Dallas Floyd
Jordan
English 1302.4062
30 March 2012
Essay
There are extreme self-esteem issues around the world. From boys to men, girls to women, everyone is affected by their, or someone else’s, comments towards how they look that day. When looking at “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy and “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde, one must decide whether they take criticism from others, or if they critique themselves to the point of no return. In “Barbie Doll” the girl takes shots from her peers about her “…great big nose and fat legs” up to the point where she cuts her nose and legs off and dies (1. 6). But in “Hanging Fire” the girl puts so much pressure on herself to conform to the sociological norm that she begins to think suicidal thoughts, wondering if she “will live long enough/to grow up” (3. 32-33). The mental aspect of self-esteem can have two categories, bringing others down and one bringing themselves down. When younger, one’s mindset is caring about what others think about to fit in with the “cool group.” But leading up to the teenage years, one starts to care less of what others say and judge themselves, which leads to one feeling uncomfortable in their skin. The criticism from peers and critical thoughts of oneself could lead to suicidal thoughts or worse, death. If one separates self-esteem into two categories of how they affect lives, one would get that friends could cause a low self-esteem and one could cause themselves to have a low self-esteem. At an early age, mentally, one wants to be able to please their friends and be able to fit in well. So one would dress and act in ways that would make them cool. But if there were flaws to their appearance, peers would make fun of them