Two Or Three Things I Know For Sure :: essays research papers fc

Two or Three Things I Know For SureAllison illuminates the fact that we as women must appreciate each separate and ourbeauty before we can truly cherish other forms of beauty around us. Two or three thingsI know for sure, and one of them is that of we argon not beautiful to each other, we cannotknow beauty in any form(86). We are so conditioned to see female beauty as what mensee as beautiful, that we arrogatet even know what it means to us. If we can get to the pointwhere women feel beautiful even if they dont fit the societal ideal, it will allow us to openour minds to all other forms of beauty. Morgan asserts in her article, Women and the Knife, Rather than aspiring toself-determined and women-centered ideals of health or integrity, womens attractivenessis defined as attractive-to-men...(119). This ties in to a story that Allison tells in herbook about a conversation with her babe. She had always thought her sister was beautifuland was jealous at the attention and admiration i t entailed. Many women are envious ofwomen that men view as beautiful...even lesbian women who possibly would have adifferent view of female beauty. Society ingrains in everyone what the standard of beautyis so much that we dont even know why we commit it. As Allison talks with her sister,she discovers what it meant for her to be attractive growing up. She was constantlyharassed by boys and goaded by mothers and sister who didnt want her near their sonsand brothers. pot assumed that she thought she was better than them, without herhaving to say a word. So while Allison wanted to be just homogeneous her, she dealt with ...thehatred that trailed over her skin like honey melting on warm bread(78). Though thisstory points out that beauty has its cost as well, the power of organism beautiful holds a greatdeal of weight in our society as individuals and social beings....a womans pursuit of beauty through transformation is often associated withlived experiences of self-creation, self-fu lfillment, self-transcendence, and being cared for. The power of these experiences must not be underestimated(Morgan, 120). This is amajor reason so many women are now choosing to have cosmetic surgery. But, asMorgan likewise points out, elective surgery is now becoming less of a choice for women. As more and more women transform their bodies into societys ideal control of femininity,the higher the standards become. If women begin seeing many other women having