Preview

Women's Self-Image Of Beauty By Dave Barry

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
166 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women's Self-Image Of Beauty By Dave Barry
Dave Barry’s piece starts with describing what a guy should tell a woman if she asks him how she looks. This leads to the main idea of the piece, which is that women do not think about their looks the same way men do. Barry then goes onto describe how most men believe themselves to be average-looking and how they are okay with it. The piece transitions into how women have low self esteem and will never feel good enough. The author accredits women’s self esteem issues to the fact that most played with a Barbie growing up and it taught them that they were supposed to look like Barbie. Barry makes sure to emphasize that he does not buy the idea that women have become obsessed with looking a certain way, because men want women to look that way.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    You can’t forget your past even in a bright present. In the novel Pretties, Scott Westerfeld discusses the different stages a girl, Tally Youngblood (Tally-wa), goes through to become a beautiful woman. Girls are put into “The Uglies” category until they turn 16 which is when “The Specials” submit them into a surgery that transforms their lives. The surgery consist of making them beautiful, strong, healthy, and slowly erasing parts of their memories for the purpose of them only remembering the new memories they create. The memories will always remain in their mind whether they remember them or not. As hard as Tally tries to forget her past, it will always find its way back into her life.…

    • 1235 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In order to gain Cordelia’s approval and friendship, Elaine becomes a scapegoat for her three friends. On account of her family’s travelling as well as because of her earlier lack of girlfriends, she feels somewhat different from her classmates. In fact, Cordelia, Carol and Grace not only impose their ideas on Elaine and never respect her but abuse her for two years with the excuse of improving Elaine’s ways of living as well. They continuously dominate her and force her to do what they want and she suffers in their hands as well as at their homes and at school. As a result, Elaine always feels as if they are not her friends but her enemies. Although Elaine is oppressed and abused by her three girlfriends, nevertheless Cordelia is Elaine’s…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading "Barbie Doll," I cannot help but agree with the argument in which the author is trying to make. To be a woman in today's day and age means always being told how you should dress and act based on society's standards. There is so much controversy concerning how women should appear, and this is due in part to the media's depiction of how a woman should look. The ideal woman used to have curves, but now women are expected to have a super tiny waist but still have larger breast and a large but; these are standards with which woman have had a nearly impossible time to meet. Between new diet and workout plans, it is easy for a woman to get mixed up with an unhealthy lifestyle of starving herself and exercising too much which leads to…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lisa Kramer Distortion

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Lisa Kramer’s contemporary work Woman in the Mirror (2011), she used mixed medium and oil paints to portray a women figure staring into three different mirrors, and in each, a different distortion of her self appearance. Kramer has borrowed styles from the past such as surrealism and impressionism to help portray this representation of distorted self. She states “We live in a Barbie doll world; anorexia, bulimia, looking old, looking normal and not plastic are problems many women face today.” (Fine Art America, Lisa Kramer, 2011). Harsh self judgement is a common problem in todays society, with the endless articles and videos instructing us to look better and compare our selves to other “beautiful” or “sexy” figures. It is clear that external influences, such as cultural context, have distorted Kramer’s self image as the woman looks in the mirror to not see herself accurately, and doesn’t see her true…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elline Lipkin Summary

