Finding My Eye-Dentity Analysis

South Korea is the world’s plastic surgery capital with advertisements littering the walls of subways and increasing similarities in outward appearance among the workforce. Pressures are on for South Koreans and other Asians as family members nag and job applications routinely require an attached picture (Marx). Because of increasing interconnectedness and plastic surgery, cultural views in Asia have evolved into a unique blend of personal and societal preference that may be partially associated with Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks”. Contradicting popular belief, the culture of Asian plastic surgery is not intended to ‘Westernize’ the outward appearance; the general aim of face-altering-life-changing procedures is unique in its style and connection

‘How beautiful you look,’ the people said. ‘How beautiful she looks’” (36). Fa Mu Lan has to dress as a man, because in China she is not allowed to fight in an army. She pursues what she wants even though she must dress as a man to do so. Fa Mu Lan decides to do what she wants to do without regarding what society thinks she should do because that’s what will make her

Imagine being told as a female in today’s world you must look or act a ¬¬certain way in order to be accepted. Being what you want to be is not allowed and changes have to be made in order to be included. They say “pain is beauty, and beauty is pain” as they way a woman looks today are completely different from ten or even fifty years ago. In this paper, the reader will understand the mind of a woman in today’s society and the difficulties to be not only accepted but being her own person as well. Not only has the appearance of a woman changed but also role titles and job descriptions as well.

In the essay What Meets the Eye, Daniel Akst argues that look or beauty does matter in the daily life, that is, people’s life can be largely influenced or even controlled by look. Through reading Akst’s essay, I completely understand how people have different perspectives of others, as many people pay attention to and worry about how they look in the daily life. And people tend to judge others by their beauty or looks to a large extent. Akst’s ideas quite conform to and reinforce Paglia’s points that pursuing and maximizing one’s attractiveness and beauty is a justifiable aim in any society, and that good surgery discovers reveals personality. Both of them hold the idea that beauty plays an important role in people’s life and it is significant to enhance one’s beauty and attractiveness.

Molding Expectations At one point or another, everyone has felt insecure about the way they look or apprehensive about how people see them. Throughout every stage of life we’re expected to act a certain way, to dress appropriately, and to respond properly in social environments. What happens when someone doesn’t fit the norm? In the article “Masks” Lucy Grealy shares an emotional story of depression, isolation, self-worth, and loneliness because of how she looks.

We all have different perceptions of people, just the same as the people who came before us. Every decade in America’s history since at least 1900, there has been a change in what society defines as beautiful. For example, in 1900-1910 the Gibson Girl was what everyone wanted to be. She was created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson (“Body Image…”).

Not Just a Bowl Beauty is one of the main foci in society today where selfies, beauty enhancement or plastic surgery, celebrities, and the media reign over society—constantly defining what people should aim for in terms of appearance. Appearances are everything to many people rather than inner beauty such as character and values. In turn, this beauty-obsessed world has led to people becoming more shallow, superficial, and unaccepting towards anything besides the “norm.” It is quite ironic to have a “norm” considering how each individual is different and live in different cultures and such. People are not meant to be or look the same neither should they adhere to a certain standard in which someone else has established.

Proud of my tomboy heritage, I’d dogmatically scorned any attempts to look pretty or girlish. A classmate named Karen had once told me I was beautiful, and by the third grade two boys had asked me to be their girlfriend, all of which bewildered me (62) While there is a common transition among pre-pubescent or pubescent children to an increased concern in appearance, it is evident that Grealy’s fixation on her outward appearance takes an unnatural turn. Being a cancer survivor undoubtedly changes one’s self-perception. Initially, Grealy pursued affirmation and acceptance from her

The narrative “Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit” written by Leslie Marmon Silko develops the central ideas of beauty and cultural inheritance by using three structural elements: reflection a voice in first person point of view and vivid flashbacks. She accepts her differences as a Laguna Pueblo and being part white through interactions with different individuals in her life. Silko relies heavily on her strong memories with the use of these structural elements as she makes her story about beauty and cultural inheritance clear, convincing and engaging. Silko also uses reflection to bring up an important event from when she was a child.

According to Britton (2012), last 2008, YWCA USA developed a report Beauty at Any Cost wherein they discuss the consequences of beauty obsession of every woman in America. It shows that beauty obsession results from a decrease in the level of self-esteem. It also gives a problem to the Americans because it’s also putting a dent in their pockets. It states that because of those cosmetics many people have decreased the level of self-esteem because of those cosmetics.

Claudia recognizes that if we conform to the Western standard of beauty, we may gain beauty but only at the expense of others. However, Claudia learns to love Shirley Temple; Claudia “learned much later to worship her” (Morrison, page 16) This suggests that the idea of beauty is something that is learned and not natural or

The media portrays these unrealistic standards to men and women of how women should look, which suggests that their natural face is not good enough. Unrealistic standards for beauty created by the media is detrimental to girls’ self-esteem because it makes women feel constant external pressure to achieve the “ideal look”, which indicates that their natural appearance is inadequate. There has been an increasing number of women that are dissatisfied with themselves due to constant external pressure to look perfect. YWCA’s “Beauty at Any Cost” discusses this in their article saying that, “The pressure to achieve unrealistic physical beauty is an undercurrent in the lives of virtually all women in the United States, and its steady drumbeat is wreaking havoc on women in ways that far exceed the bounds of their physical selves” (YWCA).

Beauty deceives. Those who look the most beautiful end up acting shallow and judgmental, but people who appear unattractive at first glance turn out to show the greatest beauty. People cannot always define comeliness as a well-proportioned face, long, silky hair, or a slender body; it can come in the form of hard work, emotional strength, humor, or intelligence. The Samurai’s Garden, written by Gail Tsukiyama, features a theme of finding underlying beauty in people and objects typically viewed as ugly.

I realized that society determines what it means to be beautiful, through social media, Hollywood, and advertisement. In her essay, McIntosh discuesses her personal experiences and with it she invites the reader to partake in her apprehensions and fears of what it means to have privilege. While reading the essay, It has been brought to my attention about how I am being viewed within a different standard because of the way I look. McIntosh illustrates how she was “as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture” (31). Sometimes, I too have even been put on a pedestal, not because my have made an accomplishment, but because I stand out doing so.

However, an individual’s cultural standards have an influence on their perceptions of beauty. For example, an