of good that does to deter a would-be rapist; rather, those are precisely the reactions that turn him on. Importantly, self-protective skills increase women's confidence in their ability to control the threat of sexual assault.

The book also addresses cultural, historic and religious codes that contribute to female passivity. It discusses the importance of self-esteem, the attitude of the media, and verbal self-defense. One amusing chapter shows how to deal with moronic put-downs such as: you need a boyfriend, I was just having fun, can't you take a joke, and the old standby, don't be such a bitch.

This revealing and entertaining book was quite a discovery; it certainly shook me out of my culturally induced daze. I trust it will do the same for every woman who reads it.

"Beauty Bites Beast" by Ellen Snortland is a book that pulls off a tremendous feat: it both informs while educating. Miss Snortland has written a book that should be mandatory reading for every young woman in America. Men, as well, have a lot to learn from Miss Snortland's work -- with a fascinating insight into the thought processes of women, Snortland relates real life events into her work. As a man, I had no idea that women walk to their cars in fear, but they do. The reason is that men attack women from behind, though men usually attack each other face to face. Yet this is one of many interesting facts straight from Miss Snortland's book.
This book is easy to read, informative, and necessary. During these uncertain times, Miss Snortland's point that women should not be afraid to defend themselves is vitally important. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Finally, a book that tells it like it is, with a common sense approach that I think one day should be made part of the curriculum for every high school student.

The first rule of self-defence should always be: be smart. Arm yourself with facts, be alert and find out everything you can about the situation you're in. Sometimes standing your ground and fighting isn't as smart as simply running away. Every situation is different, and if you have your wits about you, you'll be able to seize the scene up and respond accordingly.

"Beauty Bites Beast" has all the energy an inspirational book on self-defence should contain, but it fails to provide the reader with solid facts. For instance, none of the chapters have footnotes, and so you don't know which source Ellen B. Snortland is quoting when she claims that, "As it turns out, many of the warriors whom the last century diggers assumed were men, were women." Nothing would please me more than to hear that the women of yore were tough and hard-hitting, but which digging expeditions is Snortland referring to? And what civilisations?

Another unsubstantiated charge Snortland makes is that the Black Plague was partly a result of the witch-trials. Her claim is that when they burned women they also burned cats, and with fewer cats there would be more rats to spread the disease. Say what? The Black Plague originated in the east and was brought to Europe by the trading routes. It wasn't domestic rats that caused all the excitement, but immigrant rats. And once the plague had hit shores it didn't need to rely on rats to spread from person to person. (More information: http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0017916.html) Another fact to consider is that the Black Plague came to Europe around 1347, whilst the witch trials didn't catch fire until 1484 when Pope Innocent VIII declared that a war be fought against witches and warlocks. (More information: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/witches1.html) So much for conspiracy theories.

There are other sections in "Beauty Bites Beast" that threw me off. In a complaint that feminists are scoffed at, Snortland mentions Susan McKinnon and the late Andrea Dworkin as being serious feminists. If serious is used as a synonym for 'without humour,' then yes, I agree; they are both serious. But even a non-humorous feminist has to see why Dworkin and McKinnon have been the recipients of much mockery. They have never been what you could call moderate, and despite their own claims have not been the voices of the everywoman (or man).

Snortland clearly has a good agenda, but her own energy sometimes runs off with her. Having read and benefited from Gavin deBecker's "The Gift of Fear," I was hoping this would be a good companion book, something to further inspire me to keep my fighting spirit intact. It didn't do that for me, instead it simply fell to the floor with a hard thump. This is a real shame.

Sloppy fact checking in the name of self-improvement simply isn't good enough. To be truly fierce, we have come prepared, and that includes knowing what we're NOT up against.

"Beauty Bites Beast" is a great book. Ellen Snortland presents her message clearly and convincingly. Time to wake up, Beauty! Life's a whole lot nicer when you've recognized and unleashed the power you never knew you possessed.

"Beauty Bites Beast" is about self-defense, but as Ellen explains, the ramifications of learning self-reliance are life-changing. Women need new metaphors to live by, new images that empower rather than enervate. It's high time to replace the insidious imagery girls and women have long accepted as natural, to shatter the erroneous assumption that human females are by nature helpless.

"Beauty Bites Beast" is a call to the best kind of action, the kind that changes lives and society from the inside out. Ellen Snortland makes an airtight case that the healing of society will remain an elusive dream as long as half of its members are held in thrall by their own feelings of helplessness.

Ellen's message is co! mpletely personal. As a woman, I was left knowing it was my task alone to claim my birthright, to metamorphose from "sleeping beauty" into "lioness." But Ellen's message is also global, her mission nothing less than to bring about a quantum shift in awareness among all people. Her writing is readable, her passion palpable, and her message vital. This book has the power to change lives.

My favorite chapter in this excellent, inspiring book is entitled, "The Queen Is Not Amused - Commanding Respect With Verbal Self-Defense".

Here's an excerpt from that chapter:

"Many of us know what it's like to walk down the street and be the target of unwanted and unsolicited male attention which often takes absurd, bizarre forms".

Sound familiar? It sure is to me. While Ms. Snortland doesn't seem to advocate one particular method of dealing with this situation, she does urge us to "walk away with her selfhood intact and enlivened".

As I result of reading this book, I was motivated to take a "Model Mugging" seminar in my area. However, I was shocked to learn that the cost is over $1,000. It's too bad that this type of training isn't available to all women, regardless of socioeconomic status.