The Power of Beauty: Men, Women and Sex Appeal Since Feminism [Paperback]

Nancy Friday (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

"You've got to love Nancy Friday. She successfully explored mother-daughter envy in My Mother/My Self [and] female sexual fantasy in My Secret Garden" (People magazine). Now, in The Power of Beauty, she explores a provocative subject: how looks affect our lives, and life affects our looks.

Friday traces the past 25 years of changes in women's attitudes about self-esteem, appearance and sexuality. Using her own life as a springboard, she then takes us through the Patriarchal '50s, Revolutionary '60s, Supersexual '70s, Narcissistic '80s, and Empty Package '90s as she explores the possibility of a future free from the twin obsessions of the power of beauty and the beauty of power and offers sparkling commentary on a dazzling array of subjects. From the runways of Paris to the two-parent nursery, from current movies and watershed media events to the timeless wisdom of some of literature's and psychology's most perceptive thinkers, Friday writes large, creating a canvas as complex and richly colored as her subject.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Blending her own life experiences with years of research, Nancy Friday (whose previous books include My Mother/My Self and My Secret Garden) exposes the power of beauty--how it shapes our priorities as well as our self identities. Each stage of human development is influenced by culture's idolization of beauty, says Friday, who leads the reader through a chronological study, starting with babyhood and ending with old age. Friday has never shied away from true confessions or taboo topics--and there are certainly plenty here: she addresses beauty as competition in the workplace, the new male vanity, secret feelings about our genitals, and the emotional damage she has inflicted upon herself and her lovers in her quest for adoration. More than a psychological examination, The Power of Beauty is a challenge for men and women to take responsibility for their part in the oppression and angst that is caused by the obsession with beauty.

About the Author

Nancy Friday was raised by a single mother in Charleston, South Carolina, before moving to New York in the early 60s. Since 1988, she has been married to Time Inc. editor-in-chief Norman Pearlstine. They live in Key West and Connecticut, and dream of traveling the world with one small suitcase. Her background in journalism has included work for Cosmopolitan, and she has been Writer in Residence at The Examiner. She is the author of six previous books, including My Secret Garden, Forbidden Flowers, Jealousy, Women on Top, Men in Love, and the international bestseller, My Mother/My Self.

Hailed by the Detroit News as being "Nancy Friday, Unplugged," The Power of Beauty, her seventh book, is this provocative and controversial author's strongest yet.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060928425
• ISBN-13: 978-0060928421
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,660,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's not what you think!!, December 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Power of Beauty: Men, Women and Sex Appeal Since Feminism (Paperback)

I was SOOO disappointed. It was horrible. I have to admit I only made it through the first two chapters and then the chapter on men (and I almost Never stop reading books). (My roommate read the whole thing and she didn't like it either). Does this woman have ISSUES!! She mentions at the beginning that if you're not totally hung up on how you look, it's probably because you tried to play the beauty game and lost. Mostly she talks about how her father abandoned her and her mother ignored her and this is the reasons she is the way she is (plus her incestuous grandfather played a big roll). She totally bashes feminism - citing nearly every stereotype in the book. Blames women for their problems...like women dress "sexually" are asking for sexual attention. Can you tell she likes Camille Paglia and writes favorably about her? (of course she hates Gloria Steinem and makes several snide remarks and completely dismisses Naomi Wolf). I can't think of anything else... I'm trying to block it. :) I just wanted to warn people to look at the book before ordering it!!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was terrific. A must for women and men., January 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Power of Beauty: Men, Women and Sex Appeal Since Feminism (Paperback)

This is a book that explains how looks affect our lives and how our lives affect our looks. I am only prompted to write after reading the mindless, shallow review that you posted from one of jerks who is too stupid to know what she is saying. How can Amazon print a review from someone who admits she only read the first two chapters of the book. The reviews by professional reviewers more accurately reflect the fine writing and fine thinking that Friday brings to this subject.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it, December 15, 2002

By 

Dina (Monsey, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Beauty: Men, Women and Sex Appeal Since Feminism (Paperback)

I liked it. Maybe because I am hung up on my looks and because guys' heads do turn when I walk down the street, but I have never gotten emotionally attached to a guy and I really see what she's saying and stuff, and I liked it.