The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Woman - Essay Example

Eddie Johnson English 110 Dr. Anderson September 18 The concept of beauty is one which often leads to struggle, specifically because beauty is labeled as asserting a specific concept. In the essay by Alice Walker, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self,” there is an understanding that beauty is defined by assertions from society. This is one which contradicts what personal beauty is or the perspective which one has about their image. The examples which Walker displays show how the unidentified beauty and the loss of a specific image lead to struggles by those who don’t fit a specific identification.

This is based on the social, cultural and gender specific concepts that relate to how one looks at themselves and perspectives which aren’t as common for beauty. The main theme that Walker shows is one which is prominent in society and which shows how beauty is often limited by the beholder. There are several examples where different ideas get in the way of beauty. Walker struggles with the image of beauty because it doesn’t fit the expectations of society and is often regarded as problematic as the self has a different image than society expects.

Walker shows this with the eye that has gone through an accident and doesn’t withhold the same amount of beauty. When confronted with this, Walker has to re-identify her own beauty according to social standards. For instance, when being interviewed, she holds against the social stigma and her personal affiliations with beauty. “It’ now thirty years since the accident. A beautiful journalist comes to visit and interview me. She is going to write a cover story for her magazine that focuses on my latest book.

‘Decide how you want to look on the cover,’ she say. ‘Glamorous, or whatever. Never mind the glamorous, it is the whatever I hear” (Walker 3). This example shows the confrontation with beauty as a social standard as well as a perception that alters according to one’s own belief about their beauty. The concept which Walker presents is based on the ideology of the myth of beauty. The myth begins with her hearing the ‘whatever’ with what beauty means and coming to terms that her eye takes away her belief that she can be beautiful.

At the same time, the glamour myth is one identified by the cover of a magazine in which everyone should hold a specific stigma toward beauty. The main concept is one which builds the myth of what it means to be attractive in life and how one should look when they are in a given environment or area. The concept is one which is known to begin in childhood with each child having associations with what beauty should mean from an early age. This then leads to concepts of whether one believes they can uphold this beauty as adults while creating a sense of attractiveness, leading to behavior differences and psychological associations based on self – image (Langlois, et al 390).

In the essay by Walker, there is an understanding that the myth of beauty is one which she doesn’t hold because of social standards and from society. The question which is raised by Walker is with the definition of beauty and what it should mean. The question of the self with beauty and the identity which is upheld in society become the main two points of the essay. Walker moves this into an understanding that the beauty is only seen from the internal identity and from others who don’t have the stigma.

For instance, Walker shows a reference with a three year old who is looking at the same eye. The question isn’t of beauty as the child has no social reference. Instead, the child looks at the eye as it is beauty and states “Mommy, there’s a world in your eye” (Walker, 5). The perspective change is one which proves that the concept of beauty is identified by society and what the expectations are. The difficulties that Walker has are from self perception that comes from the psychological identity taught throughout time.

The accident and the change that occurs from a different perspective becomes the beauty and becomes the world that is held, as opposed to having the same similarities and standards that are expected to withhold the identity of beauty. The concept of beauty is one which becomes withheld by the stigma that one should be identified by social standards and expectations. The result is a psychological association with beauty and alterations in self – esteem according to what one believes (Crocker, 15).

In Walker’s essay, there is an understanding that the identity of beauty through the self and society is reflective of standards that limit true beauty. When looking outside of this standard and without being taught what beauty should mean the perspective changes. One is able to understand that beauty is from looking at the reality of how one looks and by understanding the true beauty which comes from the individual and the differences that one has and which others have not identified. Works Cited Crocker, J.

“Social Stigma and Self – Esteem: The Self Protective Properties of Stigma.” Psychological Review 57 (1), 1989. Langlois, Judith, Lisa Kalakanis, Adam Rubenstein, Andrea Larson, Monica Hallam, Monica Smoot. “Maxims or Myths of Beauty?” Psychological Bulletin 126 (3), 2000. Walker, Alice. “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self.” In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Routledge: New York, 2003.