Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty
Author: Nancy Etcoff
In this provocative, witty, and thoroughly researched inquiry into what we find beautiful and why, Nancy Etcoff skewers one of our culture's most enduring myths, that the pursuit of beauty is a learned behavior. Etcoff, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, skewers the enduring myth that the pursuit of beauty is a learned behavior.
Etcoff puts forth that beauty is neither a cultural construction, an invention of the fashion industry, nor a backlash against feminism, but instead is in our biology. It's an essential and ineradicable part of human nature that is revered and ferociously pursued in nearly every civilizatoin--and for good reason. Those features to which we are most attracted are often signals of fertility and fecundity. When seen in the context of a Darwinian struggle for survival, our sometimes extreme attempts to attain beauty--both to become beautiful ourselves and to acquire an attractive partner--become understandable. Moreover, if we come to understand how the desire for beauty is innate, then we can begin to work in our interests, and not soley for the interests of our genetic tendencies.
Boston Globe
In her book Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty, Etcoff challenges the notion that the media has created our cultural fascination for good looks. Instead she argues that there are evolutionary reasons why cultures - not just in the United States - place so much value on appearance. And she forgives our vanity by demonstrating that beauty isn't just in the eye of the beholder, it's part of the beholder's biology.
Spin Magazine
As scientist/psychologist Nancy Etcoff argues in Survival of the Prettiest, physical attractiveness is a basic survival skill. Etcoff sets out to prove that the blame cannot simply be laid at the feet of such institutions as Revlon, Kate Moss, and the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. Instead, she argues, we're hard-wired to seek potential mates who are virile, fertile, and at least 85 percent fat-free. In short, looks are everything.
Time Magazine - Anita Hamilton
Avoiding ideological rant, Etcoff employs rigorous scientific research and amusing detail to create a great read.
Publishers Weekly
In riveting style, Etcoff, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, demolishes the belief that beauty is a cultural construct, arguing instead "that beauty is a universal part of human experience, and that it provokes pleasure, rivets attention, and impels actions that help ensure the survival of our genes." By drawing widely from anthropological, psychological, biological and archeological literature, Etcoff discerns surprising similarities in the ways humans have perceived and responded to beauty across diverse cultures throughout the millennia. For example, cross-cultural research comparing two isolated Indian tribes in Venezuela and Paraguay to people in three Western cultures demonstrated a remarkable similarity in what is considered beautiful. And evidence that red pigments were used as lipstick as long ago as 5000 B.C. suggests that media images are not the sole reason that "in the United States more money is spent on beauty than on education or social services." The most important message in this book is that we cannot ignore our evolutionary past when attempting to understand our current behavior, even as we should recognize that we need not be slaves to our genes. Topics as wide-ranging as penis- or breast-enlargement surgery and the basics of haute couture are treated with wit and insight. Etcoff's arguments are certain to initiate a great deal of discussion.
KLIATT
Etcoff, a psychologist, covers some of the same topics as McNeill (see review below) in this provocative book on "the science of beauty." For instance, she too examines topics such as acne, eyes, mouths, and noses; like McNeill, she integrates scientific analysis, anthropological observation, literature, and anecdote, but Etcoff's stance on all this is a more controversial one. She certainly supports her premise—that the pursuit of beauty, and definitions of beauty, are not learned, but somehow hard-wired—with a breathtaking, fascinating array of detail. This reviewer (and her 17-year-old daughter) both found the book to be spellbinding, cover-to-cover, but agreed on the importance of any reader's recognizing the author's bias toward biological determinism. The idea that the search for beauty is part of some biologically determined drive is far from a given—but that is what makes this book such a potentially good springboard for discussion. Survival of the Prettiest would be a good resource for a health unit, an interdisciplinary unit, a women's studies class—or as companion reading with McNeill's book in a literature circle discussion. (Note: Not surprisingly, given the book's topic, references to sex and sexuality are frequent.) KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, Random House/Anchor, 325p, notes, index, 21cm, 98-41332, $14.00. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Gloria Levine; Freelance Education Writer, Potomac, MD January 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 1)
Booknews
The author is a psychologist. She explains the nature of human beauty, including what makes a face beautiful from a scientific perspective. Other factors dealt with include: the fascination with fashion magazines, weight, blondes, high heels, and coifed hair, as well as how sexual preference is guided by ancient rules. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)
Entertainment Weekly
...[S]prightly, spunky, well-written....irresistibly persuasive, well-timed, fun-fact-filled...
WQ: The Wilson Quarterly - Stephen Bates
In chatty if quote-heavy prose....she succeeds in engagingly charting the origins and the impacts of our undemocratic aristocracy of beauty.
The New York Times Book Review - Karen Lehrman
Etcoff must be commended for (one hopes) putting the kibosh at last on the notion that attractiveness is determined by men out to keep women ensconced in a beauty rat race....[E]ven the uber-hip [may] realize that the future they may be most affecting with their anti-esthetic is their own.
