In 2003, philosopher Susan Bordo wrote that we live in an 'empire of images,' and this thesis has been increasingly confirmed in recent years. Today, with a camera in every smartphone and our social media activity growing daily, we are drowning in a flood of images. By posting our photos on social media for anyone to see, we have all become celebrities in a sense. This is why our image—how we appear in photographs—is becoming increasingly preoccupied with us. Every day, we are inundated with millions of photographs of stunning women, whose beauty is idealized and celebrated, yet simultaneously threatened with merciless criticism, as capitalism has appropriated it and turned it into an object of consumption. In her new comic, Liv Strömqvist invites us on a fascinating journey into late capitalist society's notions of feminine beauty. Drawing on theories and characters ranging from Simone Veil to Kylie Jenner, Strömqvist examines society's attitudes toward beauty, sexuality, and aging in five witty graphic essays, each of which presents these issues from a new perspective.

Author: Liv Strömqvist
Publishing House: No Kidding Press
Year: 2021
Number of pages: 168
Cover type: hardback
Translator: Valentina Melnikova
Editor: Alexandra Shadrina
Age group: 18+