Burrows, Lianda (2020) A Review of ‘Beauty’ by Bri Lee. Westerly Magazine, 16 January 2020.

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Abstract

[Extract] After investing so much time in the solitary act of writing, a book tour must feel like a daunting prospect. The related pressures of photoshoots, school visits, and the public gaze figure prominently in Bri Lee’s sophomore work Beauty. Where Eggshell Skull traced Lee’s journey as a historical sexual abuse complainant in the Australian legal system, Beauty considers the standards imposed on women by advertisers, corporate culture, other women, and even themselves. The book suggests that while standards of beauty may have changed, visionary women are still expected to be beautiful.

This is a compassionate and intimate piece of writing. Lee cares about her readership and takes her privilege seriously in terms of race, education, and class. Role models are crucial to young women trying to navigate the world and its challenges. It is impossible to overstate Lee’s work as an advocate for women or her central role in the reassessment of Queensland’s ‘mistake of fact’ defence by the justice commission.

Item ID:	73729
Item Type:	Article (Book Review)
ISSN:	2207-8959
Keywords:	Bri Lee, Australian Literature, Memoir, Feminism, Eating Disorders, Beauty
Copyright Information:	Copyright © 2016 Westerly.
Date Deposited:	24 Aug 2022 00:37
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470502 Australian literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literature) @ 70% 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470527 Popular and genre literature @ 30%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1302 Communication > 130203 Literature @ 100%
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