“A Woman’s Beauty” by Susan Sontag

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Research Question
Interpretive Argument about the Primary Text
Representation of the Primary Text
Representation of Second and Third Texts
Connection Between “A Woman’s Beauty” and “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery”
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

To the majority of women, the term “beauty” evokes mixed reactions as they strive to put it in context based on who, where, or when the phrase has been used. Most women have been conditioned, through societal constructs, to seek elusive elements associated with being beautiful. Women have been enduring this form of suffering for years because society has placed some demands and set standards on what or who can qualify as beautiful. Unfortunately, such societal concepts of beauty are mainly associated with superficial aspects, such as the size of breasts and hips, length of legs and hair, and the skin complexion, among other trivial body appearances.

This assertion explains why beauty is rarely associated with being intelligent. Sontag claims that such perceptions have become common because the inside, which entails character and intellect, is normally separated from the outside looks of a person (1). This paper is an interpretation and representation of Susan Sontag’s text – “A Woman’s Beauty–A Put Down or Power Source” as the primary source, and it uses a secondary text, “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery” to understand why some women focus on their physical appearance by going for cosmetic surgery.

Research Question

The issue of plastic surgery has become popular in modern times as some individuals, and especially women, seek to enhance their physical appearances. One of the unanswered questions regarding this trend is the underlying reasons why some women choose to pay attention to their different body parts, such as breasts, waistline, face, nose, skin complexion, and other features. According to scholarly arguments by thinkers such as Sontag, societal pressures and forces compel women to focus on their appearance to meet the set standards. In this case, the research question is – What are the social factors that force some women to focus on their physical appearance to the extent of undergoing cosmetic surgery?

Interpretive Argument about the Primary Text

In the text, “A Woman’s Beauty–A Put Down or Power Source,” Susan Sontag highlights the varying standards of beauty between women and men. According to Sontag, Christianity took away the central place of beauty in human excellence ideals (1). The excellence of beauty was limited to moral virtue only, thus making the concept arbitrary and alienated superficial enhancements. As such, societies started associating beauty with women, hence the emergence of phrases such as “a beautiful woman” and “a handsome man.” Therefore, beauty is now ingrained in women’s character, which encourages females to become narcissistic, dependent, and immature (Sontag 2).

On the other hand, men are perceived to be strong, competent, or effective, but such characteristics are rarely associated with their female counterparts. Sontag asserts, “In men, good looks are a whole, something is taken in at a glance. It does not need to be confirmed by giving measurements of different regions of the body; nobody encourages a man to dissect his appearance, feature by feature. As for perfection, that is considered trivial-almost unmanly” (2). However, women do not enjoy such privileges as they are expected to appear in a certain way in pursuit of perfection.

Women are expected to fragment their bodies into different parts, whereby each is evaluated separately and compared to a perfect social construct. Sontag laments that women are conditioned to see “their bodies in parts and to evaluate each part separately. Breasts, feet, hips, waistline, neck, eyes, nose, complexion, hair, and so on—each, in turn, is submitted to an anxious, fretful, often despairing scrutiny. Even if some pass muster, some will always be found wanting. Nothing less than perfection will do” (2).

As such, women are forced to change the appearance of some of their body parts in a bid to fit into societal standards. Sontag’s claims are reliably backed with verifiable research findings. For instance, in a study by Calogero et al., it was established that 90 percent of the interviewed 3,300 women and girls wanted to change at least one aspect of their bodily appearance (259). The participants noted that the reason for yearning to change certain aspects of their physical appearance was the need to conform to the universally accepted standards of beauty. This assertion is in tandem with Sontag’s argument that becoming and staying beautiful is a fulltime work for women.

Beauty in women is associated with power. However, Sontag observes that such power is only conceived in relation to men, and thus “it is not power to do, but the power to attract (3). Besides, this nature of power is the only form that women are allowed or encouraged to seek. According to Barthel, “For women, beauty has been one route to achieving social status. By “marrying up,” the beauty can wave good-bye to her humble origins and gain recognition and security among her betters” (87).

