July 21, 2026 · Brock Kingsley

So Is Your Face: A Review of “The Face: A Cultural History” by Fay Bound-Alberti

The idea of the face, what it represents on a personal and societal level, is one that feels often overlooked, or taken for granted. Faces, after all, are ubiquitous. We all have them, we all study our own—probably too much. But how often do we think about the notion of “facehood,” a term coined by Fay Bound-Alberti in her book The Face: A Cultural History. The Face is a well-researched, yet conversational, interrogation of how the idea and understanding of the face has evolved over time. The book runs through the historical evolution of the face, how new technology expands and transforms the face’s meaning, how discredited ideas like eugenics use the face to judge morality and establish social status, race and gender, and how these ideas are still active in our society today.