Essay Example on Susan Bordo's Beauty(Re)Discovers the Male Body
Kim Thon
English 110
10th September 2013
I’m sexy and I know it: Why shouldn’t I?
I feel like there has been a change since Susan Bordo’s “Beauty (re)discovers the male body” when it comes to acceptance for men to care about their appearance. Bordo is claiming that for a long time it has been okay for men to view revealing pictures of women, but that it’s new for women to view revealing pictures of men. She talks about men showing themselves naked in pictures as a taboo. Men aren’t simply comfortable watching other men without clothes. I believe it is more accepted now, than it was when Bordo wrote the essay. I believe this is because of the homosexual-community, and that it’s more accepted in today’s society, but it may also be because men has just gotten used to it. Of course there are some pictures that still make a man uncomfortable. It is still not really normal for a heterosexual man to look at a picture of another man portrayed in a sexual way, but I think this will change over time. I think self-confidence is the main key to progress. If you’re confident in yourself, there’s no problem experimenting with what you wear. And I think that men today are more self-confident than they were before. When Bordo wrote her essay, a well-dressed man would be considered homosexual. Today, I think a well-dressed man is considered even more masculine, just because he cares about his appearance and has the courage to be different.
In “Honey, what do I want to wear” Bordo states that men doesn’t know how to dress themselves, and that they need a “girls touch” or opinion to decide. “I’m damn well gonna wear what I want. … Honey, what do I want” (Bordo 209). Isn’t the normal man capable of dressing himself? I feel like this has changed since Bordo’s “Beauty (re)discovers the male body”. I feel that men have become more independent in how we dress, and it is more accepted now for men to experiment with what they wear. For example a man wearing a pink shirt, this
English 110
10th September 2013
I’m sexy and I know it: Why shouldn’t I?
I feel like there has been a change since Susan Bordo’s “Beauty (re)discovers the male body” when it comes to acceptance for men to care about their appearance. Bordo is claiming that for a long time it has been okay for men to view revealing pictures of women, but that it’s new for women to view revealing pictures of men. She talks about men showing themselves naked in pictures as a taboo. Men aren’t simply comfortable watching other men without clothes. I believe it is more accepted now, than it was when Bordo wrote the essay. I believe this is because of the homosexual-community, and that it’s more accepted in today’s society, but it may also be because men has just gotten used to it. Of course there are some pictures that still make a man uncomfortable. It is still not really normal for a heterosexual man to look at a picture of another man portrayed in a sexual way, but I think this will change over time. I think self-confidence is the main key to progress. If you’re confident in yourself, there’s no problem experimenting with what you wear. And I think that men today are more self-confident than they were before. When Bordo wrote her essay, a well-dressed man would be considered homosexual. Today, I think a well-dressed man is considered even more masculine, just because he cares about his appearance and has the courage to be different.
In “Honey, what do I want to wear” Bordo states that men doesn’t know how to dress themselves, and that they need a “girls touch” or opinion to decide. “I’m damn well gonna wear what I want. … Honey, what do I want” (Bordo 209). Isn’t the normal man capable of dressing himself? I feel like this has changed since Bordo’s “Beauty (re)discovers the male body”. I feel that men have become more independent in how we dress, and it is more accepted now for men to experiment with what they wear. For example a man wearing a pink shirt, this