Beauty History

There's an unspoken rule in hockey: don't date your teammate's little sister. Dating the coach's little sister might be even worse. Not to mention bro code, which clearly states a best friend's little sister is off-limits. And I'm definitely prohibited from dating the owner of the team. But what...

New York Times best-selling author Robin McKinley has won numerous awards for her writing, including the prestigious Newbery Medal. Though her two sisters are beautiful, Beauty, despite her name, is thin and awkward - but she's also courageous. So when her father makes a terrible promise to a Beast living in an enchanted castle, Beauty knows she must volunteer to be the Beast's prisoner.

In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful and examining how we can compare differing judgments of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely.  

The acclaimed author of Eggshell Skull. You were either fit and trim or you weren't working hard enough. Your body was how you conveyed wealth and status to your peers, it was a personality trait, a symbol of goodness and values: an ethical ideal. In recent decades women have made momentous...

Brought to you by Penguin. Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase into New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They're the guards in dark blue suits, keeping careful watch over this vast treasure...

FIVE FAIRYTALES. NINE KINGDOMS. ONE PRINCE. 'This is not your Disney fairy tale. It is much, much better' WILDER'S BOOK REVIEW 'Brilliantly subverts the classic fairy tale' ONE CHAPTER MORE 'Loads of fun . . . Exposes the patriarchal, oppressive fairytale world order which we take for granted in...

In a trio of popular gender rituals—sorority rush, beauty pageants, and the Confederate Pageant of the Natchez (Mississippi) Pilgrimage—young white southern women have readily ditched contemporary modes of dress and comportment for performances of purity, gentility, and deference. Clearly, the ability to "do" white southern womanhood, convincingly and on cue, has remained a valued performance. Based on ethnographic research and taped interviews, Southern Beauty goes behind the scenes of the three rituals to explore the motivations and rewards associated with participation.

An award-winning Northwestern University psychology professor reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Naomi Wolf, Peggy Orenstein, and...

Uncover the fascinating history of aesthetics and how shifting cultural ideals shape our bodies, art, and power today. Perfect for a thought-provoking commute, this sociological journey traces human desire from ancient cave paintings to modern digital screens. Dive into a reflective exploration...

From the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Misfit comes a subversive and feminist take on Sleeping Beauty, sure to appeal to fans of Damsel and To Kill a Kingdom. The dark and deadly world of Heartless meets the empowering twist of Cruel Beauty in this thrilling, unpredictable, multigenre...

This audiobook features music and special effects. Listen along and enjoy the fun that is The Mind-Blowing World of Extraordinary Competitions. From cheese rolling races to baby crying competitions, get ready for an adventure through the most amazing contests the world has ever seen. Throughout...

If you’re excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don’t miss Cruel Beauty. The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. Perfect...

Not long after Martin Luther's defiance of the Church in 1517, dialogue between Protestants and Catholics broke down, brother turned against brother, and devastating religious wars erupted across Europe. Desperate to restore the peace and recover the unity of Faith, Catholic theologians clarified and reaffirmed Catholic doctrines, but turned as well to another form of evangelization: the arts.

From the nation’s favourite storyteller comes a powerful, moving and heartwarming retelling of the beloved, unforgettable story of Black Beauty. A story championing kindness, compassion and humanity, and a rallying cry for the rights of animals, readers have fallen in love with the story of a...

Justice is blind, they say, but perhaps not to beauty. In supposedly dispassionate courts of law, attractive women have long avoided punishment, based largely on their looks, for cold-blooded crimes. The Beauty Defense: Femmes Fatales on Trial gathers the true stories of some of the most infamous femmes fatales in criminal history, collected by attorney and true crime historian Laura James.

Transform your daily commute into a journey through the fascinating cultural history of makeup and societal power. Perfect for listening at your vanity, this empowering narrative reveals how cosmetics act as tools for gender rebellion, social currency, and spiritual survival. Humanity's romance...

Unlock the inspiring art history of human creativity to understand why cultural upheavals continuously redefine beauty. Perfect for your daily commute or a contemplative evening of lifelong learning, this thought-provoking narrative treats humanity’s artistic evolution as a living, urgent...

Desde o garbo e a elegância nos primeiros anos da República até a atual banalização das cirurgias plásticas, História da beleza no Brasil trata das transformações ligadas aos padrões estéticos e aos cuidados com o corpo, mas também do martírio causado pela feiura e da tumultuada luta para driblar o envelhecimento, a solidão e o fracasso.

A dark atmospheric paranormal romance set in Victorian London that blends gothic suspense with sweeping romantasy tropes in this beautiful reissue of a fan-favorite series. London, 1881. Once the flames are ignited ... Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and...

When A Beauty That Hurts first appeared in 1995, Guatemala was one of the world’s most flagrant violators of human rights. An accord brokered by the United Nations brought a measure of peace after three decades of civil war, but the country’s troubles are far from over. W. George Lovell revisits Guatemala to grapple once again with the terror inflicted on its Maya peoples by a military-dominated state.