Kit Reed's Essay 'The New You'

949 Words2 Pages

I read and essay called “The New You” written by Kit Reed. The story revolves around Martha a character that is unhappy with her appearance with an inner voice that she calls Marnie. Martha is intrigues by an ad in a fashion magazine that promises a complete physical transformation. The ad says “Watch the Old You Melt Away” (Reed) this is an irresistible idea to Martha. Martha sees herself as a frumpy overweight woman with an internal identity named Marnie. Marnie is Martha’s inner diva. She is all the things that Martha wishes she could be, taller, slimmer, chic and witty. With the inner voice of Marnie in her head, Martha cashes stock her husband Howard gave her and orders the New You package. When the package arrives Martha is quick to open it, unfortunately she also disregarded the warning to carefully read the instructions before proceeding. Martha opened the box and uncovered a figure in the box that is a version of herself but physically perfect. Martha plunged her arms into the figure and the transformation was complete. Martha who has now transformed herself into Marnie her perfect alter ego is …show more content…

When we feel the need to change outward appearance we need to be concerned and aware of how those changes effect the person we are within as we are about appearance. External beauty is not as attractive if the person inside is not the type of person we would want to be with. Appearance can be initially blinding and deceptive. When you being to look beyond the outer layers of appearance and into the character of the person you are relating to you can quickly find the beauty alone is not enough to sustain a meaningful relationship. Beauty can fade and appearance change as we grow older but who we are at the core should remain constant or improve with age and wisdom. Kit Reed’s story shows the high cost of how focusing only on your outer appearance to the detriment of the person you are can

Show More
Related

  • Analysis: When Can Women Stop Trying To Look Perfect By Jennifer Weiner

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women are told that in order to get anywhere in life they must constantly worry about their outer appearance. In Jennifer Weiner’s article, “When Can Women Stop Trying to Look Perfect?” she delves deeply into how today’s society women’s worth is based on how they look. Weiner believes that women who do not meet the standards of beauty do not have as many opportunities.

    Read More

  • Alden Nowlan's Anointed With Oils

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s world, many people place a huge emphasis upon appearance, self-image and fitting in. Some are willing to go great lengths to gain a better sense of confidence, even though the outcome may come at a great cost. In the short story,“Anointed With Oils”. Alden Nowlan introduced Edith as a young, shack girl who tried so hard to extinguish her past to create a new life for herself. As an uneducated young lady, Edith found it very hard to land a respectable and organized job that she desired. She was embarrassed of many aspects of her life so she always tried to enhance her quality of life and the way she appeared. Edith believed that in order to be a star, she needed to be beautiful but she didn't see that in herself. Changing her appearance

    Read More

  • The Demise of a Family in Gail Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    In reading this story we find a woman tired of being a mother, a wife and of her life in general. "The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to ever see them again" (35). Do you not see what she is thinking? They are sucking the life out of me. Why did I choose to get married? I could have been anything, instead I am the mother of this child and the wife of this man and am here to take care of their needs. Who will take care of my needs? She feels that she is some how letting herself ease away and needs to regain her identity. She soon isolates herself even more by moving into another room maybe thinking she will be able to find the part of herself she has lost. "She was a young queen, a virgin in a tower, she was the previous inhabitant, the girl with all the energies. She tried these personalities on like costumes" (38).

    Read More

  • The Pitfalls Of Plastic Surgery By Camille Pagalia

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    We all are unique in a different way; our body is different just like our face color. Thin, fat, thick, or over weight each one of us is different from everyone else, this is what make us individual. By changing your body it’s like taking away your identity and personality. The author suggest that plastic surgery is being done from one women pulled from exactly the same face structure and mostly they all look the same. Most people think when they get cosmetic surgery done they’re becoming in with their own ideas on what they wanted to look like, but if you really think about most people undergo surgery hoping to look better and to look way different that they use to. It is unfortunate because one shouldn’t feel the need or necessary to alter their face or body to look more beautiful or perfect. People should have a surgery to change their inside instead of outside. Most of the things we do are to feel included and to feel like someone is paying some attention to us. Society don’t really pay attention or care about that one fat girl who sits in the cafeteria by her self with a big nose and an ugly face, but that girl with a long hair, a perfect smile, and face structure is one that everyone remember. It is just so unfair and sad that society have to tell us what beautiful and what

    Read More

  • Dee Walker's Character In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the story of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker there is a character named Dee Johnson and she is a very clever person. Alice Walker makes Dee Johnson’s character into a very clever but shallow. In the first paragraph, Walker makes Dee’s image, who first seems shallow but as the story goes on she becomes clever. Dee then changes to a more difficult character as the story proceeds. Dee was blessed with both beauty and brains but as the story proceeds it tells that she still struggles with both her heritage and identity. While growing up she is very ashamed of her heritage and where she comes from. She is very fortunate to be the first in her family to go to college. As she starts becoming educated she starts feeling superior over her family.

