Name:

IS BEAUTY REALLY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER?

Before You Read ...

Directions: Before you read, let’s start thinking about the themes in the texts. Set a timer for fifteen minutes and write your thoughts to the following questions. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation; you should be focused on getting your thoughts down on paper.

Make sure to write for 15 minutes without stopping!

What makes someone beautiful?

Given what you wrote above, do you consider yourself beautiful?

1 Read and Think #1

Directions: Read the following true story written by a teen. When you get to a question, stop and write your response. Be sure to use full sentences.

Curly and Proud ByAngelina Nelson

The first time I went to school with my hair curly was in 7th grade. I woke up and did my usual routine. I showered, ate breakfast, brushed my teeth and ran some leave-in conditioner through my hair. Because my hair was not straight, I didn’t feel as confident as usual about how I looked. But I had no choice.

Since I was 7 years old, I’d been damaging my hair by straightening it, using relaxers and putting constant heat on it so I would feel pretty. Images of beauty all around me didn’t include women of color with natural hair. So I thought curly and kinky were ugly.

But my hair was so damaged, it was breaking; I had to give it a rest. Plus, my mom and I were getting tired of spending every Sunday night doing it, and it was too expensive to go to a salon. This is a true story written by a teen in Youth When I got to school, one of my Hispanic Communication’s writing peers from my math class stopped me. Usually program. To read more we just said hi to each other. Today was stories, visit ycteen.org. To different. find out more about YC, visit youthcomm.org “Angie, what happened to your hair?” my classmate said with a look of disgust smeared

2 across her face, as if my hair was physically hurting her.

“Nothing. I just left it out today.”

I made a small laugh, and walked away. I wondered if I had masked my hurt well enough that I wouldn’t come across as sensitive. I made my way to advisory. But the insult settled in.

The stars on the TV shows I watched growing up had straight hair. My favorite show when I was younger was Wizards of Waverly Place. Alex, the main character played by Selena Gomez, had a light skin tone and her hair was dark, wavy and shiny. Sometimes it was straightened. There weren’t female characters with curly hair or an afro. I also watched That’s So Raven. The lead was played by Raven-Symoné, who is a woman of color, but her hair was straight in most episodes.

I thought of these actors as important people and since I never saw someone who had curly hair, I assumed that straight hair was more admirable. It made me dislike my hair.

Although I went to a racially diverse middle school, my two best friends were white. They have straight hair and I didn’t want to feel different from them. It was bad enough that I had darker skin. Straightening my hair made me feel like I fit in more. Even a few of my Spanish friends had their hair straight and when they didn’t, their curls still looked softer and wavier than mine.

When I was in 8th grade, the show Black-ish came out. It’s about a black family in a white neighborhood. Yara Shahidi played the oldest child on the show. She was the first woman I ever saw on a popular show with naturally curly hair. The show tackles black stereotypes in a comedic way. But what I liked the most was that I finally saw a representation of myself on TV.

A few months after my discovery of Black-ish, I found a bunch of

3 Instagram models who had big curly hair like me. I thought it was so cool that there was a community of girls with curly hair who interacted with each other. I saw myself in them. If they could be seen as beautiful and get complimented on their hair, then why shouldn’t I?

I’d also become friends with a lot of older black girls on my school’s soccer and softball teams who wore their hair naturally curly. They were older than me so I was influenced by them. They acted like they didn’t care what people thought of them, particularly how they wore their hair. It felt good to be around girls who looked like me.

The representation of women of color changed as Angelina got older. What do you think caused that change? What impact did it have on her?

Still, I experienced racist and sexist microaggressions about my hair.

One day my mom and I went to get school supplies. At the store, a man led us to the right aisle. At the register, he said, “Next time you come here, make sure you do your hair.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Regardless, I was insulted. I felt like less of a person because of this.

I know I am not the only woman of color who has been discriminated against because of her hair. In a Time magazine article, “The Hatred of

4 Black Hair Goes Beyond Ignorance,” I read about twins Mya and Deanna Cook. They were threatened with suspension from their Massachusetts school for wearing their hair in braids, a style that protects the hair from heat and sun damage. According to the article, at the same school, 17-year-old Jenesis Johnson, who had an afro, was told by the school administrator that her hair was “extreme and faddish and out of control.”

I worry about inherent bias like this when I go on job interviews. What if someone treats me the same way as the guy from the store? What if they believe stereotypes that would cost me the job opportunity? Making black women in the workplace feel like their natural hair is “messy” or unprofessional is just one more form of oppression created to keep black women in their place, which is at the bottom. In order to feel accepted at my job, I don’t want to have to straighten my hair so it looks whiter. What advice would you give Angelina about going on job interviews with natural hair?

People have also touched my hair without permission. This is an invasion of my personal space. Being asked to let people touch my hair isn’t much better. Asking me to touch my hair feels like asking a dog owner to pet their dog.

