Analysis Of Appearance Obsession By Bell Hooks

Alright that’s it; you just lost your phone.” I painfully surrendered my phone to my mother. But it wasn’t for a bad grade or any other typical teenage mishap; the cause was simple: makeup. Sure I was old enough and had any right to wear it, but her reasoning always remained the same, “Leah, you are too beautiful to wear makeup”. These words I heard over and over again as a child, but I questioned whether other young, African American women were told the same thing. In “Appearance Obsession” published August of 1995, in Essence Magazine, Bell Hooks stresses how much African American women are spending to look good. The pressures to fit into Western culture can turn into an obsession over their outward appearance. Bell Hooks believes that “the schism between how we view ourselves and how society perceives us, leads to poor self-image and low self-esteem among many Black women, making our lives a breeding ground for "appearance obsession."”(Hooks 1). Hooks challenges women to see beauty as physical health and emotional well-being. I agree with Hook’s stand on the pressures that many African American women face to fit into the stereotypical idea of beauty, but …show more content…
The emotional strength daughters receive from their mothers, help prevent them from conforming to the harsh, often critical Western culture. But as for many cases, beauty is taught by example. The mother has the ability to empower her daughter just by the model she portrays. If mothers start to discourage things such as make up or plastic surgery, young women will be forced to seek beauty in themselves rather that trying to obtain it. Daughters should learn from their mothers how beauty is less often portrayed by appearance, and that society’s opinion doesn’t define who they are. Once a young woman has the capability of building her self-esteem, the world is less capable of tearing it