REFRAMING BEAUTY PRESENTS A DIFFERENT WAY OF VIEWING A WOMAN’S BEAUTY THAT’S NOT ABOUT HER LOOKS, NOT ABOUT HER FACE OR HER BODY…

Anita Selzer explores the role of a woman as a person; what she is doing with her life and how she is living it. 

The book offers examples of diverse women around the globe who are currently performing beauty in various and unique ways.

Anita shares her own real experience of facial surgery and how that made her feel, considering the cultural value highly accorded to a woman’s beauty in the world. 

She considers past and recent ideas about all women’s beauty that have been influential, chronicling how ideals of beauty in terms of hair, makeup and fashion have changed over time; what they are currently and the trending shift towards diversity that we now see.

“An insightful and thoughtful work of perspectives and challenging the social awareness of often misunderstood intentions… I loved this as a book to help all women put balance in their views of themselves and the world around them… Liberating…” Lenore, Indie Books reviewer

Australians spend more than $1 billion on cosmetic procedures a year – more per capita than the United States. And perhaps unsurprisingly, women account for 92 per cent of all cosmetic surgeries. Anita Selzer’s book is a timely offering, investigating and analysing ideas about beauty, changing fashions and cultural differences. It also looks at the damaging impact of social media – one study refers to 10-year-old girls using filters regularly “to feel and look prettier”, another cites teenagers in this country wanting cosmetic surgery so they can look more like their filtered selves. The author of 13 non-fiction books, Selzer’s own facial surgery and her dismay at Western culture’s obsession with how women look inspired this latest offering. Part social history, part literary critique, she also showcases social activists doing good work to fuel change. It’s an insightful read with compelling arguments about the urgent need to do just as the title suggests.
- Kerrie O’Brien, The Age, Spectrum June 24, 2023 - Weekend Picks, page 7

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