{"product_id":"perfect-me-beauty-as-an-ethical-ideal-9780691160078","title":"Perfect Me  Beauty as an Ethical Ideal","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"One of The Atlantic's Best Books of 2018\"\u003cbr\u003e\"In . . . \u003ci\u003ePerfect Me\u003c\/i\u003e, Heather Widdows, a philosophy professor at the University of Birmingham, England, convincingly argues that the pressures on women to appear thinner, younger and firmer are stronger than ever.\"\u003cb\u003e---Amanda Hess, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In 1990 . . . Naomi Wolf published \u003ci\u003eThe Beauty Myth\u003c\/i\u003e, her examination—and her indictment—of the way attractiveness functions as both a metaphor for and a mandate over women’s lives. The book now has a sequel, of sorts. . . . \u003ci\u003ePerfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal \u003c\/i\u003e. . . [is] a scholarly work that is urgently relevant to the current cultural moment.\"\u003cb\u003e---Meagan Garber, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003ePerfect Me\u003c\/i\u003e, a buzzed-about new book by Heather Widdows, argues women face unprecedented pressure to appear thinner, younger and firmer.\"\u003cb\u003e---Anne Kingston, \u003ci\u003eMaclean's\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Heather Widdows, in \u003ci\u003ePerfect Me\u003c\/i\u003e, considers the far-ranging implications of attractiveness rendered in the imperative, giving beauty itself, in the process, the rigorously intellectual treatment it deserves. The book, an academic title with mass-market implications, considers beauty as a construction, racialized and gendered; beauty as a constriction, often punishing and occasionally cruel; and beauty as a goal that remains, for most, persistently out of reach. \u003ci\u003ePerfect Me\u003c\/i\u003e is a treatise that often reads, fittingly, as an indictment—a book that recognizes all the ways people are taught, still, to judge books by their covers.\" * The Atlantic *\u003cbr\u003e\"A sharp and accessible read.\"\u003cb\u003e---Regan Penaluna, \u003ci\u003eGuenrica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Widdows is at her best in her analysis of liberalism’s uncritical glorification of choice (and therefore responsibility), which fails to consider social contexts and pressures and so allows for victim blaming when women ‘choose’ to comply with beauty standards.\"\u003cb\u003e---M.A. Betz, \u003ci\u003eChoice Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Widdows deserves high praise for her interdisciplinary work in this book and its combination with philosophical rigor.\"\u003cb\u003e---Samantha Brennan, \u003ci\u003eNotre Dame Philosophical Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003ePerfect Me\u003c\/i\u003e is well-worth reading for anyone who is concerned about the importance of beauty in modern life and the imperative to develop critical perspectives for thinking about it. It sets out the questions that we need to be thinking about and does so in a way that makes it clear what is at stake in our search for evermore-perfect bodies.\"\u003cb\u003e---Kathy Davis, \u003ci\u003eEuropean Journal of Women's Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Heather Widdows[‘s \u003ci\u003ePerfect Me\u003c\/i\u003e] gave me language to understand my own thought processes around my body, and that framework freed me from years of accidentally accumulated bullshit thinking. I’m grateful I stumbled onto it. I think of it frequently.\"\u003cb\u003e---Bri Lee, \u003ci\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51359110693207,"sku":"9780691160078","price":33.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780691160078.jpg?v=1754123630","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/perfect-me-beauty-as-an-ethical-ideal-9780691160078","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}