What Meets The Eye By Daniel Akst Summary

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Beauty Matters vs. Love who you are 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 …show more content…

It looks like looks are here to stay” (Akst 331). Akst’s degenerate remarks about beauty revolves around self-centered and arrogant values. He mentioned so many scientific statements about how humans should focus on maintaining an attractive appearance for society, and not for themselves. If Mairs and Walker read Akst’s essay, they would both disagree with his opinion about beauty. Both women would convey a message of accepting and embracing one’s beauty, despite the society’s view. Akst limits differences in a degrading way by mentioning “overweight” individuals are worthless and they send a negative message to society. The reader and the women can disagree with Akst’s statement because size, appearance, height, ethnicity, gender, and other abnormalities does not send a negative message, it is the comments made by a bias hypocrite who sees beauty as the aspiration to an individual’s …show more content…

Beauty does not matter to an individual who is trying to accept him or herself, and certainly should not be used to impress society. Improving appearance by any form of surgeries or hair extensions to impress society is a waste of time. Beauty does not gain success, it is the skills, personality, and the heart of an individual. Mairs and Walker have a great heart and they cared less about what others thought about them. When Mairs was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she felt useless and had a lack of confidence; she gained her confidence by writing essays and journals at her leisure. When Walker was a young girl, she was an energetic and confident soul. When she was shot in the eye at the age of eight, she lost her confidence and never looked at anyone. Walker gained her confidence after her surgery by accepting herself. She described her eye as a “world”; it is beautiful depiction. These women viewed beauty internally while Akst viewed it externally. He mentions that beauty is addictive because it can influence behavior on individuals. It can cause others to react, and his statement is

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