Two or Three Things I Know For Sure Allison illuminates the fact that we as women must appreciate each other and our beauty before we can truly cherish other forms of beauty around us. “Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is that of we are not beautiful to each other, we cannot know beauty in any form”(86). We are so conditioned to see female beauty as what men see as beautiful, that we don’t even know what it means to us. If we can get to the point where women feel beautiful even if they don’t fit the societal ideal, it will allow us to open our minds to all other forms of beauty. Morgan asserts in her article, “Women and the Knife”, “Rather than aspiring to self-determined and women-centered ideals of health or integrity, women’s’ attractiveness is defined as attractive-to-men...”(119). This ties in to a story that Allison tells in her book about a conversation with her sister. She had always thought her sister was beautiful and was jealous at the attention and admiration it entailed. Many women are envious of women that men view as beautiful...even lesbian women who possibly would have a different view of female beauty. Society ingrains in everyone what the standard of beauty is so much that we don’t even know why we believe it. As Allison talks with her sister, she discovers what it meant for her to be attractive growing up. She was constantly harassed by boys and goaded by mothers and sister who didn’t want her near their sons and brothers. People assumed that she thought she was better than them, without her having to say a word. So while Allison wanted to be just like her, she dealt with “...the hatred that trailed over her skin like honey melting on warm bread”(78). Though this story points out that beauty has its cost as well, the power of being beautiful holds a great deal of weight in our society as individuals and social beings. “...a woman’s pursuit of beauty through transformation is often associated with lived experiences of self-creation, self-fulfillment, self-transcendence, and being cared for. The power of these experiences must not be underestimated”(Morgan, 120). This is a major reason so many women are now choosing to have cosmetic surgery. But, as Morgan also points out, “elective” surgery is now becoming less of a choice for women. As more and more women transform their bodies into society’s ideal figure of femininity, the higher the standards become. If women begin seeing many other women having
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Show MoreThe perception of the "ideal beauty" is an arbitrary and abstract concept that is constantly being modified as a result of the times. People are influenced by the images they see in the media to determine what the ideal beauty is. The media is manipulative and deceptive in nature, and it continues to carry harmful suggestions about ideal beauty despite the concrete evidence of damaging effects to people of all ages. Fortunately, it seems there may be shifts in the media that are beginning to portray men and women more realistically.
...a nymphomaniac and that she’s had sex with her married psychiatrist on various occasions. She doesn’t assess this as a high-risk self-disclosure because, as she says later, she is a compulsive liar. The only reason she is saying all of these things is for attention. Claire notes her disgust in Allison’s comments, saying, “Do you have any idea how completely gross that is?” and telling her she is crazy. Allison isn’t very surprised by the group’s reaction to her disclosure, since she only said it for the reaction she knew she would get.
The concept of beauty can be hard to define, as it is an ever-evolving notion. What people perceive as beauty has varied through time, across cultures (Fallon 1990) and can also vary based on individuals. To a culture, beauty can be its customs and traditions, and to an individual it can include physical appearance (outer beauty) or personality (inner beauty). However the word beauty can also defer according to gender, Ambrose Bierce (1958) once wrote, “To men, a man is but a mind. Who cares what face he carries or what he wears? But a woman’s body is the woman.” Despite the societal changes achieved since Bierce’s time, this statement still holds true. Attractiveness is a prerequisite for femininity but not for masculinity (Freedman, 1986).
meantime she goes through a series of maturing experiences. She learns how to see her
The minister, the narrator, and her mother walked around the building where the narrator’s mother was to be baptized. Then they looked at the baptismal font. Allison states, “Watching baptisms in that tank was like watching movies at a drive-in” (155). I was glad to read that the narrator was not the one being baptized, because I feel she did not understand the true significance of the baptism ritual. She spoke of the Jesus painting as being, “rouged and pale and pout as Elvis Presley” (155). She was also trying not to giggle at the other little boys that were being baptized that day, “He looked as if he hoped someone would rescue him. It was too much for me. I began to giggle helplessly” (156). The narrator was too young to understand fully what it meant to be baptized. I believe that it is one of the reasons that Allison has such a negative attitude towards life. Maybe she did not agree or understand the meaning of a baptism, or religion as a whole. This could stem from a broken home life and no strong father figure.
An elevation of beauty is treated as a form of improvement, both for men and for women. Simply put, women emphasize their differences in order to gain a sense of equality and avoid comparison from men. However women are limited in the sense that beauty in itself is very restricting. And the fact that women direct their beauty towards men shows us that men are the basis and the end means of beauty. In which this beautification is not really a form of self-improvement; there is no real flourishing...
any other girl have that same pleasure. Jane fell instantly in love with him, as she explained to her sister
There are many misconceptions about beauty and its importance, in todays society. In a time when physical beauty can be of utter importance, we seem to be at a loss of it. What is beauty and where can it be found? Can we see it in the air we breathe, the brilliant oceans, in the striking sunsets, or even in one another? With the weight of beauty in today's society, the common use of expressions used to describe life's brilliance is expected. The many expressions used to discuss beauty such as "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" and "beauty runs only skin deep" all stimulate different opinions and create controversy, but the most notorious of all, being that "beauty doesn't last forever." Sheri S. Tepper's Beauty reinstates the many questions regarding beauty and it's value, regardless of the time in which it is present. As time goes on, all that is beautiful and magical in the world will eventually become extinct. In her web review of the novel, Amanda Holland-Minkley, a professor at Cornell University, argues that the guiding theme throughout the novel is "the presence of magic and beauty in the world, and the risk we run of allowing them to disappear." As Beauty lives through the 20th century, her new experiences cause her to view life from a different perspective. Her once peaceful and simple life in the 14th century at Westfaire was now changed into a life where famine, drugs, violence, disease, overpopulation, and pain were all too common. In this world, beauty and magic are non-existent, so much so that the standards of beauty have minimized to almost nothing. Beauty says, "The worst part of living here is that nothing is beautiful. Magic doesn't work" (101). The time in which Beauty is living through is completely voi...
Sarwer, D. B., Grossbart, T. A., & Didie, E. R. (2003). Beauty and society. Seminars in
she was pretty and that was everything” (225). This captivation with herself along with the constant looking in the mirrors and thinking her mother was only pestering her all the time because her mother’s own good looks were long gone by now (225) shows a sign of immaturity because she believes everything revolves around whether or not someo...
must gaze upon beauty solely in itself not the beauty of men, clothes, cars, or any luxuries that
However, as Walker discovered, beauty is when someone learns to love him or herself. No matter how perfect a person can seem they may have insecurities about the smallest physical things. As seen in Walker’s narrative, the definition of beauty changes over a lifetime, however, once a person is thankful it is easier to find the true definition of beauty. True beauty is learning to dance through like with oneself and not focusing on the physical fleeting things but on qualities of character that matter. Beauty is in finding oneself
“Why did this have to happen to me?” Katrina asked in despair. Almost all hope had been lost for her. It had been two years since she was turned. “Ugh,” Katrina shuddered. She didn’t even like to think about it, it had ruined everything in her life. The praise she received, the glamor she felt, just everything! She hated that witch, and had been happy when she d...
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are used Against Women. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1991. Print