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The 1950’s is when these new beauty standards began to evolve; previous to that, women were praised for their lack of attention to their bodies: Feminine virtue was found in a kind of unself-consciousness in which vanity about one’s body was considered immoral or wrong (Lipkin 598). Lipkin’s research would have been more valid had she given examples of what has caused these standards to change in recent years.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is about a girl who struggles with her body image. The speaker in the poem acts as an observer; watching the girl encounter different experiences as it related to her body image. Today’s generation is much similar to the life of the girl in this poem. Girls are forced to keep up with rising standards that are overwhelming and destructive. This poem uses form, imagery, and word choice to express how society chooses not to accept girls who do not represent the “ideal” woman.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though, the modern media has had many positive impacts on our lives, when it comes to women’s image, especially in commercial advertisements and programs, it usually has such misleading interpretations about the perfect images of beauty and the happiness of women. Thus, many women who have already been struggling with their uncertain self-identities have become even more insecure and unsatisfied with their “imperfect” physical appearances and their unrealized “ideal” life styles. Therefore, the conflict about who they really are and whom they wish to be has caused such confusions that some women would lose touch with reality, and make decisions which can never bring them true happiness. In this paper, I will discuss the impact…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What do you see when you look in the mirror? Are you pleased, or do you immediately come up with an endless list of insecurities? As a child one of my favorite memories was laying around the house with my older sister on rainy days. We would leave the windows open so we could hear the rain coming down on the tin roof over our patio, while watching reruns of our favorite tv show “America's Next Top Model”. I always thought that these women were gorgeous and I would catch myself constantly comparing their looks to my own. I wanted to be just like them until I realized the unrealistic expectations that they had to live up to. A sizeable butt and breasts, but not too large; they have got to be proportional. A skinny waist, impeccable hair, blemish free face although even with clear skin you are expected to cake on makeup because no one is actually pretty without mile long eyelashes, the perfect smoky eye, and exemplary contouring. Society has idolized these things as “beautiful” and shamed the girls that do not meet these standards; however, society should be making everyone feel confident in their bodies. Girls need to know that it is okay not to have an “hourglass figure” so they don’t…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Every girl has seen a woman in the media stick thin, sun kissed, envy of the way she looks “perfect”. Women that are put on television, a magazine or advertisements is ultimately fake with Photoshop, makeup and plastic surgery. This is a dangerous perception of beauty which has resulted in a decline in self-acceptance. Many girls any age struggle with their image believing that they are not thin enough, their hair is not long enough, or even they believe that they are ugly. I believe that the social stereotype of beauty should go back to the 50’s.…

    • 423 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Beauty. At the mention of this word, most girls are inclined to take a quick look into a compact mirror or run a few fingers through their hair, sizing themselves up with the nearest advertisement featuring a flawless bottle blonde” (Katie Atkinson). Women are willing to spend hours in the bathroom to be prepared for the day to look like a model when only traveling to the corner store is a real fascination. Most would not even walk out of the house without makeup on in fear they will be judged by their appearance. The short story, Barbie Q written by Sandra Cisneros, also shows the concept of girls trying to be “perfect.” It shows two girls trying to dress up their dolls to look high class. They spend so much money on clothing, shoes, and accessories, even though they come from a low income family, just to make their dolls look their best. The girls show the true meaning of someone being materialistic. When society focuses on the image of the next Barbie, women aren’t realizing how that’s changing themselves physically and emotionally just to live up to that expectation.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been discussions by researchers regarding how the media portrays us to what is beauty and thereby causing a person to be dissatisfied with their appearance, their weight and eating habits. (Levine&Murnen, 2009). The researchers have revealed as to what is considered beauty for women and teenage girls, and what standard they are using that complements what the media has used to define the beauty. In turn, they will use those standards as a means for evaluating their own level and rating of beauty. These women and teenage girls will then seek to achieve those standards so that family, peers and even strangers will be pleased with their appearance. (O’Brien et al., 2009; Thompson, Heinberg, et al.,…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem, “Barbie Doll,” by Marge Piercy, implicitly criticizes the way that women are mixed into stereotypical roles from the time they are young. This poem makes it clear this standard of perfection is impossible to achieve--at least not while one is alive--and starts with something relatively careless at a young age, a Barbie doll. The Barbie doll, one of the best-selling “toys” of all time, has become an icon of U.S. culture for the way it idealizes the female body. Young girls all around the world attempt to model themselves after this “perfect” woman. The urge to become a disproportionate female with a painted on smile overshadows the ideal to love yourself as you are. However,…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athenian Beauty

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages

    (In contrast to men-whose essence is to be strong, or effective, or competent.) It does not take someone in the throes of advanced feminist awareness to perceive that the way women are taught to be involved with beauty encourages narcissism, reinforces dependence and immaturity. Everybody (women and men) knows that. For it is “everybody,” a whole society, that has identified being feminine with caring about how one looks. (In contrast to being masculine—which is identified with caring about what one is and does and only secondarily, if at all, about how one looks.) Given these stereotypes, it is no wonder that beauty enjoys, at best, a rather mixed…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Exposure to the “ideal” body images has been found to lower women's satisfaction with their own attractiveness. (1)…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To sum it up, vanity is becoming a huge issue that is spiraling out of control. It’s becoming too much of a norm that both men and women don’t realize how socialization is “forcing” them into doing harmful things to their bodies. As a society, stereotypes of having the perfect body has to cease. Everybody has to be supportive and accepting of differences. People can’t continue to allow material culture to define what real beauty is. Every body type is made to shine and be acknowledged not criticized or publicly shamed.…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays