Beauty Sick

“Girls learn that how they look is more important than who they are—the essential symptom of beauty sickness.’ But Engeln doesn’t stop at diagnosis: she offers the possibility of a cure.” — Peggy Orenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Girls & Sex“Her solid ideas…will help women think positively about themselves regardless of body shape. Thorough research and helpful personal stories effectively relay the dilemma that nearly all women face on a daily basis.” — Kirkus Reviews“[Beauty Sick] will blow the top off the body image movement…provocative and necessary.” — Rebellious Magazine“Renee Engeln…argues that our obsession with women’s looks amounts to a society-wide psychological illness…The book indicts social and news media in helping to create beauty sickness by drawing on research and interviews with real-world girls and women.” — Pacific Standard“[P]rofessor Engeln’s sharp examination of beauty sickness reveals its disturbing impact on women of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds…Engeln’s writing is engaging and conversational…Engeln’s book is thought provoking and will be fascinating for all readers, especially those interested in psychology, cultural studies, media, or gender studies.” — Booklist (starred review)“Engeln’s new book, Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession With Appearance Hurts Girls and Women (Harper), explores the ways we remind women—young and old—that the most important thing they can be is beautiful.” — Chicago Tribune“Inspiring.” — PureWow“Info-packed…highly readable…” — Elle“Beauty Sick is the title of Engeln’s new book, which has more than 350 pages of exhaustive research, interviews, and analysis into the set of contradictions that inform the reality of millions of women’s lives.” — The Times (London)

Renee Engeln, PhD, is an award-winning professor of psychology at Northwestern University. Her work has appeared in numerous academic journals and at academic conferences, and she speaks to groups across the country. She is regularly interviewed by the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Today.com, the Huffington Post, Think Progress, and other national media, as well as local outlets and college student publications. Her TEDx talk at the University of Connecticut has more than 450,000 views on YouTube. She lives in Evanston, Illinois.