Kirkus Reviews
Is beauty truth? Skin deep? A cultural relative? All of these possibilities and more are probed in this scholarly disquisition on the nature of beauty by a Harvard Medical School psychologist. The bottom line is that the idea of beauty is biologically based, and it's all about sex. Across all cultures (and many species), the survival of one's genes is dependent on choosing a partner who is fit-and looks it: a male who can provide superior sperm or a potential mama who can and will do well in the caretaking business. For men, the unbeatable combination in a female may be youthful looks, shining hair, pale unblemished cheeks that can blush with ease, up-pointing, rounded breasts, and an hourglass figure-all part of a gestalt read as nubile and not already saddled with offspring. If the face is also symmetrical, and does not deviate too far from average, it may be judged beautiful and complete the formula for the ideal mate. Rather than support one formula over another for ideal beauty, Etcoff says rhat their very existence points to the high regard cultures have paid to beauty. And pay they do: with surgery, scarification, tattoos, cosmetics, nose rings, earrings, and the rest. Indeed, "the rest" forms a sizable subtext of the book as Etcoff reviews the trends for body shaping, implants, wigs, crinolines, high heels, perfumes, and all manner of artful dodges designed to make the deceiver irresistible. How those trends play out in today's world of maxi-thin, maxi-tall runway models, anorexic teenagers, and adults obsessed with obesity also come up for discussion. In the end Etcoff wisely suggests that to focus on beauty and to want to attain it is not a sin; we should relax andenjoy it as part of our genetic heritage. But perhaps even more wisely, she notes that that is not all there is to beauty. She ends with a comforting anecdote about George Eliot, whom Henry James described as "magnificently ugly."
Table of Contents:
| 1 | Introduction: The Nature of Beauty | 1 |
| 2 | Beauty as Bait | 29 |
| 3 | Pretty Pleases | 55 |
| 4 | Cover Me | 89 |
| 5 | Feature Presentation | 131 |
| 6 | Size Matters | 167 |
| 7 | Fashion Runaway | 205 |
| 8 | Conclusion | 231 |
| Notes | 247 |
| References | 289 |
| Photos and Illustrations | 311 |
| Acknowledgments | 313 |
| Index | 315 |
Book review: Islam in a Globalizing World or Rise and Demise
Before and After: Living and Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery
Author: Susan Maria Leach
At 278 pounds, Susan Maria Leach couldn't fit into a roller coaster seat, couldn't tie a bathrobe around herself, couldn't even ride with her husband on the back of his Harley. Enough was enough. Susan underwent gastric bypass weight loss surgery. Now Susan weighs in at a mere 135 pounds. Her book, Before & After, is the story of her incredible journey from being too big to enjoy her life, to being able to truly enjoy life to its fullest.
Now Susan can fit into that roller coaster seat, completely tie that robe, and ride on the back of her husband's Harley.
More than one hundred thousand people had weight loss surgery in 2003, and as those pounds continue to drop, the number of people opting for the surgery continues to rise.
Part memoir and part cookbook, Before & After includes a foreword by Susan's surgeon, comments from a nutritionist, and a section on frequently asked questions. It is an intimate account of Susan's own transformation, as well as a universal guide for those who have undergone or are considering the procedure.
After her own success, Susan participated in support groups for weight loss surgery patients. There, she discovered that people had as many questions about life after surgery as they had about the operation itself. Before & After answers those questions and many more. An accomplished home cook and longtime culinary enthusiast, Susan quickly became known as the "lady with the recipes."
Determined not to give up good food and a flexible lifestyle, Susan worked hard to develop recipes that meet her nutritional requirements, yet are delicious and satisfying for her, her family, and her guests.The 100 recipes -- which include everything from Roasted Salmon with Mango Salsa and Italian Meatballs to Belgian Chocolate Cheesecake and Lemon Meringue Pie -- make about four servings, but each comes with a measured serving for WLS people along with a calorie/carb/fat/protein count. Susan has recipes for every step of the way, from tastes-like-the-real-thing milk shakes for those first post-op days to an entire Thanksgiving menu.
Before & After is a journal of Susan's own inspirational story, where she shares her ups and downs, her tips and techniques, but mostly it's a book about hope for anyone who has a serious weight problem.
Publishers Weekly
Weighing 278 pounds and unable to tie her bathrobe closed, in June 2001, Leach had her stomach reduced to the size of an egg. But her battle with food didn't end there. Like all those who undergo weight-loss surgery, Leach must diligently watch her food intake; eating more than a few bites of a dish or ingesting too much sugar will result in "dumping," a bodily reaction as unpleasant as it sounds (it involves food emptying from the stomach too quickly). Leach's journal of her post-operative year (which followed her loss of 143 pounds) shows that she remains just as obsessed with food as she was before surgery. Leach isn't exceptionally self-reflective and doesn't analyze what readers might find most helpful: how her relationship with her husband has changed. He grows jealous of her girls'-nights-out and tries to force her into eating key lime pie, even though it will make her sick. Later, in a q&a section, Leach matter-of-factly answers such inquiries about weight-loss surgery as "Does insurance cover it?" and "How fast should one lose weight?" In the book's final third, Leach provides more than 100 tasty (and dump-proof) recipes for protein shakes, main dishes and holiday meals. Many of the recipes can be found in other low-fat cookbooks, but Leach's recipes for desserts are unique (e.g., Lemon-Almond Sponge Cake). Although her journal may paint an overly rosy picture of post-weight-loss surgery life, those who have undergone or are considering such surgery may find it helpful. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
