essay eval
I took an essay evaluation test for Univ. of Cal. Schools. You write an essay based on one of four topics, and submit it like you would write an essay to get into a college. They give you feedback, I have 'STRONG WRITING SKILLS'. Which, they say, is college level.
Here is my prompt:
"Images of beauty-both male and female-are promoted in magazines, in movies, on billboards, and on television. Explain the extent to which you think these images can be beneficial or harmful."
Images of people used in television, movies, and billboards are extremely harmful to both men and women.
If you haven’t already been subject to the Hollywood hype, you must be living under a rock.
Children young as four are exposed to the image of a
‘normal’ or a ‘perfect’ body type. They hear it on the playground, “You’re too fat!” “You have big ears!” “Four eyes!” and my personal favorite, “Metal Mouth.” But who is corrupting our children’s minds with the idea that there is something ‘wrong’ with their peers? It couldn’t be the parents who tell them ‘play nice’, and certainly not the teacher who sticks up for the little guy. Instead, point your
fingers at your children’s role models.
“Role models? But my child has a wonderful role
model!” or so you say. Long gone are the days when
little Billy looked up to his father and wanted to ‘be just like him.’ Instead, we are in the era of media hype. Whoever the media frenzy is centered on this week, is Billy’s big hero. Take the teen pop star Eminem. Many young people idolize this man; he
came from a poor family, became famous and
produced two Grammy winning albums for his musical talents. Sounds good right?
Wrong. In his music, Eminem promotes the idea of beating, raping, and killing, women and homosexuals. He promotes drug use, and even the murder of his mother. Yeah, he sounds wonderful.
At a different approach to all of this, take the popular show “Bay Watch.” Your thirteen-year-old daughter who is already self conscious of her rapidly changing body is sitting down to an afternoon of television after a hard day at school. She will see approximately 8 women that she will never look like. They are big breasted, and in perfect shape to look good in that bikini as a
lifeguard. What are we putting into her head, the
image of beauty? Everyone knows that beautiful people are on television, and in movies. So it would only be logical that in order to be beautiful, you need to look like the people on television. Right?
The media is setting a ‘subliminal standard’ if you
will, to everyone who buys into it. They are telling us that thirty is old, thin is in, and you will always get the girl in the end. They are telling the men, that women need to be a size three, with
large breasts, and an invisible waistline in order
to be gorgeous. They are raising the bar for 'average' women everywhere and making it impossible for some of them to achieve those odds. The saddest thing is that women buy into this lie.
Most of the people on television spend countless
dollars and hours remaking themselves. Plastic has
done wonderful things for
our society. Created artificial limbs, made things
safer, and don’t forget that silicone breast. But, do we want the psychological damage that comes with
the ‘perfection’?
All of this plastic we put into our bodies to make ourselves feel better, in turn makes others feel worse. Anorexia and Bulimia became more and more present with the re-making of societies 'imperfections. How can
any of this benefit us?
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