“Sexual satisfaction eases the stranglehold of materialism, since status symbols no longer look sexual, but irrelevant. Product lust weakens where emotional and sexual lust intensifies. The price we pay for artificially buoying up this market is our heart's desire. The beauty myth keeps a gap of fantasy between men and women. That gap is made with mirrors; no law of nature supports it. It keeps us spending vast sums of money and looking distractedly around us, but its smoke and reflection interfere with our freedom to be sexually ourselves.”

American feminist author, journalist, and conspiracy theorist

Naomi Rebekah Wolf is an American feminist author, journalist, and conspiracy theorist. She became widely known after publishing her first book, The Beauty Myth, in 1991, which made her a prominent voice in third-wave feminism. Her work drew both praise and criticism. Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan were among those who supported it, while Camille Paglia was among its critics. In the 1990s, Wolf also worked as a political adviser to the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and Al Gore.