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Building your self esteem and confidence essay
Building your self esteem and confidence essay
Introduction: self esteem
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In today’s society, many people face issues regarding self-acceptance and self-appreciation. This generation especially criticizes people—especially women—for their height, weight, appearance, and personality, which can cause a tremendous amount of self-doubt among women. Is it not wrong that women feel obligated to wear makeup, just to feel pretty? Or even use photo-editing software to change the appearance of their innate features? In Tina Fey’s memoir, Bossypants, Fey consistently criticizes herself for not being funny enough, pretty enough, or even the right size to be on Saturday Night Live. After receiving so much backlash from people all over social media and news sites, Fey regains enough confidence to push through the hate and follow her dreams. Fey …show more content…
ultimately decides to respond to the hateful comments with sarcastic agreement—using her humor to show her audiences that even with constant bullying, it is sometimes best to be the bigger person and not let it bother her.
Responding in such matters is just another way that will never let the bully win. Ultimately, Tina Fey needs one gift: self-acceptance and self-appreciation. Having the self-acceptance and self-appreciation could provide Fey with the confidence needed to perform on stage and the strength to ignore society’s cruel expectations and realize how truly amazing she is. Giving Tina Fey the gift of self-acceptance would be beneficial in giving her the confidence needed to perform live on stage. Almost every time Fey goes to a photo-shoot, she walks in thinking negatively about her body image. In fact, Fey tells her audience, “You must not look in the mirror at your doughy legs and flat feet, for today is about dreams and illusions, and unfiltered natural daylight is the enemy of dreams” (148). Fey is using a metaphor and imagery to reveal to her audience that she does not accept even her own features, as
she describes herself as having “doughy legs” and “flat feet.” Fey also indicates that natural light is the “enemy of dreams” because one can actually see his or her flaws in natural lighting versus bright and artificial lighting. This is the “enemy” because if an actress’s appearance is not 100% perfect, then people will be extremely critical of her model shots. Giving Fey self-acceptance would greatly boost her confidence enough to see herself as beautiful, thus making it easier for her to continue performing live on stage without having to worry about what other people think of her. Another piece of advice that Fey gives her audience when showing up to do a photo-shoot, is that it is best to “show up looking like an uncooked chicken leg and they can’t help but be pleased with the transformation once they get all their makeup on you” (148). Fey’s mention of this simile suggests society’s unrealistic expectations of women. Fey’s main message here is that society views women as disfigured and ugly without a lot of makeup caked on their faces. This way, when someone shows up actually looking natural and “real,” society will be pleased after the makeup artists have completely transformed someone’s face. If Fey were to receive my gift of self-acceptance, she would soon realize that she looks just as good without layers upon layers of makeup. Self-acceptance would tremendously help Fey develop the strength she needs to ignore society’s cruel expectations and realize how truly amazing she is. In the beginning of Fey’s career, she struggled with never feeling “good enough” for SNL. Furthermore, Fey mentions, “SNL is like high school, but at least in high school they tell you when to graduate. It’s hard to push yourself out of the nest” (169). By embedding a simile and a metaphor, Fey reveals to her reader that SNL was drama-filled, stressful, and an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Receiving the gift of self-acceptance and self-appreciation would benefit Fey in helping her realize that she is a wonderful, important part of SNL, and perhaps she would be less stressed. Another difficult part of Fey’s career was trying to find celebrities to speak on SNL. Fey herself is a nervous wreck, so this is obviously a difficult task for her. Fey apprises to her audience that she “would carry around a very specific form of physical anxiety that feels kind of like my heart shrinking up like a raisin” (201). Fey uses this very powerful simile to reveal her emotional distress to her audience when performing such daunting tasks as part of her career. Gifting Fey the gift of self-appreciation would help her come to terms with herself and help her understand how important she is to the show, as well as giving Fey the confidence to ignore what society “expects” out of her to allow her to do her job with confidence. Furthermore, Fey’s struggles of poor body image, self-doubt, and even cyber bullying reveals to her audience that the greatest gift someone can give themself is the gift of self-appreciation and self-acceptance.
