The Standard
By: Jacob Herrin Nowadays the media and their ways to display beauty at such a high, almost unsustainable level dictate beauty strictly. Akst and Paglia both discuss the effect that this standard has on society as a whole in their essays. Paglia uses her ability to reach out to the middle aged class audience who are more likely to read her articles and decide on plastic surgery to stay beautiful, where Akst targets everybody as a whole and focuses on multiple ways of improving our appearance by defining what the meaning of beauty really is. Both Paglia and Akst stress the importance of physical attractiveness in the present world. For example, Akst argues that the reason we prefer more attractive people is “hard wired” into our brain and that being attractive helps out immensely (330). Akst even goes as far to say that human’s tendency to prefer more attractive people has got us to where we are today. Paglia also argues that being attractive helps, as people who are more attractive tend to move up in their …show more content…
Looks play a more important role in our everyday lives then we realize. He talks about how being more attractive can get you more money for working, increases your chance of marrying attractive people of the opposite sex, and have a better chance of getting help when in need (330). Akst talks about how looks are even effective in regard to babies. He notes that “babies pay more attention to prettier adults” and how “babies pay more attention to prettier adults who wander into their field of vision” (330). On page 395, Akst talks about how looks have always matter, not just in our present, media influenced one. Suggesting that instead of trying to stop the “looksism”, we should accept it for what it is and realize that this is apart of life that has survived millions of years of
By: Jacob Herrin Nowadays the media and their ways to display beauty at such a high, almost unsustainable level dictate beauty strictly. Akst and Paglia both discuss the effect that this standard has on society as a whole in their essays. Paglia uses her ability to reach out to the middle aged class audience who are more likely to read her articles and decide on plastic surgery to stay beautiful, where Akst targets everybody as a whole and focuses on multiple ways of improving our appearance by defining what the meaning of beauty really is. Both Paglia and Akst stress the importance of physical attractiveness in the present world. For example, Akst argues that the reason we prefer more attractive people is “hard wired” into our brain and that being attractive helps out immensely (330). Akst even goes as far to say that human’s tendency to prefer more attractive people has got us to where we are today. Paglia also argues that being attractive helps, as people who are more attractive tend to move up in their …show more content…
Looks play a more important role in our everyday lives then we realize. He talks about how being more attractive can get you more money for working, increases your chance of marrying attractive people of the opposite sex, and have a better chance of getting help when in need (330). Akst talks about how looks are even effective in regard to babies. He notes that “babies pay more attention to prettier adults” and how “babies pay more attention to prettier adults who wander into their field of vision” (330). On page 395, Akst talks about how looks have always matter, not just in our present, media influenced one. Suggesting that instead of trying to stop the “looksism”, we should accept it for what it is and realize that this is apart of life that has survived millions of years of