Comparing Atwood's Uglies And Gender Disparities

Society and the media have an enormous influence on an individual’s concept of beauty and bodily perfection. Even the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” many people allow the media’s influence into their lives, which is a dangerous thing to allow (Vogel, 2015). According to David Newman, author of Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, society is defined as the “population of people living in the same geographic area who share a culture and a common identity and whose members fall under the same political authority” (Newman, 2010, 18). The people within a society constantly create and add to the pressure already placed on individuals which can severely alter and harm one’s self-esteem. Self-esteem is

In the world which society has created, humans are over taken by appearance. Those who dress nicely are held on a much higher class than those who appear

“In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly”(Scott Westerfeld). In the future, everyone is considered ugly and live in imperfect Uglyville, until they turn 16. The magical age where you get The Operation. The Operation that turns you pretty, lets you live in perfect Pretty Town, and is considered the most important thing in life. In the novel Uglies, written by Scott Westerfeld, he features the dystopian archetypes of a dehumanized state and conformity showing the result of everyone looking and acting the same way so the government can control them and maintain a position of high anarchy.

There is no doubt that this book won’t be read 100 years from now. The book, “Uglies” By: Scott Westerfled is truly a great novel. This book determines that beauty is not all that proves you as a person. Beauty belongs in everyone, everywhere. In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly.

People are judged for their appearance all over the world, every day. People with brown, ragged clothes are assumed to be less intelligent, or homeless. People with long hair are assumed to be female. There are many stereotypes that limit the social actions of many people, and it is not just in real life. Rodman Philbrick shows that these stereotypes are not always true in the book “Freak The Mighty” in the form of Maxwell Cane, Kevin, Loretta, and Iggy Lee. All of those characters are misjudged by others, and in some cases, even by themselves. The message that your appearance does not determine who you are is very important, and applies to everyone everywhere.

As I read Uglies, I consider the topic of acceptance because the message the author is trying to get across is that everyone should just be accepted for who they are. When I read this book, I see a society that needs to change. The place the characters live in forces them to get a surgery to change into what society considers “attractive”. You are called “ugly” or a “pretty” and treated differently based on your looks. In my opinion, this is very wrong. No one should be judged based on the way they look. Everyone should just be accepted for who they are and not be judged by who they are on the outside. Tally says in the book, “What’s inside you, matters more.” I think the author had Tally say that to prove his point even more; that

The central message of this work is that society is obsessed with appearances. The point the author is trying to make is beauty should not be the most important trait of a person. In today’s society everything is based on looks, people are more concerned about a person’s outward appearance. People strive to

In Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, Tally’s change is reflected by her behavior, thoughts, and words and proves the theme that powerful people are not automatically right. In the beginning, Tally acts rebellious; however, she still spent most of her time imagining life as a pretty because it was what the government and society told her to do. In contrast, Tally continues to be rebellious but, she does not see the appeal that being pretty once held for her and no longer wishes to become one. This is shown when Westerfeld writes, “But somehow not being ugly at all… and threw the necklace into the center of the fire” (Westerfeld, 267).

The Uglies is a book where a 16 year old girl named Tally has a big adventure and discovers that being pretty is not what it seems. It takes place in the distant future and could actually happen if you do not play your cards right. In Uglies Tally’s character changes when she arrives at the Smoke, meets David, and sees Shay again. In Uglies Tally’s character changes when she fell in love with David and lost Shay as her friend when David gave her the gloves and she liked him even more: “I got you something” “she opened the handmade wrapping paper and pulled out a pair of gloves.”

Zig Ziglar once said, “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember: The only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” The criticism of appearance causes many people to hide their legitimate self. The superficial life that many people are able to live is not for everyone. Going against one's community is ethical when their judgment of an individual does not allow them to truly be happy.

As I was reading The Beauty Bias, by Deborah L. Rhodes, I came across a statistic that perplexed me, saying the total “annual global investment in grooming” comes to $115 billion (Rhodes, pg. 32). This shocking fact provokes a worrisome question: Why do we, humans, spend so much time, money, and thought on our appearance? As a complex question, there are several equally complex answers. However, the simple answer is that everyone else invests their time and thought into your outer shell, eliciting effort from you to improve what they study - your external image. The concern placed on one’s fashion choice or natural features by society takes away from larger, more pressing issues such as the declining economy, or feeding third-world countries.

Take Kendall Jenner for example; After her Victoria Secret runway show, she told the world that all the models were going to go home and have a pizza party. Also, they show women with eating disorders (that don’t love themselves) that they can be beautiful and be a model. In July of 2013, Kate Dillon did an interview. “In 1991, I was on the small side of a 4-6 and more closer to a 2-4,” Kate Dillon told, a good friend and highly successful model, now a size 10, who was the first woman over a size 8 to be featured in Vogue. She has since graced a number of magazines, runways and campaigns for the better part of 20

Today in the world we see how society is affecting a lot of people, for example in the book “Fairest of all” and in the movie “Snow White and The Huntsman” the Queen had an obsession with the mirror and her beauty. What I have found in the movie is that there is violence, because the Queen would kill many girls just to drink their blood and stay beautiful and young and in the book she sends someone to kill Snow White. This relates to society with a lot of women and girls just because they don’t like how they look or how they think other people see them. And some of them would do whatever it takes to change their appearance. Society is getting carried away by appearances, is sinking even deeper into a sea of criticism, insults or just want to show what is not.

Society follows a norm that requires a general agreement between groups in order to function as a whole. Human beings are social “group animals” (Lessing 1) and need each other to survive with the intention to get along or fit in. These desires to conform “influence our idea about ourselves” (Lessing 1) and people lose a sense of their inner self based on these insecurities. The false concept of ideal beauty of body image is displayed in the media and it pressures young women and men to accept this particular notion of beauty. The role of the media comes into play because it pressures individuals to give in, since they appeal to our need, which is to be accepted. Although, people oppose to media pressuring individuals to conform, it is clear

The show does alert potential models to the harsh world of modeling. Contestants are exposed to the rigors of training which includes physical fitness, weight maintenance, time management and developing and perfecting publicity skills. Once these women become real supermodels they still continue their rigid training on maintaining their physical fitness including keeping their weight to the requirement, continue managing their time well, and updating and enhancing their publicity skills. Some models become very conscious about their weight and their body shape that they become anorexic and bulimic. These eating disorders lead to severe depression. Although supermodels enjoy popularity and recognition for their enviable, perfect body and beauty they are also exposed to negative, heartbreaking competition with other models. As a result of this, they suffer from emotional stress.