--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A cultural fixation on female thinness is…" description: "\"A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.\" — Naomi Wolf" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png" --- # A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession… ![“A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.” quote by Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png) > “A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.” [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thinness is used to enforce female obedience, not just aesthetic ideals. **In simple terms:** Thinness controls women. Key Takeaway Challenge beauty standards. Themes gender beauty control Mood critical empowering Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - media analysis - fashion industry - educational curricula - activism Key Concepts feminist theory social conditioning power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does thinness enforce obedience? - What alternatives to thinness exist? A Different Perspective Changing standards alone may not alter deep societal power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Body image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-image/) [Cultural Fixation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cultural-fixation-524856/) [Eating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating/) [Eating disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating-disorder/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Female beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-beauty/) [Female Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-obedience-524858/) [Female Thinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-thinness-524857/) [Fixation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixation/) [Independent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independent/) [Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obedience/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Obsession Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession-female-524860/) [Thinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinness/) [Thinness Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinness-obsession-524859/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-culture-fixated-on-female-thinness-is-not-an-obsession-about-female/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience." -Naomi Wolf”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-m-rosenfeld/a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-is-not-an-obsession-about/) [Stacey M. Rosenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-m-rosenfeld/) > [“If women cannot eat the same food as men, we cannot experience equal status in the community.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/if-women-cannot-eat-the-same-food-as-men-we-cannot-experience-equal/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“For all her chic thinness, she had an almost breakfast-cereal air of health, a soap-and-lemon cleanness, a rough pink darkening of the cheeks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/for-all-her-chic-thinness-she-had-an-almost-breakfast-cereal-air-of/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-two-souls-therefore-which-are-one-though-i-must-go-endure-not-yet-2/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Our two souls therefore which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-two-souls-therefore-which-are-one-though-i-must-go-endure-not-yet/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [The motive of fear is the be-all and end-all of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-motive-of-fear-is-the-be-all-and-end-all-of-religion/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two, Thy soul the fixt foot, makes no show To move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/if-they-be-two-they-are-two-so-as-stiff-twin-compasses-are-two-thy/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [I don’t recommend that average iPad Air owners upgrade to the Air 2. But what about the vast majority of iPad owners who own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-mossberg/i-don-t-recommend-that-average-ipad-air-owners-upgrade-to-the-air-2/) [Walt Mossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-mossberg/) > [Being slim is the new elitism. Thinness today says that you are richer, smarter and more successful than the overweight masses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zinczenko/being-slim-is-the-new-elitism-thinness-today-says-that-you-are-richer/) [David Zinczenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zinczenko/) > [“Twentieth century women's fashions (with their cult of thinness) are the last stronghold of the metaphors associated with the romanticizing of TB in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/twentieth-century-women-s-fashions-with-their-cult-of-thinness-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [If I had been a different sort of person, maybe less impressionable, less intense, less fearful, less utterly dependent upon the perceptions of others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/if-i-had-been-a-different-sort-of-person-maybe-less-impressionable/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [We must take precautions against being prematurely honed sharp--since at the same time we are being prematurely honed thin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-must-take-precautions-against-being-prematurely-honed-sharp-since/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“...kids marked by the special thinness that one has only once, the transparent thinness of early maturity, when, without knowing it, you are immortal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-lee/kids-marked-by-the-special-thinness-that-one-has-only-once-the/) [Andrea Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-lee/) > [“It suddenly hit me—it was nearly impossible to take good care of something I hated. I’d spent so long hating my body that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-ortner/it-suddenly-hit-me-it-was-nearly-impossible-to-take-good-care-of/) [Jessica Ortner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-ortner/) ## More by Naomi Wolf > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [Demographically, I'm a hippie from San Francisco and I'm not culturally inclined to be sympathetic to states' rights. My cultural heritage is FDR and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/demographically-i-m-a-hippie-from-san-francisco-and-i-m-not/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [There's been a systematic propagandizing of American citizens for 30 years to make us forget what America is supposed to be and what our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/there-s-been-a-systematic-propagandizing-of-american-citizens-for-30/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [Maybe the less pain we inflict on our bodies, the more beautiful our bodies will look to us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/maybe-the-less-pain-we-inflict-on-our-bodies-the-more-beautiful-our/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The rise of the beauty myth was just one of several emerging social fictions that masqueraded as natural components of the feminine sphere, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-rise-of-the-beauty-myth-was-just-one-of-several-emerging-social/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [The Victorian woman became her ovaries, as today's woman has become her "beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-victorian-woman-became-her-ovaries-as-today-s-woman-has-become/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The anthropologist Margaret Mead concluded in 1948, after observing seven different ethnic groups in the Pacific Islands, that different cultures made different forms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-anthropologist-margaret-mead-concluded-in-1948-after-observing/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her "beauty" his sole target? He sabotages himself. He has gained no friend,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/what-becomes-of-a-man-who-acquires-a-beautiful-woman-with-her-beauty/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Beauty” is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/beauty-is-a-currency-system-like-the-gold-standard-like-any-economy/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Rape and sexual assault ... should be understood not just as a form of forced sex, they should also be understood as as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/rape-and-sexual-assault-should-be-understood-not-just-as-a-form-of/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The qualities that a given period calls beautiful in women are merely symbols of the female behavior that that period considers desirable: The beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-qualities-that-a-given-period-calls-beautiful-in-women-are-merely/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [To live in a culture in which women are routinely naked where men aren't is to learn inequality in little ways all day long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/to-live-in-a-culture-in-which-women-are-routinely-naked-where-men/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [a white person who claims to have no impediment of vision in this country is not, I think, telling the whole truth. And when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-white-person-who-claims-to-have-no-impediment-of-vision-in-this/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The beauty myth sets it up this way: A high rating as an art object is the most valuable tribute a woman can exact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-beauty-myth-sets-it-up-this-way-a-high-rating-as-an-art-object-is/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Societies tell themselves necessary fictions in the same way that individuals and families do. Henrik Ibsen called them “vital lies,” and psychologist Daniel Goleman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/societies-tell-themselves-necessary-fictions-in-the-same-way-that/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) [Explore all 251 Naomi Wolf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) [Tumblr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tumblr/) > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. 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I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Naomi Wolf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-is-not-an-obsession-about-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-is-not-an-obsession-about-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/naomi-wolf-1344_beauty_a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-i_2445601.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female…” — Naomi Wolf", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Naomi Wolf", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A cultural fixation on female thinness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-is-not-an-obsession-about-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-cultural-fixation-on-female-thinness-is-not-an-obsession-about-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```