Naked Feminism
Breaking the Cult of Female Modesty
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
Is it right that, despite the promises of feminism, women’s bodies remain at the mercy of state, society and religion? Should a scantily clad woman, or a promiscuous one, be worth less than a fully covered woman, or a chaste one? Are being sexy and being smart really mutually exclusive? Can a woman be both body and brain? Victoria Bateman has confronted these questions with actions as well as words. She has appeared naked on national television, on stage, in art and at protests – using her body, as well as her brain, to deliver her message.
In Naked Feminism, Bateman makes a compelling case for women’s bodily freedom, and explains why the current puritanical revival is so dangerous for women. Illustrating the swinging pendulum of bodily modesty through the ages, she takes us on a journey from the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Babylon, through the birth of Christianity and Islam, to the lax morals of the medieval period and the bawdiness of Chaucer and Shakespeare; to the clampdowns of the Puritans and later the Victorians and, more recently, to the re-veiling of the Middle East and the purity pledges of modern-day America. She ends with a plea: feminists must unite to challenge the repression of the female body, as only then can women be truly free.
Also available as an audiobook narrated by the author.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Economist Bateman (The Sex Factor) delivers a stinging takedown of "the cult of female modesty" and the type of "puritanical feminism" that aims to abolish stripping and sex work. Contending that the obsession with women's bodies and sexual behavior limits their access to education and financial independence and facilitates abuse and harassment, Bateman traces the roots of modesty culture to the rise of "patrilineal kinship structures" during the Neolithic Revolution, and documents how overpopulation concerns, warfare, and economic growth ("by secluding their daughters, a family can protect them from seducers") have reinforced the belief that women need to be policed. Bateman's core argument, however, is that women themselves have often been the gatekeepers of female behavior and dress, from Victorian respectability standards to the current strain of feminism that disparages "raunch culture" and beauty obsession, dismisses comparisons between sex work and gendered domestic labor, and asserts that ending prostitution would protect the well-being of all women. Advocating instead for a "naked feminism" that broadly embraces the concept of "my body, my choice," Bateman makes a convincing and well-organized case. It's a spirited rallying cry.
