Lust By Susan Minot

“You sound like a girl.” “You act like girl.” These are some of the words we often hear when men, or even women, try to insult other people in regards to certain actions or attitudes that they show. We live in a society wherein being a girl or effeminate connotes a stereotypical view that juxtaposes to a lower class or a weakling. These simple insults, even if we don’t mean them, does leave a notion in a person’s mind, which could result to harmful psychological effects to one like lowered self esteem. And because of this, plenty around the world suffers from low self-esteem and low self-confidence that could lead to depression, which we all know have endless serious repercussions. It’s a domino effect. What you do to others, others do unto another. “Lust”, a short story by Susan Minot, tackles certain cancers of the society that are passed on to the new generation including the question of self worth, the still existing misogynistic views of people, and the issue on double standards. “Lust” begins with a narrator whose characterization is
She delivers her very on point opinions about cancers of the society and another subject that she talked about is the issue on double standards. The narrator said, “ The more girls a boy has, the better. For a girl, with each boy it’s as though a petal gets plucked each time.” Men could go out topless, for women it is absurd. Men could pose in magazines holding their crotch, but women posing on magazines touching their breast are inappropriate. Women are always expected to deliver something, whether they like it or not. Since we were young, we were taught of what actions are appropriate and inappropriate according to our given sex. This freedom has been taken away from us and made us grow according to the set of standards the society has set for us. Sadly, after for so long, we are still living in a Man’s World and societal pressure seems to be the root of all evil in this