EXTREME MAKEOVER RELEASED
In her new book, Extreme Makeover: Women Transformed by Christ Not Conformed to the Culture (Ignatius Press, 2011), syndicated radio talk show host and CWG member Teresa Tomeo explores the objectification of women in popular culture by the secular media. Using statistics and testimonies, Extreme Makeover shows that the women’s liberation movement and the sexual revolution did not free or dignify women, but the teachings of the Catholic Church can transform women’s self-respect.
With over thirty years experience in secular and Christian broadcast journalism, Tomeo uses the latest research and trends to show how women are hurting themselves and their chances for true happiness by adopting the modern, sexually liberated lifestyle portrayed in movies and magazines. Modern media uses an emphasis on youth, physical beauty and sex to encourage women and girls to see themselves primarily as sex objects.
“Theculture can be toxic in terms of desensitizing us to violence, weakening ourmoral fiber, and making us feel pretty darn disgusted with ourselves becausewe’re not five-foot-nine and a size 2,” Tomeo writes. With testimonials of women and girls who have transformed themselves, she shows how to achieve true happiness by focusing on God’s intentions for women. Tomeo hopes women and girls can use Extreme Makeover to shed the toxic messages that enslave and objectify women so they can embrace the truth about being a beloved daughter of God.
“Ourmedia and culture continue to reinforce in the minds of girls and young womenthat their intrinsic self-worth is founded in their value as nothing more thana sexual object,” Tomeo said. “How can our society expect women to be treatedfairly and with dignity when our culture continues to portray them as mere objects?The new fall TV series ‘The Playboy Club’ on NBC is just another example of howwomen continue to be objectified and sexualized through the media. Shows likethis glamorize pornography – a problem that has been devastating to marriages,families and society in general.”
“In Extreme Makeover, (Tomeo) offers an earthy, candid, refreshing rejoinder to conventional feminist wisdom and builds a solid case for the liberating power of Catholic orthodoxy,” states Colleen Carroll Campbell, TV and radio host and author of The New Faithful.
Although this will understandably be viewed first and foremost as a "woman's book," Teresa Tomeo's _Extreme Makeover_ is by no means exclusively so. As a man, I found it exceptionally valuable in gaining insight into the heart of woman. Likewise, it's a real wake-up call for us as dads, husbands, fiancés, brothers and sons as to what the women we love and protect are up against in "the culture," how we got here, and where to go from here.
That said, one of the single, most endearing aspects of _Extreme Makeover_ is that Teresa consistently maintains a clear-headed yet *hopeful* tone throughout. She's always about engaging (and, where necessary, confronting) the culture, but never surrendering — or shrinking in terror from it.
This work, (just like Teresa's radio, TV and speaking apostolates) is always about 2nd, 3rd, 4th (…and 444th) chances, and is blessedly free of the sort of hapless, hopeless, hand-wringing that has afflicted some other well-intentioned works that aspire to be a Catholic response to the spirit of the age, yet fall regrettably short.
Instead,_Extreme Makeover_ brings you to the convergence of The New Evangelization with practical, real-world guidance to achieving sanctity and sanity, while showing the way forward with charity, humility and hope. *Highly* recommended. http://TeresaTomeo.com