Masks By Grealy Analysis

In Gary Soto’s short story “The Talk” he reveals how society values appearance way too much. The main characters discuss about how their appearance affects their self-esteem, mindset, and their future jobs. The characters start out discussing their appearance and call themselves ugly, “We were twelve, with lean bodies that were beginning to grow in weird ways. First, our heads got large, but our necks wavered, frail as crisp tulips” (par.2). The boys talk about their appearance as if they were really awkward when in reality they probably don’t look like the way their describing themselves.

Due to the standards set by the media, I felt as if I could never be pretty. As I got older, I began to appreciate my skin and body more. I began to understand that not everyone is perfect and that the people displayed by the media aren’t an accurate representation of an average person. I realized that it doesn't matter what other people think of my appearance. I recognized that as long as I was happy with my image, no one else’s opinion mattered.

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…”).

It is something I didn’t and I’m sure a lot of people don’t know much of, like the author points out. It didn’t surprise me because with her overcoming what she did it makes sense that she would want to help and be sympathetic towards others with handicaps, especially those becoming handicap because of the class they are in. I feel like the answer to why her adult life isn’t in public memory is answered in the reading when it says, “her conversion to socialism caused a new storm of publicity – this time outraged” (Loewen 14). The public, and I’m sure the government, didn’t like that she became a socialist.

Being slim along with nice hair and a car is now almost a perceived requirement to get a job in today’s society. Years ago people could get a job from hard work and dedication, now it seems as if people do not reach a high visual standard their work will go unnoticed or almost lucky to get a job. Eating disorders are at an all-time high right now while females’ health is on a down fall. Places such as Hollywood have ignored the connection between image and illness. (Goodman)

Her essay is about her life, and her illness is just one piece of her life. She is not happy to have a disability, that doesn’t change her personality. Mairs cares about appearance even she limps. She tries to wear nice dresses, paints her nails, because she doesn’t want other people to think she needs helps. Grealy doesn’t want to be alone, but Mairs does.

So when people look and see that they don’t look like they’re favorite super-model it can put a downer on their self-confidence. This causes many girls feeling that they aren’t good enough in society, society won’t accept them because they aren’t perfect and they start to not like their body. When for many females they can’t lose as much weight as their friend can just because of their genes and how they were born. “The lack of connection between the real and ideal perception of their own body and firm willingness to modify their own body and shape so as to standardize them to social concept of thinness…” (Dixit 1), being focused on unrealistic expectations can cause women to lose themselves and change their attitude on how they view their body, and not for the better.

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.

Her medical issues and the struggles she went through in her early life made her see the world in an unselfish way, which definitely affected the stances she took in her writing. Hopefully humanity starts to see the world through her eyes, and people will be kinder to each other as a

Fatima Mernissi was born into Middle- Class family is Fes, Morocco of 1940. She earned her doctorate in 1957 studying political science at Sorbonne and at Brandeis University. Afterwards she returned to work at the Mohammed V University where she then had taught at the Faculte’ des letteres between the years 1974 and 1981 mainly on subjects such as methodology, family sociology as well as psych sociology. She earned her title as a well-known Islamic feminist that was greatly concerned with Islam and women’s role in it. Fatima Mernissi had conducted thorough investigation of the nature of the succession of Mohammed in order to verify what was written in the hadith. Fatima Mernissi’s works include: Dreams of trespass: Tales of a harem Girlhood, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World, and the well-known as well as her first Monograph, Beyond the Veil, which was published in 1975. It has become popular book in fields such as sociology and anthropology of the women in the Arab World.

It is clear that there is a loss of individuality when it comes to beauty. This is evident to see through social media and dating apps that are based on appearance, which is turning individuals highly superficial in relation to what is physically beautiful. Famous figures and social media influencers, for example the Kardashians, portray idealistic beauty standards. By these influencers selling products as well as themselves and their brand, consumers believe the gimmick that if they buy a product indorsed by their favourite celebrity, they will be one step closer to achieving what Eco describes as ‘the good and the beautiful’. However, this proves to have negative effects on self confidence, signalling that one has to conform to how a heavily social media influenced society perceives

The definition of someone’s identity is the distinct personality of an individual. There are a lot of factors that determines someone’s identity. Things such as your race, role in society, and your faith. Throughout our lives, we seek out people who we can identify with. We reach out to others and learn from interests they have and we evaluate their responses to us.

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).

Meaghan Ramsey's TED Talk "Why thinking you're ugly is bad for you" is a powerful speech about low body confidence. Ramsey talks about how society's pressure to be perfect is one of the main reason for young girls' (and boys') low body confidence and how these feelings of low esteem can impact their lives and futures. I chose to analyze this speech because I have experienced low body confidence and I have felt those feelings of low self-esteem. In Meaghan Ramsey's speech "Why thinking you're ugly is bad for you", she discusses how low body confidence is undermining academic achievement, damaging health, and limiting the economic potential of today's youth who are growing up in a world of social media. Ramsey has a strong start to her speech, using a photo and a story about her niece to gain the attention of the audience.

Popular models such as Kendall Jenner and Alexis Ren is known for their ‘perfect’ bodies. They post daily of their ‘fitspo’ images, gaining millions of likes and compliments. These compliments about their appearance support the importance of body image in how you are judged as a person. These images, send a destructive message about their appearance as well. Ms Morgan stated that ‘appearance-based talk and body comparison can be unremitting, with little understanding of how detrimental it is for self-esteem and mental-health’.