Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty & Body Image
Edited by Ophira Edut
Foreword by Rebecca Walker

They say the third time's a charm, so I'm happy to present this third edition of Body Outlaws, published January 2004. The latest round has 9 new essays (including 2 by men), a spankin' new subtitle, a resource guide, and mini curriculum.

We've come a long way since the book launched in 1998 under the name Adios, Barbie. It was all good for a year, until Mattel delivered my publisher a lawsuit, claiming a trademark violation. Shunned from the Dreamhouse, we agreed to change the book's name and cover.

After toying with new names like "Kiss My Azz, Babs" and "She Ain't Streisand, She's My Sister," I retitled this collection of multiculti body image tales Body Outlaws. In a culture where plastic surgery has become nearly as routine as a root canal, the woman who actually likes her body is a rare find. Like an outlaw, she often lives on the fringes of the culture, considered "odd" because she's not obsessing over her appearance.

This book expands the body image dialogue to include race, ethnicity, sexuality, and power -- issues that, while often overlooked, are intimately linked to how women feel about their bodies.

Through brave acts of self-acceptance, body outlaws treat the world to some badly-needed shock therapy, reminding us that confidence and beauty come in many forms...even the ones our eyes have been trained to forget.

Seal Press, 2004
ISBN: 1580051081
Paperback: 336 pages
Cover price: $15.95
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