One night I was walking to the train with three friends on the Lower East Side after we’d gone to a school volleyball game. As we were walking, we got a huge whiff of weed and a guy came up from behind us.

5 “Are you guys lit?” he asked.

“No,” we all said in unison while giggling nervously.

He was right behind me when he said, “Let me smell your hair.”

I couldn’t make out his face before I heard him take a huge sniff of my hair.

“Your hair smells good.”

I was frozen in place and my friend Daniella had to pull me to the side to move me away from him. To get away from him, we quickly made our way to a pizza shop on the same block.

I felt violated. I felt like the man could have hurt me.

I don’t think the guy would have sniffed my hair if I was white. Being black already comes with the stereotype of being “ghetto” or being seen as a criminal. Maybe having a full head of curls that draws attention to yourself amplifies this.

When I was in 9th grade, Solange released a song called “Don’t Touch My Hair.” It feels like my anthem. She sings, “Don’t touch my crown/ They say the vision I’ve found.” I think she calls her hair her crown because it is only hers to touch and it is precious to her. This speaks for me because it has taken years for me to love my hair and embrace it. It has become a significant part of my identity. The song represents the journey many women of color like me have taken to love our natural hair.

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6 Solange Knowles compares her hair to a crown. What is that literary device called? What other objects could be used to make positive comparisons with natural hair that demonstrate pride?

If curly hair were more accepted on black women, I think Michelle Obama would wear her hair natural. I think she straightens it because if it were curly then she would have been seen as too “ghetto” and “too black” to be the First Lady.

I’ve also noticed that curly hair is not considered messy or unkempt on people who are not black. In 2015, Gigi Hadid appeared on the cover of Vogue Italy where she wore different brightly colored afro wigs— and this was considered fashion. Yet I was born with curly hair and am negatively stereotyped.

Still, I have learned to love my hair. I found beauty in a part of me I used to hate.

7 Read and Think #2

Directions: Read the following true story written by a teen. When you get to a question, stop and write your response. Be sure to use full sentences.

Guys Have Body Issues, Too By Yousef El Emary

I was in gym class in 6th grade when the gym teacher told us to do pushups. I was about 25 pounds overweight and I couldn’t even do one. “Since you can’t do a pushup, do them on your knees in the corner.” I was embarrassed for being isolated and singled out. As I walked to the corner of the gym, I overheard someone call out, “Fat-ass!”

“You have to do girl pushups,” another kid snickered. The teacher just stood there passively as the class of about 60 kids pointed, laughed, and fired a barrage of hurtful comments: “Weakling!” “Tubby!”

I got on my knees and did the modified pushup. There was a burning sensation not only in my knees but also in my heart. Sweat dripped down my face; this was not from the exercise, but from the anxiety that I felt as the students scrutinized my every move, looking for another opportunity to make fun of me.

Gym was my least favorite class, and the This is a true story written locker room was a place of extreme anxiety by a teen in Youth Communication’s writing for me. I hated exposing my sweaty, pudgy program. To read more body to a group of slimmer students who stories, visit ycteen.org. To made fun of me every chance they got. find out more about YC, visit youthcomm.org When the teacher’s whistle blew, meaning

8 that we must all scurry into the locker room to change, I dragged my feet across the gymnasium floor.

I faced my locker with my back to everyone so they couldn’t see my voluminous stomach. I changed as fast as I could so no one could see how disgusting I looked.

“Hey bro, why do you have man titties?”

I put my shirt on fast. A couple of guys around me snickered. I whispered, “It’s baby fat.” However, deep down inside, I felt that was a sheepish excuse for the body that I hated.

As a kid, I had always eaten whatever I wanted, like chips and ice cream almost every day. But I never had any problems with my weight. Then, after 5th grade, I put on 25 pounds. I became embarrassed about my body.

And it wasn’t just during gym and in the locker room, although it also bothered me that kids would pick me last to be on their team because I didn’t look fit. I didn’t like going to the beach or pools. I hated taking off my shirt in front of strangers. I felt that whenever I was shirtless, people looked at me with disgust.

I also hated when people took pictures of me. I tried to convince the person taking the photo to take it from the shoulders up to avoid my stomach.

I played a lot of basketball and was good at it. Because I was tall and big, I was good on defense. But I didn’t have good stamina and got subbed out a lot.

I was active so I couldn’t figure out why I’d gained all that weight. A few weeks after the pushup embarrassment, my mother took me to the doctor because I had a stomach virus.

9 “But there is another problem,” my mother said. I sat up on the examination table and I looked at her, puzzled. I hadn’t talked to her about being self-conscious about my weight.

“Yousef has been gaining weight rapidly, but he is not eating that much.”

My doctor referred me to a specialist and I was diagnosed with prediabetes, a condition that means your body can’t process sugar very well, and can make it easier for you to gain weight. If you don’t do something about it, you can develop Type 2 diabetes, which is a serious disease. The doctor told me that lowering my sugar intake and increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables I ate would treat the condition and I’d lose weight.

