The 7 Feminist Books To Read In 2019

The main idea of the work is that beauty standards are a socially determined construct, in which the decisive role is played by the patriarchal component. Wolf compares the standards of beauty with the medieval instrument of torture, arguing that any woman who deviates from the given stereotypes is immediately punished, both physically and psychologically.

Physical perfection becomes an obsession for women, and discrepancy to it becomes a source of suffering. But even having reached the ideal, a woman still loses, because she sacrifices her natural beauty, health, energy, sexuality, and sometimes life to the generally accepted standard of appearance. The author claims that in the modern world a woman herself is capable of deciding how she wants to live and look, without regard to the dictates of the ruthless myth of beauty.

This book is Chimamanda’s response letter with 15 clear, funny and very sensitive advice on how to raise a daughter to a truly strong and independent woman. This book beats straight to the heart, because it answers perfectly to all questions about what it means to be a woman these days.

As Melissa begins to develop her own strengths, conflict arises, as she is expected to walk, or is bullied into walking, a certain path required of her class, including marrying a certain man. The story heightens when the male suitor her parents have selected for her to marry arrives unexpectedly to court her. As Melissa navigates the world she knew versus the new world she has discovered, the story emphasizes that there is always a way of making your life better.

Thus, began a difficult journey to hide the truth. Maxene was sent alone to a town sixty-miles away to give up the child for adoption and was told to get on with her life afterwards. She tries to move forward with her life with her boyfriend afterwards never acknowledging the pain of giving up their child.