Johnny Phillips
English 101
Summary/Response Essay
October 18, 2016
Man In the Mirror: Beauty Standards for Men
When a woman looks into a mirror, she has one of the two following options: she can appreciate how she looks, or she can hate what she sees. No matter the woman’s choice, the fact is society has trained her into having to make that choice. In an article entitled “The Ugly Truth About Beauty,” author Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winner, addresses the issue of how humans are conditioned to society's standard of beauty. Some points in Barry’s article are ludicrous because he generalizes men saying none of them care about their appearances; however, some other points are accurate, including Barry discussing how men and women do not have the same thought processes behind their appearances.
Women generally have a higher standard of beauty for themselves than men do; therefore, women put in much more effort into how they look. Men do not worry about their appearance nearly as much as women. Generally, a man will deem himself as average-looking and be content with this for the rest of his life; men in general will not go through hours of worrying about the way they look. Contrastingly, women tend to be less satisfied with their appearance and constantly try to improve it. Barry writes, “No matter how attractive a woman may appear to be to others, when she looks at herself in the mirror, she thinks: woof” (Barry par. 6). This constant self-judgement of how women look is caused majorly by self-esteem issues. Low self-esteem in women is attributed to outrageous beauty standards set by society, causing women to compare themselves to barbie dolls and super models. Men for the most part do not compare themselves to others and will find ways to boost their self-esteem instead. While women may be spending hours on making themselves more beautiful, men don’t notice most of the effort women put into looking a certain way. Beauty standards for women are higher than men's because of the way beauty is portrayed in society, men neither care about, nor put as much effort into their appearance as women do.
One argument Barry writes is about most men believing they are average and feeling as if being average is good enough. He shares, “Most men, I believe, think of themselves as average looking… Being average does not bother them; average is fine, for men” (Barry par. 5). As a man myself, I feel that being average is not okay. I always strive to be the most attractive that I can be. If I don’t feel like I look my very best, I don’t look good enough. Sometimes even when I do look my best, I think I can look better. Chapman University conducted a study on 116,356 men; during this study they discovered that 20-40 percent of men are unsatisfied with their bodies (Ledbetter par. 2).
Another argument that Barry shares is women and men have different thought process as to how they look. He writes, “The problem is that women generally do not think of their looks in the same way that men do” (Barry par. 4). Men and women, for the most part, have different ideas of beauty due to what they are told is beautiful. Men are told that they must exert masculinity and have muscles. Women are told that they must stay thin and be pretty.
Lastly, Barry states that men do not care about their appearances and wouldn’t do much to change it. Barry writes, “They would find some other way to boist their self-esteem that did not require looking like Brad Pitt” (Barry par. 9). Contradictingly, in 2015 out of 15.2 million plastic surgeries, 1.3 million of them were men (American Society of Plastic Surgeons par. 2). Those statistic show that men do in fact try to change the way their appearance. In 2015, there was about 23 million men in the U.S. attempting to change the way they looked by getting gym memberships; while, 22 million women had gym memberships. (The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association and Industry Insights par. 1)
While women and men may have differing points of view on how they look, men still do care about their appearance. Dave Barry’s article, “The Ugly Truth Behind Beauty,” is sexist and stereotypical. Men struggle as much as women do, and men try to change themselves just as women do. Men and women alike suffer from confidence issues.
English 101
Summary/Response Essay
October 18, 2016
Man In the Mirror: Beauty Standards for Men
When a woman looks into a mirror, she has one of the two following options: she can appreciate how she looks, or she can hate what she sees. No matter the woman’s choice, the fact is society has trained her into having to make that choice. In an article entitled “The Ugly Truth About Beauty,” author Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winner, addresses the issue of how humans are conditioned to society's standard of beauty. Some points in Barry’s article are ludicrous because he generalizes men saying none of them care about their appearances; however, some other points are accurate, including Barry discussing how men and women do not have the same thought processes behind their appearances.
