Beauty and the Bloke by Cosmo Landesman and Breaking Free of Oldfashioned Stereotypes
"Beauty and the bloke" by Cosmo Landesman is an argumentative article
trying to put across the message that men and women are breaking free
of old fashioned stereotypes, he is trying to convey the message that
it's the nineties, men no longer have to be macho and hairy! They are
no longer afraid or ashamed to care for their appearances, even if it
means cosmetic surgery! Women to are also making a stand, no longer
will they stand silent being made to look good by men, women are now
"prepared to give the men they love a shove in the direction of the
cosmetic surgeon" Landesman throughout the article, puts across the
message that women are to blame for men's insecurities in their
appearances. They are also to blame for the rise in men undergoing
cosmetic surgery, for starting the male trend of waxing and wearing
perfume. It is quite a controversial article and at first it gives us
the impression that Landesman feels negatively towards the "£240
million beauty industry for men" saying "is nothing sacred any more"
but throughout the article Landesman warms up to the idea of "the
nineties man and beauty". Towards the end of the article Landesman
even gets quite personal, and to the surprise of the reader states
"for the love of my wife I'd even get my legs waxed!"
The writer uses surprise endings to keep the writer interested e.g.,
"perfume, waxing, cosmetic surgery….nineties man…his body image" when
perfume and waxing are mentioned the reader automatically thinks of
women, but gets quite a shock to discover that the writer is talking
about men!
...
... middle of paper ...
...he
cosmetic surgery.
Irony is use din this piece, creating humour and slight sarcasm e.g.
"took it like a man…snivelling…etc". "Speaking personally I don't feel
that I've suddenly became neurotic about my looks…I've been that way
since I was a teenager…"
Humorous exaggeration is also used by Landesman to create humour in
the article e.g. "just look inside any men's magazine and you'll see
how to achieve the ultimate shave". "Cosmetic surgery at work to wreck
men's self esteem…"
This piece of writing although full of humour also holds some very
interesting facts and shows that times are changing, today it's
acceptable for men to wear perfume and have face-lifts. So in
conclusion I think Landesman has made one small step for journalism
but one giant leap for all those beauty conscious men out there!
A five year old boy traveled across the vast country of India on a train and thrown into the streets of Calcutta with millions of people and survived. In A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, Saroo experienced several life-threatening trials as a child and miraculously ended up in an affluent area in Australia following adoption. After growing up in Australia, Saroo set on a journey to find his birth family in India. Saroo’s journey begins simply to fulfill his own self-interest, though turned into something greater than himself which defines him as a true hero. Saroo Brierley experienced separation, initiation, and return throughout his life which develops his naval, making him a modern mythological hero as defined by Joseph Campbell.
Ordinary Men is the disconcerting examination of how a typical unit of middle-aged reserve policemen became active participants in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Polish Jews.
People tend to views an image based on how society say it should be they tend to interpret the image on those assumption, but never their own assumptions. Susan Bordo and John Berger writes’ an argumentative essay in relation to how viewing images have an effect on the way we interpret images. Moreover, these arguments come into union to show what society plants into our minds acts itself out when viewing pictures. Both Susan Bordo and John Berger shows that based on assumptions this is what causes us to perceive an image in a certain way. Learning assumption plays into our everyday lives and both authors bring them into reality.
Today in society there is a very strong perception on how women should be, how they should dress, act and the “jobs” they are required to do. Whether we believe things have changed or not since the 1900s, women are still seen as a minority in our society but why? Why do we allow people to see women as “weak” and believe that there is a certain way women should look and dress? Many of the short stories, songs and poems we have read relate to this topic, “Adam and Eve” by Ani Difranco and “Job History” by Annie Proulx specifically. Eve and Lori are two characters that are the complete opposites of each other. They help support the topic of why women are the way they are and what influences the choices and decisions
At what point does work life start interfering with family life to an extent that it becomes unacceptable? Is it when you don’t get to spend as much time with your family as you would like, or is it the point where you barely get to see your family due to long hours at work? Is it even possible to balance work with family life? Anne-Marie Slaughter, the author of “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, believes this balance is impossible to achieve in this day and age. In contrast, Richard Dorment, the author of “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All”, believes that there will never be a day when someone will have it all, certain sacrifices will always have to be made. Both of these articles are similar in the respect that they both examine balancing a demanding career with raising children. The two authors’ views on the subject differ greatly, especially regarding how gender roles have a significant impact on our society.
William Pollack, in his article “Inside the World of Boys: Behind the Mask of Masculinity”, discusses on how boy tries to hide behind the mask and the stereotypical of masculinity. He demonstrates how boy hide their deepest though and feelings and real self. Pollack open the essay with “a fourteen-year-old boy, he is doing badly in school and he might fail algebra, but when teacher or his parent ask about it, he said everything is just fine. He hide his true identity behind the mask, and let no one see his true self.” After read the story, I think the story is really useful source to write an essay about how boy become men and they are emotionless.
