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Feminist Pleasure and Feminine Beautification
- Hypatia
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 18, Number 4, Fall/Winter 2003
- pp. 42-64
- Article
- Additional Information
This paper explores the conditions under which feminine beautification constitutes a feminist practice. Distinguishing between the process and product of beautification allows us to isolate those aesthetic, inter-subjective, and embodied elements that empower rather than disempower women. The empowering characteristics of beautification, however, are difficult and perhaps impossible to represent in a sexist context; therefore, while beautifying may be a positive experience for women, being viewed as a beautified object in current Western society is almost always opposed to women's equality and autonomy.