Overview

This ethnographic study of a neighbourhood beauty salon investigates how customers constitute a lively, affirming community of peers during their weekly visits. The book seeks to give voice to older women, who, in a sexist and ageist society, are frequently devalued and rendered invisible. Within the text, these older, mostly Jewish, women articulate their experiences of bodily self-preservation, feminity, ageing and caring pertaining to their lives within and outside Julie's International Salon.

Full Product Details

9780415915236

Table of Contents

Reviews

An accessibly written ethnography, the women in Furman's beauty shop reveal a great deal about women's lives and positions in contemporary culture. <br>- Feminist Bookstore News <br> I quickly absorbed Furman's words-the results of nearly five years of research... it is a book long overdue. <br>- Heritage Sunday, Nov 16, 1997 <br> Facing the Mirror combines studies of aging, Judaism, and beauty into an excellent ethnographic study of a beauty salon in Chicago. <br>- Gender & Society <br> The book calls much needed attention to an area of women's experience that has been seen as socially insignificant. <br>-C. Adamsky Choice <br> A respectful and even tender treatment of a large and largely neglected population in our culture: elderly, middle income, middle American women...[Furman's] account is beautifully written, warm. <br>-Sally B. Purvis <br>

Author Information

Frida Kerner Furman is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University and is author of BeyondYiddishkeit: The Struggle for Jewish Identity in a ReformSynagogue.

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