In the article “Beating Anorexia and Ganing Feminism,” Marni Grossman shares her experiance of how she overcame her struggle with anorexia through understanding the feminist movement. Marni objectafies the ways in which society’s expectations and ideas of what it means to have “beauty” is having and negitaive impact. I had a very similar experiance to Marni, in fact the first time I hated my apperance was in the seventh grade. I have olive skin and bold brows, features which i was often complamented on, yet hated. Shawn and Lee argue that “there is no fixed idea of beauty”, suggesting how social ideals from society differs depending on the culture (183). I remember A male student was bullying all the females in the class by Inscribing Gender
In today’s world, many people place a huge emphasis upon appearance, self-image and fitting in. Some are willing to go great lengths to gain a better sense of confidence, even though the outcome may come at a great cost. In the short story,“Anointed With Oils”. Alden Nowlan introduced Edith as a young, shack girl who tried so hard to extinguish her past to create a new life for herself. As an uneducated young lady, Edith found it very hard to land a respectable and organized job that she desired. She was embarrassed of many aspects of her life so she always tried to enhance her quality of life and the way she appeared. Edith believed that in order to be a star, she needed to be beautiful but she didn't see that in herself. Changing her appearance
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
Christmastime is a time of joy, peace and love. It is also a time where people put aside their differences, accept one another for who they are and practice unconditional love. Right? Well, apparently not if you happen to lean towards the left politically. After all, there is nothing that liberals won't attack these days. Nothing that is considered out-of-bounds or wholesome enough to be beyond reproach. Case in point, a recent article by Carol Costello, the host of "Across America With Carol Costello" recently penned a piece where she presents the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" as sexist. Isn't that taking things a bit too far?
As Tina Fey learned throughout her life, being able to laugh at yourself is a key component to success. In her 2011 book, Bossypants, Tina Fey constantly pokes fun at herself, but in the best way possible. She discusses her childhood, her awkward stages of growing up, and some of her most embarrassing moments as an adult. By utilizing self-deprecating humor, Tina Fey makes her novel amusing and entertaining—something that contributed greatly to her success as a comedian.
Fey has never been afraid to use her full potential in any project or job she has worked on. She knows how to rule the workplace in a male dominated world. She also shows young people and even adults, that being different, being true to yourself, and loving yourself isn’t wrong, its beautiful. “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” (Fey, 145). She understands the struggles of body image and self-acceptance. Fey encourages determination and strong will to follow your path. “So my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this: when faced with sexism or ageism or lookism or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: "Is this person in between me and what I want to do?" If the answer is no, ignore it and move on” (Fey, 144). Fey is also a powerful advocate for the LGBTQ community, she has stated “I’m certainly more open-minded to people’s differences, and it definitely gave me a wider swath of humor styles. I grew up so much in theater, so the gay community has always been a natural part of who I feel like I’m playing to. When you’re writing jokes, you’re always thinking of your friends.” (Fey, 27-37) Fey donates not just her money, but endless hours of physical support to many charities such as, Autism Speaks, Red Cross,
Women are told that in order to get anywhere in life they must constantly worry about their outer appearance. In Jennifer Weiner’s article, “When Can Women Stop Trying to Look Perfect?” she delves deeply into how today’s society women’s worth is based on how they look. Weiner believes that women who do not meet the standards of beauty do not have as many opportunities.
In the current patriarchal society, modern media – including television shows, television commercials, movies, popular magazines, and even hit songs – often portrays women as tall, thin, and beautiful with perfect skin. If not, women are being told how they can become that ideally beautiful person. From a feminist critic’s perspective, both Colbie Caillat’s song “Try” and the music video that goes along with it offer a distinctly opposite than the societal norm, but still important, message often missing in today’s media.
One day when Holly and the narrator go for a walk through Fifth Avenue on a beautiful Autumn day Holly seems interested in the narrator's childhood without really telling him about her own, even though talking about herself is something she does quite often. "...it was elusive, nameless, placeless, an impressionistic recital, though the impression received was contrary to what one expected, for she gave an almost voluptuous account of swimming in summer, Christmas trees, pretty cousins and parties: in short, happy in a way she was not, and never, certainly, the background of a child who had run away" (54). Holly's character has such a dramatic flair that the reader nor the narrator never really know what to expect from her. On some occasions she will openly talk about outrageous taboos with perfect strangers and on others she will claw like a cat anyone who gets too close to her: "I asked her how and why she left home so young. She looked at me blankly, and rubbed her nose, as though it tickled: a gesture, seeing often repeated, I came to recognize as a signal that one was trespassing" (20). Holly is not only a physical paradox of a girl and a woman, but so is her personality, she has an odd mixture of child-like innocence and street smart sexuality.
