A Woman’s Beauty: Put-Down or Power Source?

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The author also compares how a person was looked at as a whole before and today. She says “Several thousand years later, we are more wary of the enhancements of beauty. We not only split off with the greatest facility – the “inside” from the “outside”; but we are actually surprised when someone who is beautiful is also intelligent, talented and good.” Sontag brings this up because she states earlier how before beauty was attached to intelligence but now it is the opposite, it tells us how times have changed. It is the complete opposite now, society now judges based on what is on the outside instead of what is in the inside.

Sontag has also applied some appeals to persuasive audience. According to “They may have resisted Socrates’ lesson. We do not.” The author creates her credibility by using the subject “we”. She includes audience and herself by sharing the opinion. That is called “ethos.”

Society is unfair. There are many things that if both genders do, one will be judged.

Both sexes are held to different standards and they are not judged alike. For example, how often women have to get beauty makeovers compared to how often men need to get a makeover and how different they are to each other. Sontag explains “To be called beautiful is thought to name something essential to woman’s character and concerns.” Here, Sontag explains how exactly the definition of beauty is different for each gender. It makes it complicated that earlier in the essay she explains how men in other countries are called beautiful and it would be okay; but in the states they must be called “handsome.”

Sontag’s argument is that women are sometimes obsessed with their outer beauty that they lose sight of their inner beauty cause of the unfairness of genders in society. I do agree with Sontag’s argument. She uses many examples that I familiar with, and they are often seen in society today. Variety of social media also affect people’s definition or view of beauty. Such as in movies the young actress in a leading role always looks beautiful. And I believe the society is not fair at all since men and women although meant to be equal, they will always have their differences since they are held to different standards.