Beauty around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia. By Erin Kenny and Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017. 416 pages. Acid-free. $94 (ISBN 978-1-61069-944-0). E-book available, (978-1-61069-945-7).

Kenny is an assistant professor of anthropology at Missouri State University with research experience in East and West Africa. Nichols is a professor of Spanish at Drury University with her research specializing in cultures of Latin America. Nichols has also co-written Pop Culture in Latin American and the Caribbean (ABC-CLIO, 2015) and authored a chapter on beauty in Venezuela for the book The Body Beautiful? Identity, Performance, Fashion and the Contemporary Female Body (Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2015). Both authors have taught extensively on the topic of beauty and bodies (xi).

In the preface, the authors state they try to “provide historical and cultural context to the biological notion of beauty” (xi). They also explain that “when a category is topped with the name of a nation, country or tribal group, we have tried to provide the most vivid, iconic, or best-known version of that term or location” (xi). There is an extensive introductory essay with the authors describing the volume as providing “a wide range of insights into beauty, beauty practices, and standards of beauty around the world” (xxiii).

The encyclopedia starts with a table of contents and has an alphabetical list of entries. Each entry is one to three pages. The entries contain see-also references as well as “further reading” resources. Terms that are bolded in an article are also covered as their own topic in the book. The topics range from being specific (“Grillz”) to broad (“Masculinity”). There are countries covered such as Egypt, India, United States, and Venezuela. The entries may contain captioned photographs, quotes that are off-set, and insets that provide more information. For example, under “Bathing and Showering,” there is a sidebar that describes the culture of the Matis people of Brazil and their bathing rituals.

The appendix offers “opposing viewpoints” on five questions. For example, Question 3 is “The Rise of the Transgendered Beauty Pageant: Is Biology a Fixed Category?” There are two authored responses for each question, taking differing views. The end of the volume contains an extensive bibliography and index.

There is an older title, For Appearance’ Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty and Grooming (Greenwood, 2001) that focuses on the history of the beauty industry. This title would be a nice addition for any collections that support women’s studies, anthropology, or any other classes that teach the cultural context of beauty.—Stacey Marien, Acquisitions Librarian, American University, Washington, DC