    Read More

  • An Unhealthy Obsession: Unattainable Modern Standards of Beauty

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    People are always complaining about how they aren’t as pretty as models on billboards, or how they aren’t as thin as that other girl. Why do we do this to ourselves? It’s benefitting absolutely nobody and it just makes us feel bad about ourselves. The answer is because society has engraved in our minds that we need to be someone we’re not in order to look beautiful. Throughout time, society has shaped our attitudes about appearances, making it perfectly normal and even encouraged, to be five feet ten inches and 95 pounds. People have felt trapped by this ideal. Society has made these beauty standards unattainable, therefore making it self defeating. This is evident in A Doll’s House, where the main character, Nora, feels trapped by Torvald and society’s standard of beauty. The ideal appearance that is prevalent in society is also apparent in the novel, The Samurai’s Garden, where Sachi is embarrassed of the condition of her skin due to leprosy and the stigmas associated with the disease. The burden of having to live up to society’s standard of beauty can affect one psychologically and emotionally, as portrayed in A Doll’s House and The Samurai’s Garden.

    Read More

  • Kevin Davis's Essay Does Coming To College Mean Becoming Someone New?

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to successfully enter and maintain membership status in an academic discourse community, one must be willing to make changes in order to be successful. Kevin Davis describes the changes as a creation of a new identity and explains this through his personal experiences and several studies in his essay, “Does Coming to College Mean Becoming Someone New?” His reasons for the creation of a new identity leads to the main message of how to become a successful member of an academic discourse community. However, his piece not only presents a how-to succeed guide, but also legitimizes the “college”-coming of age passage. In the process of coming to college, when entering a new community of academic discourse, a new identity is born from maturation or the rite of passage.

    Read More

  • Describe The Relationship Between Connie And Her Mother

    430 Words  | 1 Pages

    First, Connie and her mother focused on outward beauty rather than inward beauty, which can never be tarnished. Connie’s mother was jealous of her daughter’s beauty, because she knew she could no longer attain the beauty that she once possessed. She often scolded her daughter for admiring her own beauty in order to make herself feel more secure inside. Connie did not try in the least bit to make her mother’s struggle any easier, but instead gawked at her own beauty directly in front of her mother, and often compared her own beauty to others.

    Read More

  • What Meets The Eye By Daniel Akst Summary

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay “What Meets the Eye”, Daniel Akst explains scientific facts about the beauty of men and women matters to people. He argues that attractive individuals receive attention, great social status, marries, and gets paid more on a job. One can disagree with Akst’s argument because anyone with the skills and knowledge, despite the appearance, can gain a decent relationship and can get paid well. Akst looks at beauty as if it can lead individuals to an amazing and successful life, but he is wrong. Nancy Mairs’ and Alice Walker’s views on beauty are explained internally and through self-confidence. Both women’s and Akst’s arguments on beauty share some similarities and differences in many ways, and an

    Read More

  • Mirrorings by Lucy Grealy

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this piece, Grealy describes the influence of her experiences of cancer, its treatments, and the resulting deformity of her face on her development as a person. She explores how physical appearance influences one's sexual identity and over all self worth. She also explores how one's own interpretation of one's appearance can be self fulfilling. Only after a year of not looking at herself in the mirror, ironically at a time when she appears more "normal" than ever before, does Grealy learn to embrace her inner self and to see herself as more than one’s looks or physical appearance.

    Read More

  • Self-Confidence And Identity In The Birthmark By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    Being beautiful, being perfect, is what most of society cares about in this day and age. For example, people value getting rid of any to all imperfections, like having a bit of baby fat, or getting rid of scars. People are put down by the comments of strangers, and more so the comments made from people of their inner circle. People feel ugly and hate themselves for things that they have no control over. Some do radical things to get rid of these imperfections by getting surgery or taking pills. Even though not all people judge minor blemishes the view of one’s self is the most important view a person could have, and if that identity is under attack it could ruin a person 's self confidence. The story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne also has aspects of self-confidence and identity that are relevant to the current times.

    Read More

  • Coraline

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...o adulthood and how they have led to her inner change, which deviates from the typical quest where the protagonist does not change and simply returns to the “original status.”

    Read More

  • Beauty Essay: The Definition Of Beauty

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today, the idea of beauty has been turned into unattainable forms by media, trends, and marketing. To reach the social’s standard of beauty, many people have gone anorexic, bulimic, or have been addicted to plastic surgery. Many people are wasting money on beauty products to make themselves prettier, but they forget that their inner beauty is more important. Inner beauty is an essential key to the overall appearance of someone. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and is the combination of inner and outer attractiveness of one

    Read More

  • Defining Beauty: The Concept Of Beauty

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Appearance matters because some facial qualities are useful in guiding adaptive behavior that even a trace of those qualities can create an impression. Specifically, the qualities revealed by facial cues that characterize emotion and identity, which are overgeneralized to people whose facial appearance resembles the unfit. Although people tend to admonish the statement ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, they also repeatedly defy that warning in their day to day routines, responding to people on the basis of their physical

    Read More

  • Beauty in The Picture of Dorian Gray

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.

    Read More

More about Kit Reed's Essay 'The New You'

Open Document