Image Is Everything

Image is everything The piece “The Bully in the Mirror,” by Stephen S. Hall, talks about the ongoing issue of appearance amongst young women in society and the disturbing trend amongst teenage men that has been rapidly growing. It also talks about a young man, Alexander who became obsessive with his appearance. In my opinion, it is crazy how fanatical people get over looking their finest. Alexander said, “The more you life the more you look in the mirror,” (419). Hall talks about how when researching Alexander, as a young child he was made fun of for his weight even by his parents (418). It is amazing how fixated the public can get over their appearance, but having work out commercial after another it is hard not to get obsessive. By reading further, I learned that Alexander is not only one more individual infatuated with his exterior, but he is only sixteen years old. “Since roughly 90 percent of teen agers who are treated for eating disorders are female, boys still have a way to go,” says Hall (420). That doesn’t go to say that men don’t get eating disorders, it is just more common in women. Also, there hasn’t been enough research done about the real facts and figures about an ideal male body. “Katherine Phillips, a psychiatrist at the Brown University School of Medicine, has specialized in ‘body dysmorphic disorder,’ which is an illness in which patients become obsessively preoccupied with perceived flaws in their appearance” (421). Hall then goes to describe the flaws that Katherine Phillips is talking about. Some of which include the size of a man’s penis, facial imperfections, and even inadequate musculature (421). I really am intrigued by this topic Hall talks about because on a regular basis I don’t think about the issue and how many people are affected by it. Not only is one affecting themselves, but it must affect the people around them because they see them struggle on a daily basis. The writer then goes in to telling the story of Harrison G. Pope Jr.

Cited: Hall, Stephen S. “The Bully in the Mirror.” Dialouges. Ed Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. New York: Pearson, 2006. 418-424.