To an actress like Melissa McCarthy, her power comes from the ability to make the audience laugh. Women have had to deal with coming in second best to men for years now. For a woman to step foot into a male-dominated genre such as comedy can put an immense amount of pressure on her shoulders, not to mention the risk of failing. Not only do women in comedy have to deal with pressure from the industry, as previously mentioned, they are also burdened with the judgement of their male peers. Comedian Jerry Lewis once expressed his discontent with female comedians stating, “he has trouble with the notion of would-be mothers as comedians” (Coyle).
In the American society, we constantly hear people make sure they say that a chief executive officer, a racecar driver, or an astronaut is female when they are so because that is not deemed as stereotypically standard. Sheryl Sandberg is the, dare I say it, female chief operating officer of Facebook while Mark Zuckerberg is the chief executive officer. Notice that the word “female” sounds much more natural in front of an executive position, but you would typically not add male in front of an executive position because it is just implied. The fact that most of America and the world makes this distinction shows that there are too few women leaders. In Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In,” she explains why that is and what can be done to change that by discussing women, work, and the will to lead.
“To me, beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It's about knowing and accepting who you are. I’m happy being who I am. I’m confident, I live honestly and truthfully.” (DeGeneres 6). This quote is crucial for the reader to keep in mind, for it completely embodies the essence of Ellen DeGeneres, her life, and what she stands for: confidence, honesty, and happiness. This is one example of the many wise and inspiring words of Ellen DeGeneres. The inspiring qualities of Ellen DeGeneres are not limited to her words; her actions inspire and influence the same. Many of these inspiring actions originated from her rugged road to fame. This leads the reader to question: In what ways have the life events of Ellen DeGeneres shaped her into the inspiring person she is today? Taking a closer look at her pre fame experiences, society’s view of her, and her personality, will help the reader answer this question. Thus DeGeneres continues to inspire as well as influence a generation of people in a wide variety of ways
The concept of beauty and racism in modern western society is held to the highest of standards for all of it’s members; including celebrities. The perfect woman is described by Odette (2013), as solely for men’s pleasure and domination. If we look on the cover of any popular magazine, the women are usually: light skinned, slender, and tall. Men on the other hand must be tall and powerfully built. Our culture is valued on the basis of how men and women are perceived by their image, making it impossible for the average man or women to achieve the high beauty standard expected in society. Celebrities play an influential role in the way people view themselves, making the need to look like our favourite celebrities all the more desired. A person's
New York City that is depicted in Taxi Driver seems to be too real to be true. It is a place where violence runs rampant, drugs are cheap, and sex is easy. This world may be all too familiar to many that live in major metropolitan areas. But, in the film there is something interesting, and vibrant about the streets that Travis Bickle drives alone, despite the amount of danger and turmoil that overshadows everything in the nights of the city. In the film “Taxi Driver” director Martin Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader find and express a trial that many people face, the search for belonging and acceptance.
“Why we can't stop body-Shaming.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/04/15/health/fat-shaming-feat/index.html. The article helps support Demetria’s story because it stresses the fact that women cannot be happy without someone commenting on their appearance. Weingarten spoke up, "As a culture and as a society, it will never go away fully, but ... we should try not to be judgmental." Body shaming seems to be more common towards female celebrities like Amy Schumer, Demi Levato, and Melissa McCarthy. It is important to "Remember, you are ALL beautiful. Please don't ever try and look like the people you see in magazines or posters because it's fake." This is exactly what Demetria spoke about in her video addressing her haters. Demetria, like most of the celebrities in the article, stood up against the body-shaming and took pride in her looks. In other words, best said my Jessica Simpson, Demetria didn’t "have anything to prove... What other people think of me is not my business." Demetria was more than happy to show her natural curly hair and curvy