The Theme Of Outward Appearance In Barbie, Utahna Faith's Toasters

Humans are capable of many expressions of emotion, but holding this ability also allows for many people to hide what they are truly feeling within their own minds. Those who shield their emotions from others around them frequently do so in order to protect either themselves or their loved ones from the pains that may occur in life, both in a society and in a family. In Pamela Painter’s Toasters, Jose Padua’s poem Barbie, Utahna Faith’s short story All Girl Band, and George the Poet’s One Number, the recurring theme of outward appearances not reflecting the mindset of the speakers is illustrated.
In her short story, Toasters, Pamela Painter is able to effectively portray a mother’s heartbreaking decision to conceal the truth of her marriage

The world of young adults is a complicated landscape, with cliques and a desire to fit in. This push for conformity stretches not only through behavior, but more noticeably through the apparel worn by youths. At the beginning of the story, the narrator states that she and her friends are in “trouble,” but they “do not know what [they did], and [they are] sure [they] did not mean to do it” (103). This fear of the unknown continues throughout the entirety of the story, and readers can infer that the crime the girls have committed was simply dressing out of the norm for their age. The narrator also mentions that she is “white-skinned, ebony-haired, red-lipped, and ethereal,” far different than the expectation for her being “suntanned, golden-haired, peach-lipped, and earthbound” like her mother had been (103). As time repeats itself, so too do the fashion trends popular among the masses, and the look that the narrator’s mother portrayed was the same as the look her daughter is expected to adhere to. This is not the case, though, and because of her and her band’s choices in clothes, the narrator feels ostracized by not only her peers but her father as well, who “looks at [them] without moving his mouth or turning his head” as they leave the house (104). This reaction, or lack thereof, indicates that the father disapproves of the choices his daughter has made about how she dresses, but feels as though it is not his place to criticize her. The ending line does an excellent job at summarizing the angst felt by most teens as the narrator and her band feel as though “[they] are right to turn [themselves] in” to the pressures exerted by their peers to comply to what is expected of them (104). Just as women’s individuality is torn down by the pressures