Writer/director/producer Justine Bateman examines the aggressive ways that society reacts to the aging of women's faces.

Face is a book of fictional vignettes that examines the fear and vestigial evolutionary habits that have caused women and men to cultivate the imagined reality that older women’s faces are unattractive, undesirable, and something to be "fixed."

Based on "older face" experiences of the author, Justine Bateman, and those of dozens of women and men she interviewed, the book presents the reader with the many root causes for society’s often negative attitudes toward women’s older faces. In doing so, Bateman rejects those ingrained assumptions about the necessity of fixing older women’s faces, suggesting that we move on from judging someone’s worth based on the condition of her face.

With impassioned prose and a laser-sharp eye, Bateman argues that a woman's confidence should grow as she ages, not be destroyed by society's misled attitude about that one square foot of skin.

"Through a selection of short stories, [Bateman] examines just how complicated it is for women to get older, both in and out of the spotlight."
--Glamour

"[Bateman] recounts her own experiences and interviews more than 20 other individuals to present a series of fictional vignettes that argue that women's aging faces should be viewed as beautiful--the proof of complex lives well lived."
--Alta Journal

"In Fame, Bateman deconstructed the flimsy edifice of celebrity. In this equally fiery and potent follow-up, she does the same for our notions of what constitutes a beautiful face...Combining the author's intensely personal stories with relevant examples from the culture at large, the book is heartbreaking and hopeful, infuriating and triumphant."
--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED Review

Author: Justine Bateman
Publisher: Akashic Books
Pages: 272pp
Size: 5 x 8.25 x 1
Notes: hardcover
Release Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1617759222