It seems if a woman does not follow what the television or magazines do, they will be considered a ‘disgrace’ to society. “By the 1930’s, mass advertisements on radio and in magazines persuaded women to purchase cosmetic products by appealing to her fear of growing old or being rejected by social acquaintances,” (Gourley 56). The beauty industry specifically targeted women, using the ideas of an often highly feminine related idea of vanity. This also talked about women’s apparel in clothing and how they weren’t able to dress casually since they would be titled, slob. As looks represent a lot in a woman, the body type of a woman has always struggled with maintaining since the ‘perfect’ body types are not what everyone has. “In the 1890’s women had full bosoms, round hips. In actual measurements they were probably no rounder than Miss Cox but they seemed so because they were shorter, tightened their waists into an hour-glass effect … Now, though, the ideal figure must have a round, high bosom, a slim but not wasp-like waist, and gently rounded hips” (“This is What…”). Ideals women that society has pushed onto women to be for them to have any chance in romance. Though many women can drift away from this the women, though they won’t admit to it, had struggled to meet the ‘set standard’ for women. This shows how after women have gained the rights of voting, gender roles
Masculinity in "Men Should Weep" by Ena Lamont Stewart and "Perfect Days" by Liz Lochead
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
Feminism is a word that is stock-full of implications, and has many misconceptions. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti attempts to give a broad overview of what feminism is, and how you should feel about it (hint: it’s positively). The book is directed primarily towards the younger generation, and talks about a variety of issues relevant to the feminist movement today and in history. The weaknesses of the book include the casual writing, the assumptions Valenti makes, and the contradictory statements that are consistently made. The strengths include providing an entertaining, broad overview of feminism, and discussing ways to contribute to gender equality. Overall, the book is more likely to be a positive experience for high-schoolers that identify as women then college-aged individuals looking for a critical analysis of issues society faces in regards to gender inequality.
Having education in our lives are very important, it does not matter on how much one person spent on learning, Money, location, age, even, timing of the year, month, and day does not matter. Having the time to better you craft makes it beneficial to your life. The reading of Genius : The Modern View by David Brooks and Learning to read by Malcom use various similar but different examples to indicates the value of time.
In the views of Micheal Kimmel “hegemonic masculinity” is a socially constructed process where men are pressured by social norms of masculine ideals to perform behaviors of a “true man” and its influence on young male’s growth. It is the ideology that being a man with power and expressing control over women is a dominant factor of being a biological male. The structure of masculinity was developed within the 18th to 19th century, as men who owned property and provided for his family with strength related work environments was the perfect example of being a generic “American man.” Kimmel introduces Marketplace Manhood and its relation to American men. He states, “Marketplace Masculinity describes the normative definition of American masculinity.
The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. According to the United States Census Bureau in 2012, women earned approximately 77 cents for every dollar that a man made (Bassett 2013). Since its independence, all of America’s leaders have been male. What do all of these statements have in common? Male superiority. Since its foundation, the United States of America has been a male dominated society. Masculinity and male superiority have been demonstrated in various aspects of this nation’s culture. Such areas include literature and history. Male dominance can be exemplified in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire.
In my book the Perks of Being a Wallflower, there are four main characters. Charlie, Sam, Patrick, and Mary Elizabeth. The way that the Author describes charlie is kind of like a sensitive young man who is trying to figure out what to do with his life. He doesn’t really have any friends because last year, his best friend died and his Aunt died in a car crash. Sam seems like a really energetic young woman who loves hanging out with her friends and listening to classic rock. I think that the Author made her character perfectly because every word she says, seems like she is happy on the outside but a little lost in the inside. Patrick is a jokester who is depressed sometimes because he is gay and his boyfriend has to pretend that he doesn’t love him. He is Sam’s step brother and they seem to be great friends. He loves music as well. Mary Elizabeth is a mix between a buddhist, and a punk. She shaved half of her head and on the weekends she has a show called “punk rocky” which is supposed to be a re-make of this show called the rocky horror picture show. She dates Charlie for a while but is controlling, and Charlie doesn’t really like her because he likes sam, a lot.
I find that society definitely takes things to the extreme when it comes to trying to be beautiful. While not everyone may do it, a large amount of both men and women take things too far while trying to become “fit” or “pretty”. “Men desperately want to look like adonis, because they constantly see the “ideal,” steroid-boosted bodies of actors and models.” (Cloud, 49). In 1999, American men spent more than four billion dollars on home exercise equipment and gym memberships, and in 1996, men in total had around 700,000 cosmetic procedures done (Cloud, 49). These numbers show that a large amount of men are unsatisfied with their bodies, and go to drastic lengths to achieve what the media is showing. Plastic surgery is not a decision to take lightly because it