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Alice Walker's Beauty: When The Other Dancer Is The Self

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What is Beauty? Alice Walker is an accomplished author who experienced an event in her childhood that defined a large part of her life. In the story “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” Walker describes her life and how a single moment changed her view on herself and the world around her. The adage, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” can be interpreted in many ways and provides an explanation for the views and opinions of Walker throughout the story. Beauty has no true definition because no one person can define what everyone views as beautiful. Beauty is not one thing but many things that are determined by the varying opinions of the human race. “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” is about Alice Walker’s life and how …show more content…

Modern advertisements in the media show a single definition of beauty, which is typically impossible to achieve by the average person. When a child grows up around these pictures of what beauty is they start to believe that these pictures and people are normal and are what everyone should look like. When this child grows up and realizes that they do not look like the people they see in magazines and on TV they begin to believe that they look wrong and that they are not beautiful. This can lead to many issues such as eating disorders and depression. People will sometimes go to extreme measures just to look like the people they see on TV, which is not an easy task. Everyone is unique and no person looks exactly the same as another so people should embrace their differences and perceive themselves as beautiful because of their uniqueness and the fact that no one else looks exactly like them. Beauty is not something that only certain people have but it is something that everyone has because of their uniqueness. Modern media is damaging to the youth of today because of the standard of appearance that is displayed. These children grow up thinking that there is only one way to be beautiful when in fact the standard of beauty they see in the media is unachievable by the standard person. People need to embrace the things that make them different and view everyone as beautiful even if they don’t

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The essay, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” details the life of a young Alice Walker, providing information as to the life, situations, and her thinking process. It begins with the elaboration of her change from a confident, proudful young girl to an older female with self esteem issues and complications trying to appreciate herself after an incident with her brother. These personal issues of hers resulted in negative aspects beginning to arise in her life, and difficulties coping with the new change in her physical appearance. Eventually, she undergoes surgery and is put through a difficult situation with her daughter; both of which change her perspective and have positive outcomes for Walker. These positive changes that Walker eventually creates help from her perspective and create a new outlook on her beauty.

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