The Power of Beauty: Men, Women and Sex Appeal Since Feminism - Softcover

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.

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.