Example of a Satire: Vanity
Katy Laverdiere
Pd7
March 2, 2013
Satire: Vanity
How does one measure beauty? Is it measured by the depth of an individual’s personality, or perhaps by the goodness of a person’s heart? Of course that would entail actually having to interact with someone longer than the casual glance and judge routine we have spent generations mastering. No matter how twisted, cracked, and deformed a person’s soul may be doesn’t matter, as long as they have enough cosmetics to cake on and can afford some minor surgery that is. In today’s society we measure beauty through what we see and what we are told is beautiful, because deciding on our own would just be too difficult. Thankfully we have the influence of things like television and celebrities to guide the way into the glamorous world of beautiful people. Because who cares if the majority of your beauty could be removed with a moist tissue and you haven’t seen food in a week as long as you look pretty.
While I myself, along with the vast majority of women and even some men, take the time each day to painstakingly wrestle my bed head into submission and smear on that second skin of cosmetics, I find myself wondering why we feel the need to do this. We constantly compare ourselves to others around us, spending money on miracle creams and cosmetics that we hope will somehow make us more acceptable to society. Do we honestly believe that loosing those last ten pounds and taking that extra time to cover up every flaw will somehow make people like us more? That fitting into size 0 jeans is more important than being comfortable in a bigger size? However with thin being “In” most clothing lines don’t exactly try to accommodate anyone over a size 4 or curvier than your average flag pole. The way beauty is measured is bizarre if anything, in some cultures having an outrageously long neck or having many piercings is attractive. In our culture we consider beauty being boarder line anorexic and having so much makeup on that a sudden
Pd7
March 2, 2013
Satire: Vanity
How does one measure beauty? Is it measured by the depth of an individual’s personality, or perhaps by the goodness of a person’s heart? Of course that would entail actually having to interact with someone longer than the casual glance and judge routine we have spent generations mastering. No matter how twisted, cracked, and deformed a person’s soul may be doesn’t matter, as long as they have enough cosmetics to cake on and can afford some minor surgery that is. In today’s society we measure beauty through what we see and what we are told is beautiful, because deciding on our own would just be too difficult. Thankfully we have the influence of things like television and celebrities to guide the way into the glamorous world of beautiful people. Because who cares if the majority of your beauty could be removed with a moist tissue and you haven’t seen food in a week as long as you look pretty.
While I myself, along with the vast majority of women and even some men, take the time each day to painstakingly wrestle my bed head into submission and smear on that second skin of cosmetics, I find myself wondering why we feel the need to do this. We constantly compare ourselves to others around us, spending money on miracle creams and cosmetics that we hope will somehow make us more acceptable to society. Do we honestly believe that loosing those last ten pounds and taking that extra time to cover up every flaw will somehow make people like us more? That fitting into size 0 jeans is more important than being comfortable in a bigger size? However with thin being “In” most clothing lines don’t exactly try to accommodate anyone over a size 4 or curvier than your average flag pole. The way beauty is measured is bizarre if anything, in some cultures having an outrageously long neck or having many piercings is attractive. In our culture we consider beauty being boarder line anorexic and having so much makeup on that a sudden