Looking at a Woman

Women have made great advancements in improving their rights and roles within society and are now less likely to be viewed as inferior by males. Nevertheless, they are still facing many challenges including being perceived as objects and being expected to dress and behave a certain way. In his essay “Looking at Women,” Scott Russell Sanders analyzes how men often perceive women as objects because of their indecent wardrobe and their willingness to put their bodies on display. In her essay “Why Women Smile,” Amy Cunningham explains the value of a smile and how it does not always reflect how a woman is truly feeling on the inside. Both essays spend much time looking at women and how they are under the constant scrutiny from those around them. What the essays of Sanders and Cunningham illustrate is that, while trying to shake old stereotypes, women find their identities constructed from their external appearance. The problem is and remains that women are complicit in the shallow construction of female identity that trades depth for surface because they have bought into the idea that a woman must trade on her external appearance to succeed in her public life.

Women celebrities often remark that the media negatively displays women and sexually objectifies them through many mediums such as film, TV, video games, and advertisements. However, there are many female stars that are willing to pose provocatively for a wide variety of men’s magazines such as Maxim, a European magazine targeted at men. Their hypocrisy in shooting the pictures invalidates the argument that men exploit female sexuality, as they are likewise eager to take those pictures. These women are so quick to jump at an opportunity to pose seductively for the camera, a...

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... be viewed and represented. It is difficult to believe that they want to be understood as smart bright women when they appear so artificial and vain. Pretty looks can only take a woman so far before she must rely on her intelligence and skills. From their apparel to their body language to their facial expressions, women are constantly being examined by the public, and moreover by men. It is a cause and effect relationship since men looking at women makes women feel like objects, which in return makes them want to become like pieces of toys for men to stare at and play with. Sanders and Cunningham make it apparent that women are much more than their appearance, and have a lot more to offer than a provocative picture or a plastic smile. However, it is up to the women to change the way they portray themselves to the world if they want to be seen in a different light.