Ezekiel Smith
Dr. Almas
English Composition 132
02/13/2017
Why do we change our looks based on others?
Oscar Wilde once kept in touch with: "It is just shallow individuals who judge by appearance. The genuine puzzle of the world is noticeable, not the undetectable" (cited in Davis 1). Clearly, people have all been made in a way uncontrollable. That is the reason nobody resembles anybody to the exact. In any case, now, trying to have the flawless and superlative figure is something people need to manage better. A lot of people have the need to get slimmer than they are, while others else could care less about how they look. Others even change their skin tone. The need to resemble another person is getting greater and greater for a plethora of reasons that can't be fully
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This is because individuals are unique and speculate their own particular figure or “beauty”. However, more often than not, they are loaded with a desire that Joan Doe, a senior at Alabama State shows non-verbally all around the school the “am I thin enough yet?" look. Cause I thought, on the off chance that I resemble this, then I will have such a variety of sweethearts, and folks will be so enamored with me, and I will be dealt with for whatever is left of my life" (cited in Sharlene 7). Richard Rodriguez depicts the reason we have different skin complexions because the people around us who have influences teach us what to be ashamed us and what to feel significant about. If they didn’t nobody would feel as if anybody was different and would be seen as equal in terms skin (441). Toward the black pgment in particular Bell Hooks feels that all these complexions take their origin in the historical supremacy of the white race on the other hand. Mainly during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (446). This is just a miniscule of examples of why people tend to change the way they look . Yet, I for one imagine that individuals change the way they look keeping in mind they
Your skin pigment or the amount of melanin in you skin has the ability to change your whole outlook on life and determines if you will possibly have fewer or more challenges to face during your lifespan. The amount for melanin that an individual has according to society can determine if you are either the ugly duckling through societies eyes or if you are a beautiful swan. In this short paper I will be discussing the Dark Girls documentary.
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.
“Deeply negative attitudes about skin color have seeped into our own house, advanced by grandmothers who favor the light children over the dark ones; men who pass by the pretty dark-skinned sisters in the club; and music video producers who habitually cast racially ambiguous dancers” (Essence). Harvard Medical School psychiatrist stated “of course, most of us celebrate the various shades of mocha, caramel, cinnamon, peach and chocolate that make up African-American families, but..."The unconscious prejudices we have, where we think we 're going to have a better life if we 're lighter than if we 're darker, have not
Oscar Wilde once wrote: “It is only shallow people who judge by appearance. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible” (qtd in Davis 1). Obviously, humans have all been created differently. That is why we all do not look alike. But now, the idea of having the ideal shape and look is one of the issues everyone has to deal with. Some want to get thinner, while a few do not care about it. Others even change the color of their skin. The desire to be like someone else is getting bigger and bigger for so many reasons that cannot be completely explained. This is due to the fact that people are different and think differently about their own image. But most of the time, they are filled with a desire that Delia, a senior in college expresses well enough in Am I Thin Enough Yet?:“ I always wanted to be the thinnest, the prettiest. ‘Cause I thought, if I look like this, then I am going to have so many boyfriends, and guys are going to be so in love with me, and I will be taken care of for the rest of my life” (qtd in Sharlene 7). According to Richard Rodriguez, there are complexions because the persons, who care for us like a family, are usually the ones who explain us that we have something to be ashamed of (441). On the other side, Bell Hooks thinks that all these complexions take their origin in the historical supremacy of the white race toward the black in particular (446). These are only a few examples of the probable reasons why people decide to change their look. But I personally think that people change the way they look in order to be attractive and appreciated. They believe that this issue can help in their search for happiness.
The fascination for white skin has been around since colonial times, during which skin bleaching made its first appearance. Skin bleaching products lighten the tone of one’s skin by chemically removing the melanin in the skin. The melanin is what naturally pigments your skin; the more melanin a body has the darker that body is. Lightening one’s skin would require removing a physical part of yourself and many women do so—willingly. Although it is in their right to alter their body as they see fit, I can’t help but wonder why?
While the ideal of beauty is mass marketed the damage it does to society is devastating. By idealizing and pronouncing only one absolute standard of the "blonde and blue-eyed" as beautiful and good, it fosters the opposite and negative belief that young black girls would be defined as the opposite. For a young girl internalizing this it would be defined as the opposite. For a young girl internalizing this it would certainly develop a negative sense of self and worth. With black skin and brown eyes the young girl would find herself in a world where she could never find acceptance as someone physically beautiful and special. This stigma produces a feeling of absolute subservience and lesser purpose and worth creating a mindset of needlessness. A young African American girl would begin to feel invisible in these isolating conditions and create a world where esteem was non-existent. As noted by Gurleen Grewal:
In Latin and South America, light-skin is seen as more attractive. In Mexico and in Brazil, light-skin represents power. Even in Hispanic American culture people of the darker skin complexion seem to be a minority with a minority. This is because those hispanic people are considered to be “ white-passing”. This means that even if the ethnic background holds no difference one person will still be treated differently based on their facial structure and the lightness of their skin.
Hook: Two men walk into a store. One is dressed in a three-quarter black business suit; his hair is gelled back and he stands in a confident pose as he stares ahead. While the other man looks downward, his hands in his baggy gray sweatshirt and he smells of alcohol. How people portray themselves can cause stereotypes and judgments to be formed within a blink of an eye. A person may read in the newspaper the next day on how a store was robbed and instantly think it was the suspicious looking man, the one with the baggy clothes. Why is this? Humans and people, in general, have always based their perceptions on people for what they look like. This all has to do with the media and social influences on how an image is made to be relevant.
This is because people who are light skinned are most times made to believe that they are superior based on their looks, thus promoting narcissism and a conceited attitude by having a false sense of worthiness and attractiveness. According to Webb, “light skinned girls believe that their lighter color makes them more worthy or beautiful than people who are dark skinned…it is an unfortunate attitude to have because their light skin ranks higher than their work ethic, personal achievements, personality and generally in the definition of who they are.” (Webb, 2015). However, it is also worth noting that not all light skinned people would have the stuck up or conceited disposition. Thus, it is sometimes unfair when all light skinned people are being stereotyped as having these same characteristics. This may further lead to a feeling of guilt and embarrassment, and alienation from people that are dark skinned in complexion. According to Webb on an interview that she carried out, she stated that; “an individual stated that she felt embarrassed by the perception that she must be stuck up or snobby because of her light skin.” Webb (2015). She also stated that light skin women may feel alienated because; “Light skin women sometimes feel like they do not belong to any racial group of people… it is often quite clear to them that they won’t be fully accepted by whites, and yet
Some could say that how we look does not shape our identity, and that it’s what’s on the inside that make up who we are. I somewhat agree with this, but I feel that how we look does partly shape who we are as a person. If someone tells you to write down what you are like, wouldn’t you put down things like “I’m tall, I have brown hair, I have blue eyes, etc.”? I know I would. I also think that how we look does sadly affect how other people see us.
Appearance related comments based on rac8e are different for every person. Some take it seriously, and others see it as a normal occurrence. In today's world, a person must make their own personality, and identity plays an important role. However, a person’s race is going hand in hand because skin color is the first thing people see when meeting someone new. A person’s appearance depends on how they carry themselves and how they represent themselves in front of the society. I am proud to say that I come from an Indian background, and I am proud that I am still attached to my culture and ethnicity. My own ethnical, racial, and national background, is an important foundation to of my appearance and race in my life. Racism affects every level of life, including appearance and background, which is wrong and should be