In a culture where beauty is currency, women’s bodies are often perceived as measures of value and worth. The search for visibility and self-acceptance can be daunting, especially for those on the cultural margins of “beauty.”

Becoming Women offers a thoughtful examination of the search for identity in an image-oriented world. That search is told through the experiences of a group of women who came of age in the wake of second and third wave feminism, featuring voices from marginalized and misrepresented groups.

Carla Rice pairs popular imagery with personal narratives to expose the “culture of contradiction” where increases in individual body acceptance have been matched by even more restrictive feminine image ideals and norms. With insider insights from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, Rice exposes the beauty industry’s colonization of women’s bodies, and examines why “the beauty myth” has yet to be resolved.

Carla Rice is the Canada Research Chair in Care, Gender, and Relationships in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences at the University of Guelph. She has more than 20 years of experience as a clinician, researcher, and media consultant on body image and beauty culture.

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‘Finally we have sophisticated feminist disability work that moves beyond social construction of gender and disability… Highly recommended.’

Choice Magazine vol 52:01:2014

‘The concepts are clearly defined, allowing the reader to keep pace with the wealth of ideas and subjects discussed… This work significantly demonstrates the autonomy and agency of Women in creating their own embodiment in a society that pushes for a strict standard of how women should look and act.’

Journal of Religion and Culture vol 26:1-2:2016

‘Becoming Women is a rare gem for disability studies that grounds complex theory within the personal narratives of women with disabilities…. The book highlights the need for cultural change in viewing disabled bodies, particularly within medicalized caregiving settings.’

Canadian Journal of Disability Studies vol 3:03:2014