The Impossible Standards of Perfection
In today’s modern society it is known for people to be a little too concerned with the way people perceive them. What do you think when a person says they want to be perfect, do you think appearance, money, knowledge, or maybe even social status? The pursuit of perfection should not be a standard of modern society due to the effects it has on one’s health and social life.
While the pursuit of perfection is having a negative effect on the pursuer, the world is constantly evolving with new science and technology. Due to this constantly evolving world, people want to look the best, make the most money, be the smartest. “The quest for perfection highlights an obsessive streak and an absolute intolerance of human flaws.” (Maio 1). Humans have flaws, they are the example of imperfection, that is what makes us who we are. Life itself is a brilliant thing, and no technology should make people think otherwise.
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Beauty is a concept that many people acknowledge as opinionated.
Even though scientist have made studies saying that “...the top 15% of beautiful people are 10% happier than the bottom 10% of looks.” (Howard 2). My question is, who decides where people are placed on this scale? Out of the billions of people in this world there are different opinions among those people. One person might think a person to be very attractive while another might think they are very unsightly. This study also contrast the attractiveness of people to their own joy. Normally in today’s society if one is a kind respectable human being then that person will most likely have friends with a very stable social life. In my opinion it doesn’t matter if you are attractive or not, if you're a nice person then you will most likely be
joyful. “Some fastidious persons--but they were exclusively of her own sex--affirmed that the bloody hand, as they chose to call it, quite destroyed the effect of Georgiana's beauty, and rendered her countenance even hideous.” (Hawthorne 2). As the author states that people will always judge each other based on their appearances this could be a reason to why many people are obsessed with the idea of perfection but as the end of The Birthmark represents a human must have imperfections to be human and after Georgina lost her birthmark, which was her only imperfection. She had died because she was considered to be perfect, and that is the problem many people try to be today. Humans are not meant to be perfect. While Georgina had one imperfection to her perfection. Her birthmark was the only symbol setting her apart from what people strive for in today’s contemporary society, perfection. Perfection is perceived as one idea that people strive for. This might be striving for intelligence, money, attractiveness, or even joy. The strive for perfection should not influence the way you grasp how you live in society.
In the short book, Being Perfect by Anna Quindlen, Quindlen shares her wisdom of the term “perfection.” She discusses her personal experience of being “perfect” when she was younger and tries to persuade the readers that being “perfect” is not worth the hardships, but finding and expressing someone’s true personality and character is. Striving for “perfection” can fog people’s mind in acting contrary to their true selves. For example, people begin to expect the ultimate best out of one another and begin to lack the understanding of others. All people should learn to give up the unreachable goal of being flawless because everyone makes mistakes; it is the way in which people handle their mistakes that makes their true personality shine.
Today, our culture demands us to be perfect, thin, powerful, successful, smart, extraordinary, but when people begin to try achieving them, we start labeling them as narcissists. The problem is that it is impossible for anyone to please everyone. Brown defines narcissism as simply a “fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose” (22). Before giving out labels, it is wise to practice asking ourselves questions to clear the intentions and reasons of someone’s behavior. For example, teenagers posting pictures of themselves online to gain some attention reveals that the culture has taught them that they are as lovable as the number of likes and comments they get on social media. Negative feedback roots into negative thinking about vulnerability and causes them to shut themselves down and never show their real selves again. Encouraging others to believe that they are perfect as themselves, will plant a positive attitude in them and push them to pursue their goals and visions to fulfill their dream of a happy
Perfection is what many people attempt to achieve in there lives, yet none do. It is the ideal result to the hard work and toil each person does, in order to become greater than they are now. Within literature, characters may seem perfect but upon closer inspection, are deeply flawed. This is the case in the three pieces of literature; Oedipus the King, My Last Duchess, and Death of a Salesman. All three of these prove that fact that “Perfection is like a dream. When people finally see the flaws, they wake up and the dream ends.”
