"The American Slave: How Beauty Enslaves and Consumes Women" by Maura Ganchitano Publisher: Beijing United Publishing Company

Introduction · · · · · ·
This book mainly talks about how "female beauty" is defined and the process of the formation of modern aesthetics.

How do the class that sets the "beauty" standards use photography, advertising, fashion magazines, movies and other media to promote the beauty of a unified standard? How do they use clothing sizes and consumerism to impose hidden "beauty oppression" on women? After setting the rules, how do they use women's consumption to harvest capital and power?

Finally, the author puts forward an argument about what is true beauty and whether there is a consensus on beauty, and tries to find out how modern women can find a way to survive under the social rule of "must be beautiful".

Editor's Recommendations

1. [Is the pursuit of beauty a woman’s freedom?] We often see discussions on social media about whether women’s pursuit of beauty is voluntary or forced. The author of this book starts from the modern definition of "beauty" and tells how the so-called beauty of modern women is controlled and manufactured.

2. [Is purchasing women's freedom or the guidance of consumerism?] After women have a certain economic capacity, consumerism restricts women's freedom to purchasing. Packaging consumerism as the main part of women's freedom is actually leading women into countless consumption traps and pursuing the "beauty" recognized by the patriarchal society, thereby satisfying men's needs to watch women and making capital rich. All women get from it is anxiety and emptiness.

3. [Who defines the beauty of women? Why is this definition invalid for men?] The beauty of women is actually a kind of power struggle. Men have a lot of capital and discourse power, and define women as the others to be watched. In this way, they shape women and use media, movies, television, magazines and other channels to promote the so-called "beauty of women". As viewers, men are the makers of standards and are not bound by them.

4. Can women regain the right to define beauty? After women realize that the so-called standard of beauty is empty, it is crucial for us to regain the definition of beauty. Beauty should never be a constraint on women, it should be a broader, freer and more flexible feeling.