Critical Analysis Essay- “The Ugly Truth About Beauty”
Comp 2
Ms. Weeter
9-25-13
Our beliefs of what being attractive means differ from person to person. Even though we all have our own opinions, our minds are all effected by the media and what they thinks qualifies you as being attractive. Most men and women think of their looks in different ways. Men, usually, stick to the same opinion their entire life. Women on the other hand, never think their appearance is good enough. Ever. “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” (1998) By Dave Berry, touches upon what women actually think of themselves and why that is, and how irrelevant most of our efforts are in the eyes of men.
In this essay Dave Berry argues how women spend countless hours on their “beauty” and men seem not to care. He touches upon this by saying “Their primary form of beauty is to shave themselves, which is essentially the same form of beauty care they give to their lawns.” Berry uses exaggeration and humor to make fun of the male and female behavior, and to shed a little light on the beauty industry. When He tries to argue his point he addresses each gender, focusing on young adults. He writes about it in a humorous way, but still keeps it serious enough. Berry talks about the female views of beauty by using a model, Cindy Crawford (as if she were the female standard) and for the men, Brad Pitt. He uses brad Pitt as an example not of how men should be but almost as an example of what they should not be. It felt as if he was implying that Brad Pitt is a pretty boy and he is irrelevant when it comes to the tasks of real men. Barry uses Barbie, and action figures as examples of what men and women think they should be. For the women- Barbie is what they think they should look like. Men on the other hand, think they should act and carry themselves as the action figure would, not necessarily what they should look like.
Barry definitely wrote this article with a purpose in mind,