Obsessed

"The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly." It took me a while to figure out that Miner was actually discussing America rather than some random old civilization, but now that I understand the real meaning behind the piece, I have to say I agree. Throughout his essay, Miner takes a different approach to illustrate the obsession that our nation has; he takes us to an outsider's perspective to help us realize that all Americans have an unhealthy fixation on self-image. Everything we do revolves around looks: spending a great deal of time in front of our mirror in the morning, buying medication so to seem as healthy as possible, even going to the dentist to fix our teeth. Miner asserts that if we don't do these things, we feel as though our relationships will be ruined. In a way, this is true. Although I don't really believe that many people would leave someone's life just because of how they look, in some cases society sets unrealistic standards for how people should look. Though this can happen to men, I believe that this is especially prominent for women. Looking back to "There Is No Unmarked Woman," if a girl were to wear sweats and no makeup, she would be judged harshly. On the other hand, if she were to wear more makeup and a cute outfit that made her feel good about herself, she may be labelled unfairly. Horace Miner was absolutely correct in criticizing the American society for our obsession with looks.