Unfortunately, such kind of power is self-negating, and women cannot choose or renounce it freely without societal censure. As such, women are damned if they do, and if they do not (Sontag 3). This assertion holds because women are expected to be caretakers of their bodies, but they are disparaged for being superficial. Consequently, to women, beauty becomes a form of oppression because what they are is inferior to what is expected of them.

Ultimately, women decide to undergo plastic surgery to rectify the areas that are allegedly flawed in the quest to achieve the standard body appearance. In a study carried out in the United States and Britain, some women claimed that good looks were important, hence the necessity for plastic surgery (“Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery” 178). The lingering question, in this case, is to whom good looks are important. However, Sontag clarifies that such attempts are made to make women more appealing to the men’s eyes.

Representation of the Primary Text

In “A Woman’s Beauty–A Put Down or Power Source,” Susan Sontag explores the implications of the term “beauty” to the female gender. Sontag argues that women are highly valued, assessed, and judged based on their looks, as opposed to their intelligence and abilities. On the other hand, men are judged based on their brainpower and other abilities apart from physical appearance. Sontag structures her work in a way that allows deep analysis and understanding of the evolution of the concept of beauty in society. The author presents her ideas by integrating historical and religious components that have been shaping beauty over the years.

In ancient Greek society, during the times of Socrates, physical appearance was highly valued, and Sontag uses this analogy to explore the importance of beauty among women in the modern era. By structuring her writing to start with an ancient example of the value of beauty, Sontag positions her arguments to communicate the social constructs associated with beauty. She states, “For the Greeks, beauty was a virtue: a kind of excellence. Persons then were assumed to be what we now have to call – lamely, enviously – whole persons” (Sontag 1). The author effectively compares perceptions of beauty in the ancient Greek culture to the present social constructs of the concept.

The young Athenians in ancient Greece would not understand why Socrates – a brilliant, intelligent, brave, and honorable man, would be so ugly. Sontag notes that as the young Athenians, people in the modern era are surprised when they encounter a beautiful, intelligent, and talented individual (1). Through such comparisons and analogies, Sontag communicates clearly about issues surrounding beauty in the present times.

Sontag incorporates the aspect of religion to discuss how beauty has evolved to be associated with women. She writes, “By limiting excellence (virtus in Latin) to moral virtue only, Christianity set beauty adrift – as an alienated, arbitrary, superficial enchantment” (Sontag 3), and such a perception links beauty to women, but not men. Consequently, beauty becomes an essential part of a woman’s character, and females are obligated to appear beautiful.

The author discusses the many challenges that women face in an attempt to remain beautiful based on the societal standards of the concept. Sontag then compares women’s experiences with their male counterparts. She says, “In men, good looks are a whole, something is taken in at a glance. It does not need to be confirmed by giving measurements of different regions of the body; nobody encourages a man to dissect his appearance, feature by feature” (Sontag 2).

The author moves from one idea to another as she develops her essay and arguments for the reader to follow easily. By using evidence-based arguments, Sontag uses a structure that facilitates her tone to express her ideas on how beauty disproportionately affects women. This aspect improves the credibility of her arguments. Without such an approach of comparing her thoughts with what is already known, Sontag would be accused of using rhetoric to address such a critical social issue.

Representation of Second and Third Texts

The second text, “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery,” is a roundup of different reports on the issue of plastic surgery from different parts of the world. In one of the reports, it is noted that men who normally go for penile enlargement normally have normal penises (“Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery” 175). However, they suffer from psychological dysmorphism, and thus they think that they have small penises. This aspect relates to Sontag’s argument that societal demands pressurize women to look at beauty from the outside.

