How Reading one Composition Affects the Reading of Another - Essay Example

How Reading one Essay Affects the Reading of Another When reading an essay about a certain topic, one is more or less being asked by the to see things from the author’s perspective. When reading another essay on the topic, from a different perspective, one is inclined to still feel sympathetic to the essay written by the first author and read first. The topic of this paper, is how the reading of Liz Jones’ essay What I Think of the Fashion Industry can help us to better understand the somewhat veiled misogynism in an essay entitled The Natural Beauty Myth by Garance Franke-Ruta. Essentially, Jones argues vehemently on behalf of women and their health while Franke-Ruta not only disregards this aspect but mocks those who actively protest the manner in which women are treated and objectified through unattainable expectations, in the fashion industry. In Jone’s essay, she briefly explains that she herself worked in the fashion industry but had always felt strongly about ultra-thin women being the ideal portrayed. She found herself at a fashion show on one particular occasion amidst waif thin teenagers and quickly made the decision to discontinue her work as a fashion editor, “My decision to quit was partly precipitated by the failure of a campaign I started a year ago to encourage magazines, designers and advertisers to use models with more realistic, representative body images. Then I could not have anticipated the extraordinarily hostile reaction to my fairly innocuous suggestions from fellow editors and designers” (Jones, 2008). Jones had attended a summit on women’s issues and had the opportunity to hear from some of her magazine’s readers. These young readers of all shapes and sizes expressed how detrimental the ideals set forth in fashion magazines had adversely affected their lives. Jones is moved by the words of these young women as she so strongly feels that the fashion industry berates women, promotes unrealistic body types and essentially works against what women have been working toward for so long such as equality and the right to not be objectified. Reading Jone’s accounts from the fashion world as well as the opposition she faced by most of her collogues, when attempting a campaign to include more “normal” female body types as models instead of virtual skeletons as a norm, would incite anyone to feel compelled to rally alongside her. Following the reading of Jone’s piece with the article by Franke-Ruta entitled The Natural Body Myth, would possibly compel anyone not completely chauvinistic, to be repulsed by Franke-Ruta’s words, “Such a critique, which we hear over and over today, is based on a conceptual error. The beauty industry is not the problem; it is a part of the solution. American women today are the victims of a more insidious idea, an idea that underlies the American obsession with self-esteem: the tyrannical ideal of ‘natural beauty’ (Franke-Ruta, 2008). Obviously, Franke-Ruta admits that there is a flaw in the system, but attributes not of the problem itself to the fashion industry. Part of Franke-Ruta’s argument is based on the fact that American women are more obese today than they have ever been. This is attributed by Franke-Ruta to the message of “self esteem” that is widely taught and accepted. Indeed women should be encouraged to accept themselves for who they are but Franke-Ruta basically calls this a cop out or an excuse women may use to let themselves become overweight or obese, “over the past century, American women have changed their shape. Most noticeably, they have gained so much poundage that, today, more than half are overweight and a third are clinically obese. The sharpest spike in obesity has come since the late 1970s. There are all sorts of reasons, of course--from the rise of corn syrup as a sweetener to the increased portion sizes of our daily meals and our increasingly sedentary styles of life. And yet the doctrine of "natural beauty"--so favored by the self-esteem brigades of the 1970s and still confusing women today--asks women to accept themselves as this unnatural environment has made them”(Franke-Ruta, 2008). Fundamentally, having read Jones’ essay before reading Franke-Ruta’s, would probably not make too many people any more sympathetic to Jones over Franke-Ruta. Specifically, if read by anyone who has any compassion to the way women are treated and viewed. If anything, having read Franke-Ruta’s essay after reading Jones’ would only serve to illustrate Jones’ point that many if not most, in the fashion industry, are pushing unhealthy and shallow principles on women and their bodies. Ultimately, the solution to the strict criteria set by the fashion industry according to Jones is to change the ideals and criteria starting with designers and Hollywood, “Its time for the industry - the photographers, the editors, the casting directors, designers and the advertisers - to wake up and allow women to just be themselves. From the phone calls and letters I received at Marie Claire, I know that women are fed up with feeling needlessly bad about their wobbly bits”(Jones, 2008). On the flip side, Franke-Ruta’s summations are indicative of someone who although a woman herself, essentially defends the idealism that is so damaging to women, “Only in America do we think that beauty is a purely natural attribute rather than a type of artistry requiring effort. Look at the French: They are no more beautiful as a people than we Americans, but they understand that every woman can be attractive--if not beautiful--if she chooses to be. Yes, we are given forms by nature, but how we choose to present them is a matter of our own discretion”(Franke-Ruta, 2008). The type of statements made by Franke-Ruta are simple semantics defending the type of thinking that promotes eating-disorders. Women face severe scrutiny in today’s society based on their size and physical appearance. Many women have a tragically poor self image whether attractive or not. Women such as Jones have worked in the fashion industry and seen first hand, the terribly cruel attitude and judgment of women. She has taken a stand by advocating women’s rights to self acceptance. Unfortunately, Franke-Ruta has not only bought in to the idea of “no pain, no gain” but is pushing it harshly to her readers. The concept of health and caring for one’s self is important and should not be underestimated, but there is a difference between staying fit and healthy versus living on a Nazi concentration camp diet and a boot camp work our regimen. More likely than not, any individual who values women as important as well as takes women’s health issues seriously, would have an affinity for the essay by Jones more so than the essay by Franke-Ruta, no matter what size the reader is. Works Cited: Franke-Ruta, Garance,. The Natural Beauty Myth Jones, Liz, What I think About the Fashion World, Read More