The new edition of Beauty and Misogyny revisits and updates Sheila Jeffreys'' uncompromising critique of Western beauty practice and the industries and ideologies behind it. Jeffreys argues that beauty practices are not related to individual female choice or creative expression, but represent instead an important aspect of women''s oppression. As these practices have become increasingly brutal and pervasive, the need to scrutinize and dismantle them is if anything more urgent now as it was in 2005 when the first edition of the book was published.
The United Nations concept of "harmful traditional/cultural practices" provides a useful lens for the author to advance her critique. She makes the case for including Western beauty practices within this definition, examining their role in damaging women''s health, creating sexual difference and enforcing female deference.
First-wave feminists of the 1970s criticized pervasive beauty regimes such as dietin
