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Becoming Women

Becoming Women

The Embodied Self in Image Culture

by Carla Rice

Published by: University of Toronto Press

Imprint: University of Toronto Press

25 b&w illustrations, 2 b&w tables

Digital download
9781442685406
Published: February 2014

Digital download
9781442668263
Published: February 2014

Description
Contents
Praise

In a culture where beauty is currency, women’s bodies are often perceived as measures of value and worth. The search for visibility and self-acceptance can be daunting, especially for those on the cultural margins of “beauty.”

Becoming Women offers a thoughtful examination of the search for identity in an image-oriented world. That search is told through the experiences of a group of women who came of age in the wake of second and third wave feminism, featuring voices from marginalized and misrepresented groups.

Carla Rice pairs popular imagery with personal narratives to expose the “culture of contradiction” where increases in individual body acceptance have been matched by even more restrictive feminine image ideals and norms. With insider insights from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, Rice exposes the beauty industry’s colonization of women’s bodies, and examines why “the beauty myth” has yet to be resolved.

List of Illustrations and Tables
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Searching for Identity in Image Culture

1 In the Shadow of Difference

2 In a Girl's Body

3 Invisible in Full View

4 The Student Body

5 Puberty as Sexual Spectacle

6 A Body That Looks, and Feels, Like a Woman

7 In the Mirror of Beauty Culture

Conclusion: Out of the Shadows

Appendix A: Participant Profiles
Appendix B: Interview Guide and Advertising Flyer
References
Index

‘Finally we have sophisticated feminist disability work that moves beyond social construction of gender and disability… Highly recommended.’ ~P.A. Murphy, Choice Magazine vol 52:01:2014

‘Becoming Women is a rare gem for disability studies that grounds complex theory within the personal narratives of women with disabilities…. The book highlights the need for cultural change in viewing disabled bodies, particularly within medicalized caregiving settings.’
~Kaley Roosen, Canadian Journal of Disability Studies vol 3:03:2014

‘The concepts are clearly defined, allowing the reader to keep pace with the wealth of ideas and subjects discussed… This work significantly demonstrates the autonomy and agency of Women in creating their own embodiment in a society that pushes for a strict standard of how women should look and act.’
~Ashley Crouch, Journal of Religion and Culture vol 26:1-2:2016