The constant pursuit of being perfect, including covering oneself with innumerable coats of makeup and going on extreme diets, is an enormous problematic that is attributable to deep feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem among girls. Given that nobody is capable of being entirely perfect, the aspiration to be that is unrealistic, and hence infeasible. This is exceedingly damaging because the incapability to attain this objective can give rise to feelings of major unhappiness or even depression. Consequently, it is crucial to call a halt to such a destructive goal. One of the most ground-breaking individuals who has made the attempt is the famous singer, songwriter, and actress, Alicia Keys. With her essay
Sandel, Michael J. "The Case Against Perfection." Atlantic Monthly. April 2004: 50+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 May. 2014.
Being beautiful, being perfect, is what most of society cares about in this day and age. For example, people value getting rid of any to all imperfections, like having a bit of baby fat, or getting rid of scars. People are put down by the comments of strangers, and more so the comments made from people of their inner circle. People feel ugly and hate themselves for things that they have no control over. Some do radical things to get rid of these imperfections by getting surgery or taking pills. Even though not all people judge minor blemishes the view of one’s self is the most important view a person could have, and if that identity is under attack it could ruin a person 's self confidence. The story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne also has aspects of self-confidence and identity that are relevant to the current times.
This quest of perfectionism not only happened to Aylmer, it is also happening in today’s world. Perfectionism has taken over people’s mind. For example, teenage girls want to have bigger butts like Nicki Minaj, and flawless faces like Beyoncé. They would spend their
From Plato's The Republic to Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto, the search for a perfect social state has never stopped; its ultimate goal of achieving a human society that exists in absolute harmony with all due social justice, however, has proved to be woefully elusive. The pure concept of a utopia can be theoretically visualized as a perfect geometric circle: one that is seamless, all-inclusive, yet impossible to draw out in reality.
... if we give appearance and look the importance they do not deserve. In today’s world, children kill themselves, celebrities use drugs, people fake personality because they think that they don’t fit the standard and they don’t want to be judged and view based on the way they look and who they are. We are all different so to enjoy each other differences and learn from one another, we should take away those imaginary standards and live by each other free and confident.
Most people have indulged in the perfect wine, made love to the perfect person while possibly wearing the perfect outfit. Or have they? Is there a such thing as perfection, if so can we attain it? No. Nothing in this world is perfect because it is impossible to create perfection. According to Plato's Theory of Forms, perfection cannot exist in the physical world but only the realm of the philosophers; the ones who choose to lurk deeper in the veiled mysteries of metaphysics.
“No one is perfect and everyone is different, but everyone one is beautiful in their own way and that's what makes us special.”-Unknown. This is a very true principle, nobody is perfect. This is why...
is hotter or colder, but never actually tell what the absolutes are. This is a
The current society that many people live in has many flaws. It is sickening. Criminals that kill another human being get placed in prison for their entire life. He/she should not have that luxury. They should be killed, because murdering someone is wrong.
There is no surprise that people who are considered to be generally and overall more attractive, pretty, beautiful or just plain hot get better treatment or opportunities than those who are less attractive, pretty, handsome, hot, etc. in comparison. Although there is the saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” humans tend to subconsciously reward these people for their amazing facial features. Not only does the human brain want to physically reward these attractive people but it also wants to reward itself for simply looking at the attractive person.
In today’s society, beauty and perfection is being striven for like never before. Confronted with all the “beautiful” celebrities and photo-shopped magazine pictorials, women are facing an unrealistic expectation of how they should look. If they don’t have a thigh gap or a lean stomach, girls feel commensurate with themselves and try to change how they look just to appeal to society. How often have we been told as children that beauty on the inside is all that matters, yet we see and live by different statements. We live in a shallow culture based on looks. Look at all the celebrities we see. How many of them actually have talent or are worth such a high status if they did not have their looks? I wish I could say that there was a time period where this statement was not true, but it can’t be said, with the key example being Marge Piercy's poem, “Barbie Doll”. She wrote this poem in 1973 and its message on body image can still apply to today's time period.