Body Image In John Updike's A & P

“Only God Can Judge” Teenagers are insecure, judgmental creatures. Both of these characteristics feed off of each other to establish a mess of a human being. We (teenagers) will tear someone else down in hopes of building ourselves up. One thing that has remained constant over time is the way teenagers highlight each other’s physical features, as well as how insecure they are about their own. The short story “A&P” exemplifies the way humans observe the female body. In this piece three girls come to shop at a grocery store wearing nothing but bathing suits. The narrator illustrates an image of each the girls, portraying everything from the bone structure in their faces, to their skin tone, tan lines, and the way they walk. Additionally, the narrator describes the older women in the store; denoting their varicose veins, and rugged faces. The human body attracts a lot of attention, consequently, not all of that attention is presented as praise. As a matter of fact, I feel that the narrator was criticizing the girls bodies rather than approving them. In the end of the story, the manager of the store refuses to serve the
inadequately dressed girls once they arrive at the cashier's line; comparable to the way an administrator denies young high school students the opportunity receive education due to a shortcoming of modesty. In “The Story of My Body” Judith Ortiz explains her experiences of how she never fit into society throughout her youth. This story clarifies the insecurities that dictate teenagers lives. It also indicates how hard teenagers make other teenagers lives. “..my rougher classmates called me Skinny Bones, and the Shrimp..” (Cofer 77). Ortiz is explains her insecurities in four categories; complexion, skin color, size, and looks (as far as beauty is concerned). She elaborates her self doubt about her skin when discussing the scars left behind from chicken pox. In addition, her skin dark enough that she was treated with the disrespect of a minority. Yet, her skin was too light for the minorities to claim her as their own, therefore leaving her in an isolated state. Furthermore, Ortiz was also uncommonly small; consequently making her the subject of most jokes. This determined her as the notorious “last-pick” during gym class. To add to her lack of beauty, Ortiz portrays her mother to be very beautiful. “My mother’s beauty may have had something to do with how much attention we got from strangers..” (Cofer 81). Owing to the fact Ortiz is a spanish last name, her first date with a boy was revoked by the young man’s prejudice father; adding to Ortiz’ absence of self confidence. Ortiz discovered her escape from the cruel world of self shaming once she attained adulthood; generating many of the vulgar stereotypes directed towards teenagers. Both of these stories theme’s of body image are still present in society today, moreover it is flourishing among teenagers.
“A&P” displays the manner in which we observe other’s physical features. As well as how adults treasure dictating the way inferior teenagers can express their body’s. “The Story of My Body” clearly represents the approach teenagers take in examining their own body’s. Which, more quite frequently does not occur in a favorable manner. I feel that this issue would be resolved if others would simply withdraw from suggesting flaws to others. Works Cited
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Story of My Body.” Schmidt and Crocket 77-84.
Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik, and Lynne Crockett, ed. Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. 5th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning Wadsworth, 2013. Print.
Updike, John. “A&P.” Schmidt and Crockett
103-107.