Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Philosophy Shallow America Shallow America How people see others is a shame, especially the younger they are. It is said kids say the meanest things, and that is often very true. Self-confidence is made or crushed at a young age. How we see ourselves is important to who we are according to Lucy Grealy, an award wining poet, “it is our sense of how we appear to the world by which we chart our lives”(84). A person has to be comfortable with who they are and not who they aren't. It is only when they realize this then they can become who they are themselves. It seems that we are brought up that if we are not like others we are an outcast to be made fun of. It is obvious in high school people had to keep up with what was popular. Natalie Kusz, a Harvard Professor, recalls if ”popular patty wears contact lenses, then you will by gum get contacts too”(101). Why should people have to pretend to be someone that they are not to fit in? Growing up in a small town where everyone knew everyone people could not really express themselves, and if they did they were considered a freak. People in high school feel “that we can most be ourselves by looking like someone else”(Grealy 85).If you do not look like everyone else then you are not “cool” you can go to any high school in America and see this. It is a misconception that this is just a high school thing. People would think that the older you get the easier it is for you to be yourself and not have society frown upon you. How many corporate officers do you see with earrings and tattoos? There are probably very few if any. People in America land of the free are so stereotypical, people are not free to express themselves however they feel free to. It would not look good for a company to hire someone who people would look at strange; they do not realize that “a long look is just that a look”(Kusz 105). It has been brainwashed into our heads since we were young what people look like is who they are, but it is not it is a mere “surface… not directly related to any true deep definition of the self”(Grealy 84). It is not appearance that should get you the job it should be your qualifications. How can people be so judgmental when “the chemistries of … our bodies are similar enough”(205) notes Diana Kappel Smith, a natural historian. It is who we are, what we are capable of, and how we treat others should be how we are judge; it is sad that is not how it works out it seems that the people who look pleasing to the eye have things easier than those who are not. So next time someone walks into the room remember what Joyce Carol Oates, one of America most distinguished authors, states “that all things might be other than they are”(225). People it seems are “misleading themselves and being overly occupied with the ‘mere surface’ of living”(Grealy 79). Bibliography: Work Cited Grealy, Lucy. “Mirrorings.” The Best American Essays. 3rd ed. Robert Atwan. New York: Mifflin Company, 73-85 Kappel-Smith, Diana. “Salt.” The Best American Essays. 3rd ed. Robert Atwan. New York: Mifflin Company, 200-210 Kusz Natalie. “Ring Leader.” The Best American Essays. 3rd ed. Robert Atwan. New York: Mifflin Company, 100-105 Oates, Joyce Carol. “They All Just Went Away.” The Best American Essays. 3rd ed. Robert Atwan. New York: Mifflin Company, 223-234 Word Count: 525
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