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Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.40952
EAN: 9780520245099
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0520245091
Label: University of California Press
Manufacturer: University of California Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 271
Publication Date: July 15, 2006
Publisher: University of California Press
Studio: University of California Press
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Editorial Review:
This engaging introduction to Japan's burgeoning beauty culture investigates a wide range of phenomenon--aesthetic salons, dieting products, male beauty activities, and beauty language--to find out why Japanese women and men are paying so much attention to their bodies. Laura Miller uses social science and popular culture sources to connect breast enhancements, eyelid surgery, body hair removal, nipple bleaching, and other beauty work to larger issues of gender ideology, the culturally-constructed nature of beauty ideals, and the globalization of beauty technologies and standards. Her sophisticated treatment of this timely topic suggests that new body aesthetics are not forms of "deracializiation" but rather innovative experimentation with identity management. While recognizing that these beauty activities are potentially a form of resistance, Miller also considers the commodification of beauty, exploring how new ideals and technologies are tying consumers even more firmly to an ever-expanding beauty industry. By considering beauty in a Japanese context, Miller challenges widespread assumptions about the universality and naturalness of beauty standards.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Gender studies with a sense of humor
It seems to be de rigueur for the introduction or first chapter of any cultural studies book to be a catalogue of theoretical approaches, with the author strictly delineating which ones she or he will adopt in the remainder of the book, and gravely acknowledging some other academic for "bring[ing] to our attention the existence of multiple centers and peripheries," etc. The first chapter of this book follows the same formula, but the mood and interest level brighten up as soon as these preliminaries ... Read More
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