In this case, men with normal penises going for enlargement have been conditioned to think that a large male organ is a sign of masculinity and authority. In another report, women in Brazil claimed that they preferred plastic surgery to correct deformities on their bodies, especially their breasts. This article is closely related to Sontag’s argument that women are forced to see their body parts as fragments that should measure up to certain standards.

In the Brazilian case, the said women prefer breast enlargement to attain the societal standards of the definition of beauty. In the US and Britain, feminists argue that cosmetic surgery is “evidence of women’s self-hatred and troubled relationship to a sexually objectified body” (“Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery” 178). This observation is closely related to Sontag’s claim that what is “accepted by most women as a flattering idealization of their sex is a way of making women feel inferior to what they actually are-or normally grow to be” (2). In both texts, women are presented as victims of beauty, which is a form of self-oppression as they strive to achieve societal standards and definitions of the term.

The third text is “Beauty Status/Social Status” by Diane Barthel. The author argues that women use beauty to attain social status and power. Once some of the beautiful women marry rich men, they use wealth to purchase expensive materials as a symbol of power and status. This argument is in line with Sontag’s view that women seek beauty as a way of gaining power. She says, “To be sure, beauty is a form of power. And deservedly so” (Sontag 3).

However, this kind of power can only be defined and attained with men in the picture. It comes out as the power to attract, and its possessors (women) cannot renounce or choose it freely without social backlash. The text by Barthel uses numerous examples of how wealth is used as a sign of social status. Beauty products give women a form of transcendence in the promise of happiness after buying and consuming the same (Barthel 91). The two texts by Sontag and Barthel focus on the lies that women have been fed concerning beauty in modern times.

Connection Between “A Woman’s Beauty” and “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery”

The text, “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery,” highlights some issues that are closely related to Sontag’s writing – “A Woman’s Beauty.” In her essay, Sontag claims that women are taught to view their body parts as separate entities, with each having to achieve certain standards of perfection. As such, if a woman’s breasts are not big enough to attain the set beauty standards, she will undergo plastic surgery to fix that problem. In the article, “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery”, women support Sontag’s views. For instance, in Lebanon, women “fall in the vortex of continuous image alterations by means of plastic surgery, leading to the creation of “lookalike” females” (“Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery” 177).

Similarly, in Brazil, women opt for abdomen and breast cosmetic surgeries to attain given body figures and sizes as defined by beauty in the modern era. In most of the reports published in “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery,” women say that they undergo plastic surgery as a way of dealing with their fears of not looking beautiful enough according to societal standards. This assertion confirms Sontag’s view that women’s bodies are seen as objects of admiration. Both texts assert that some women focus on their physical appearance by undergoing cosmetic surgery to rectify parts of their bodies that do not meet the societal standards of beauty. Therefore, such women go for surgery because they feel incomplete because they are preoccupied with the external façade of achieving a seemingly unattainable beauty ideal.

Conclusion

The idea of beauty has evolved over the years, and in contemporary times, it affects women disproportionately. Sontag explores the different aspects of beauty together with their implications on women in comparison with their male counterparts. Women are judged by their looks, and thus they strive to meet the set standards at any cost even if it means going through cosmetic surgery. The other two texts, “Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery” and “Beauty Status/Social Status” support Sontag’s views in many cases. Ultimately, women go for plastic surgery to fix parts of their bodies that appear to be below the standards of beauty set by society.

Works Cited

Barthel, Diane. Putting on Appearances. Temple University Press, 1988.

Calogero, Rachel, et al. “The Impact of Western Beauty Ideals on the Lives of Women and Men: A Sociocultural Perspective.” Body Beautiful: Evolutionary and Sociocultural Perspectives, edited by Viren Swami and Adrian Furnham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp. 259-298.

“Round Up: Cosmetic Surgery.” Reproductive Health Matters, vol. 18, no. 35, 2010, pp. 175-181.

Sontag, Susan. A Woman’s Beauty–A Put Down or Power Source, 1975. Web.

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