It is far more difficult to murder a phantom than a reality.
—Virginia Woolf

In her book, “The Beauty Myth,” Naomi Wolf defines “The Beauty Myth” as: “A violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women’s advancement.” This is the phantom I believe Virginia Woolf is referring to.
Feminism in our generation gets a bad rap.  People often confuse it with man-hating; feminists are sometimes deemed “man-haters.” When I hear someone say that they are not a feminist, feminism, it doesn’t matter whether they are a man or a woman; I immediately think they are ignorant and uneducated.
Images of women in our society, more specifically, ideal images of what women should be, are still holding women back.  For centuries, women were judged as beautiful things to be looked at, while men have been viewed as the “doers.”  These ideals still creep into the minds of women today.  In terms of how women feel about themselves physically, we may be worse off than our mothers and grandmothers.
In a study by researchers also referenced in Naomi Wolf’s book, “The Beauty Myth,” 33,000 American women told researchers they would rather lose 15 pounds than achieve any other goal.
Eating disorders have rose exponentially and so have cosmetic surgeries.  How many times a day do we see anti-aging or anti-wrinkle crèmes and products advertised on TV where the model can be any older than 25? What kind of message is this sending to women, young and old everywhere?

—Danielle DeFilippo
Arts Editor

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