Women generally have a higher standard of beauty for themselves than men do; therefore, women put in much more effort into how they look. Men do not worry about their appearance nearly as much as women. Generally, a man will deem himself as average-looking and be content with this for the rest of his life; men in general will not go through hours of worrying about the way they look. Contrastingly, women tend to be less satisfied with their appearance and constantly try to improve it. Barry writes, “No matter how attractive a woman may appear to be to others, when she looks at herself in the mirror, she thinks: woof” (Barry par. 6). This constant self-judgement of how women look is caused majorly by self-esteem issues. Low self-esteem in women is attributed to outrageous beauty standards set by society, causing women to compare themselves to barbie dolls and super models. Men for the most part do not compare themselves to others and will find ways to boost their self-esteem instead. While women may be spending hours on making themselves more beautiful, men don’t notice most of the effort women put into looking a certain way. Beauty standards for women are higher than men's because of the way beauty is portrayed in society, men neither care about, nor put as much effort into their appearance as women do.
One argument Barry writes is about most men believing they are average and feeling as if being average is good enough. He shares, “Most men, I believe, think of themselves as average looking… Being average does not bother them; average is fine, for men” (Barry par. 5). As a man myself, I feel that being average is not okay. I always strive to be the most attractive that I can be. If I don’t feel like I look my very best, I don’t look good enough. Sometimes even when I do look my best, I think I can look better. Chapman University conducted a study on 116,356 men; during this study they discovered that 20-40 percent of men are unsatisfied with their bodies (Ledbetter par. 2).
Another argument that Barry shares is women and men have different thought process as to how they look. He writes, “The problem is that women generally do not think of their looks in the same way that men do” (Barry par. 4). Men and women, for the most part, have different ideas of beauty due to what they are told is beautiful. Men are told that they must exert masculinity and have muscles. Women are told that they must stay thin and be pretty.
Lastly, Barry states that men do not care about their appearances and wouldn’t do much to change it. Barry writes, “They would find some other way to boist their self-esteem that did not require looking like Brad Pitt” (Barry par. 9). Contradictingly, in 2015 out of 15.2 million plastic surgeries, 1.3 million of them were men (American Society of Plastic Surgeons par. 2). Those statistic show that men do in fact try to change the way their appearance. In 2015, there was about 23 million men in the U.S. attempting to change the way they looked by getting gym memberships; while, 22 million women had gym memberships. (The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association and Industry Insights par. 1)
While women and men may have differing points of view on how they look, men still do care about their appearance. Dave Barry’s article, “The Ugly Truth Behind Beauty,” is sexist and stereotypical. Men struggle as much as women do, and men try to change themselves just as women do. Men and women alike suffer from confidence issues.
Works Cited
Cohen, Clair. “Donald Trump Sexism Tracker: Every Offensive Comment in One Place.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 9 Nov. 2016,
“Gym Statistics: Members, Equipment, and Cancellations.” FitnessforWeightLosscom, The International Health, Racquet &Amp; Sportsclub
Association and Industry Insights, 2012,
Ledbetter, Sheri. “Chapman University Researcher Examines Body Satisfaction in National Study of Men.” Press Room, Chapman University, 8
Mar. 2016,
Newton, Caleb R. “Trump BUSTED In Racist Slip Up: 'Laziness Is A Trait In Blacks, I Believe That'.” Bipartisan Report, Gfds, 20 July 2016,
“2015 Plastic Surgery Statistics | Plastic Surgery Statistics.” American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2015,
Barry, Dave. "The Ugly Truth About Beauty." Miami Herald. Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 1998. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
Cohen, Clair. “Donald Trump Sexism Tracker: Every Offensive Comment in One Place.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 9 Nov. 2016,
“Gym Statistics: Members, Equipment, and Cancellations.” FitnessforWeightLosscom, The International Health, Racquet &Amp; Sportsclub
Association and Industry Insights, 2012,
Ledbetter, Sheri. “Chapman University Researcher Examines Body Satisfaction in National Study of Men.” Press Room, Chapman University, 8
Mar. 2016,
Newton, Caleb R. “Trump BUSTED In Racist Slip Up: 'Laziness Is A Trait In Blacks, I Believe That'.” Bipartisan Report, Gfds, 20 July 2016,
“2015 Plastic Surgery Statistics | Plastic Surgery Statistics.” American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2015,
Barry, Dave. "The Ugly Truth About Beauty." Miami Herald. Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 1998. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.