Dr Peggy Drexler Beauty And The Boy Summary

According to the article “Beauty and the Boy”, Dr. Peggy Drexler, a research psychologist, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Weill Medical College, Cornell University and author of two books, claim that young men are pressured by the media to appear more masculine and aggressive and suggests boys will perform better in society with the absence of that stress. Dr. Drexler began with a statement explaining that society is applying pressure on both young girls and boys to look a certain way. She continued by saying that the false portrayal of male aesthetic is difficult to avoid because, on a daily basis, boys are engulfed by Magazines, advertisements, and other media outlets, all displaying the same body image. Dr. Drexler state that boys live in a society where muscle building is encouraged and dieting and grooming are condemned. This idea, she added, cultivates a system where girls are expected to be fragile and decorative, whereas boys tough and stoic. Dr. Drexler closes by suggesting boys who don't feel pressured to fit in

their gender roles will grow up to be “more independent, more open-minded, and more sexually tolerant than their peers.” (2)
Dr.

Peggy Drexler’s article is effectively organized with a striking introduction, strong body paragraphs, and a persuasive conclusion. Introductory paragraphs are supposed to be convincing and make the readers continue reading, this being said Dr. Drexler opened her piece marvelously with a relatable anecdote of a self-conscious individual, thus capturing and sustaining our attention. In Drexler’s first body paragraphs, she solidified her argument by jumping directly to the evidence validating her claim. Dr. Drexler continued her article with a more liberal structure, blending personal thoughts, individual confessions, and statistics to justify her assumptions. This freedom truly strengthen her argument making Dr. Drexler appear more passionate and concerned about the topic. Lastly, Dr. Drexler provides a cogent conclusion with consequences of gender-based roles and benefits of the absence of those societal

expectations.
Dr. Drexler provides compelling, but inadequate evidence. The evidence she provided were credible, with studies from NYU’s research center and reports from various pediatricians, but the main conundrum is her lack of quantity and underutilization of her . There is only 2 concrete evidence in her article one being NYU’s Child Study and the other, National Mental Health Research Center. In addition, Dr. Drexler did not provide further interpretation of her evidence, instead, she just utilizes 1 quotation from each source. Despite that, she kept her article well organized and did not repeat her, already limited evidence. In her article she uses 2 personal synopses from 2 male individuals, which might be interesting, however, it would be insufficient in representing the whole dynamics of her argument. Dr. Drexler did, however, had her 2 synopses far apart, which is an excellent technique to avoid redundancy in her article. All in all, Dr. Drexler should provide extra sources of confirmation in order to make her argument more persuasive and the evidence could be further exploited to maximize the effectiveness of her article.