You Re Ugly Too Analysis

Lorrie Moore’s literary work, “You’re Ugly, Too,” revolves around the story of an eccentric female character named Zoe Hendricks and how her idiosyncrasies impact her relationships with the people she meet in the story. The story does not have a very defined and coherent plot; instead, Moore chooses to compile it from a series of flashbacks, humor, and anecdotes told from third-person omniscient point of view. Through the dialogue, diction and imagery that are associated with this conglomeration, the author assigns Zoe characteristics that are usually associated with men. These features of Zoe become apparent to the reader, who comes to realize that the traits of Zoe do not conform with the traditional gender expectations of women. Along with Zoe, Earl also demonstrates the idea of the crossing of gender roles through his physical and emotional qualities that are usually associated with the opposite sex.

Moore establishes the argument that a person’s sex does not define his/her qualities and temperament. She first does this by revealing Zoe’s detachment from the stereotypical image of a woman. In the text, Moore writes, “She was almost pretty” to describe Zoe’s physical appearance (Moore 353). The diction that Moore chooses to use in the quote, “almost,” brings about the feeling of doubt and lack of conviction towards Zoe’s femininity and her possession of idealistic qualities. Moore notes in the story that women in

Hilldale-Versailles are expected to be Heidi archetypes, and Zoe’s inconsistency with this idealistic image takes away from her identity as a woman. Along with this, Moore also establishes the argument by mingling different points-of-view within the text. She writes, “Perhaps when you had been without the opposite sex for too long, you began to resemble them” (Moore 358). Though this sentence is conveyed through second person point-of-view because of the use of the pronoun “you,” the dominant point-of-view used beforehand had been third person omniscient point-of-view. The sudden transition and blending between points of views correspond with how Zoe stands in between the male and female boundaries, where she physically possesses female characteristics, but inevitably possesses qualities associated with the male sex. Furthermore, Moore attributes to Zoe a growing chin hair, which she initially accepts but later goes to great lengths to get rid of. In the text, Moore writes, “It was there… sharp and dark as a wire” (Moore 358). The visual imagery that is used to portray the hair growing on Zoe’s chin as “sharp” and “dark” as a wire attributes to her a masculine quality that is not found in women. Women, as defined by Moore, are to be as soft and as bearing as Heidi. Yet, the words “sharp” and “dark” strike up a looming mood on the moment in the story and completely dispel any previous impression of Zoe as a suppressed or subdued woman.
In addition, Moore in the story illustrates how one’s identity is built entirely upon what he/she experiences and not what is assigned to him/her in the form of gender and sex. Moore writes, “She stabbed again at her chin, and it started to bleed a little...she pulled the skin tight… gripped the tweezers hard… and tugged” (Moore 368). In this quote, Moore uses a combination of kinesthetic imagery and diction—through the use of words “stabbed,” “bleed,” “pulled,” “tight,” and “tugged”—to showcase the feeling of desperation that Zoe experiences, thus exemplifying how much of an impact her chin hair has on her. In the process of trying to remove her chin hair, Zoe releases a wave of desperation and frustration that has been built and compiled in her from the very beginning of the story. Though she is a woman, Zoe lacks many of the features that help to identify a woman and acquires much of what is associated with the opposite sex—such as her growing chin hair. Although she initially accepts this growth and overlooks it, she eventually chooses to eliminate it as a way to hide from her fears of not being able to fully become a woman. Moore also undertakes the topic of infertility through the growth in Zoe’s abdomen in order to help establish the argument that identity is not defined by gender. She writes, “Zoe’s insides came on the screen in all their gray and ribbony hollowness” (Moore 359). Visual imagery is used to describe Zoe’s abdomen as “gray” and hollow, which represents bareness and emptiness and alludes to the idea of infertility. Though she is a woman, Zoe lacks the ability to reproduce and thus forms her own isolated identity from the generalization that is usually given to people of both sexes. Besides using Zoe, Moore also uses Earl to demonstrate the idea that gender cannot identify who a person is. She writes, “‘Tell me, really, what you think about love’” (Moore 368). Through dialogue, Moore showcases Earl’s dreamy and hopeful approach towards the idea of love. The word choice that she uses, “tell me,” evokes a feeling of naivete and innocence, as if Earl is ready to believe and rely on whatever Zoe labels love as. Although Earl is a man, Moore uses dialogue to reveal that he does not share the same masculine approach towards life as other people of the same sex do. Rather, he shares more of the whimsicality and passion that are usually associated with women. The crossing of gender roles is evident in this example, since Earl defines himself through his action and speech.
The crossing of gender roles in “You’re Ugly, Too” is evidently displayed by its characters, Zoe and Earl.

Both characters are made intentionally to fail to become the archetypes of their genders. However, these two characters portray the inner mentality of all people; that we, regardless of sex, all possess some kind of trait that distinguishes ourselves from others. In other words, no one can truly reach absolute femininity or masculinity; we will always acquire at least one characteristic that traditionally associates itself with the opposite

sex.