quote:

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Long before suffragettes shackled themselves to railings and women's libbers burned their bras, female freedom fighters were waging a more covert war, using lipstick, mascara and false bosoms as weapons.

Far from being instruments of oppression in a vast male conspiracy, such ``beauty devices'' were used by women to manipulate the judgmental masculine eye in an effort to control the uncontrollable, says feminist author Teresa Riordan.

Researching a century from Victorian corsets and bustles to the nail polish and girdles of the 1950s and Marilyn Monroe's breast implants, Riordan has written a history of the commercial inventions used by women to transform themselves.

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But reading the excerpt here, I say this isn't really news to anyone. It seems to me it's been generally understood in societies all over that more physically attractive women, especially those who also display an air of self-confidence and sense of humour, tend to command more respect and credibility--not only from men, but other women as well.