I wasn’t worried about getting diabetes, but I was eager to make changes if it meant I’d lose weight. I cut out sweetened drinks like iced tea and soda and drank lots of water, adding lemon for flavor. I cut out processed foods like “health” bars that have lots of sugar.

Why does Yousef put the word health into quotations in this last sentence? What does this reveal about how he is changing from the beginning of the story?

My mom switched up white rice with brown rice and steamed vegetables rather than cooking them in oil. Instead of ice cream for dessert, I ate low-fat Greek yogurt or a bowl of fruit. I used to snack a

10 lot between meals and I cut that out. I didn’t want anything as much as I wanted to lose weight.

I didn’t realize how much sugar was in a lot of the foods I was eating. For example, the American Heart Association says kids under 18 should limit their intake of added sugars to 25 grams a day or less. But I was getting that much from just one serving of Frosted Flakes, my favorite cereal.

Besides scrutinizing nutrition facts, I began to exercise more vigorously. My dad got me a gym membership and I went three times a week. I knew combining cardio and strength training was the best way to burn fat and speed up my metabolism so I used the rowing machine, ran about two miles, kick-boxed, and lifted weights—all in one day. To undo my shame from gym class, I even progressed to being able to do 40 pushups!

I gradually started to shed pounds.

When I started going to the gym, I worked out so hard I felt on the verge of fainting a number of times, but I wasn’t discouraged. I would rather pass out than face another day being the “fat kid” in school. Every drop of sweat, every mile I ran, every set of crunches—all led me closer and closer to a healthier weight. In my mind, this was war. On one side was achieving peace between my mind and body, on the other was succumbing to my angry, self-deprecating thoughts.

What are some words to describe Yousef at this point in the story?

11 I rerouted my anger at myself into a fueling passion that allowed me to push myself. I’d think to myself: “Stop being sorry for yourself. It’s now or never. You want to change? Then change. No one is going to do it for you.”

Every time I thought of that, I would push even faster on the treadmill, lift more weights, or hit the punching bag even harder than before.

I began dropping pants sizes at a fast rate. I went from a size 36 to a 32 in several months. It also helped that I grew 11 inches in one year. The combination of my low-sugar diet and workout regimen made me feel more in control of my body. Every time I entered the gym, my presence there made me feel more confident. I started high school feeling much better about myself.

About six months after the push-up incident a gym teacher in my high school complimented me as I walked by.

“Hey Yousef! Looking good buddy!”

I just smiled, but I felt like crying for joy. To hear someone in great shape take note of my physical progress was a huge victory.

“Thanks!”

“What have you been doing? Working out?”

“Yeah of course. I have been eating pretty clean too.”

“Keep up the good work, Yousef!”

I grinned all the way to class.

But even though I grew taller and thinner, I still felt heavy. And even though I’ve been slim and tall for three years now, I still see the old me

12 sometimes when I look in the mirror.

My poor self-image is engraved in my mind like a scar from a deep cut. Although I sometimes feel confident enough to wear tight clothing, other days I wear baggy clothing for I envision myself in my old body. Yousef compares his self-image to a scar from a deep cut, using the work “like.” What literary device is he using there? Why do you think he chose that comparison?

I don’t understand why I sometimes still see the overweight me, the fat kid who couldn’t do one pushup. I know it’s irrational. Now when I panic because I think I’m gaining weight, I stop and remind myself that I have changed my lifestyle and eating habits. My fat days are in the past.

The media’s focus on self-esteem issues has to do mostly with women. I feel like no one realizes that men can feel the same way. Until recently, I felt like I was the only guy with these self-critical thoughts.

I was surprised when in the middle of doing a set of planks with my friend, he said, “I feel like I’ve been gaining lots of weight. I don’t feel good about myself.” He stood up and turned to the mirror to lift up his shirt, only to reveal a toned stomach.

My jaw dropped because he felt the same insecurity as I did. His distorted image of himself made me realize that I could talk to him about how I felt.

“Hey, can we talk a second?” I said. “I have been feeling the same

13 way. Every single time I look in the mirror it’s like a lottery. I do not know if I will feel proud or disgusted of my body. It all depends on how I feel at that specific moment. You know?”

His eyes glanced down. “I really do understand.”

It was then that I no longer felt alone. I felt validated. Self-esteem can be an “anybody” issue. Now when I feel like the 12-year-old Yousef, I talk to my friend.

“Do you think I’m gaining weight?”

“No, not at all!” he’ll say.

“Are you sure?” I say this while pinching fat on my waist.

“Yes, I’m sure, but do an extra minute of plank if that will make you feel better.”

I say I will. His reassurance—combined with a little bit of fitness advice—helps a lot.

How does Yousef’s story compare to Angelina’s (the previous story)? What do you think about their approaches to how they were teased?

14 Read and Think #3

Directions: Read the following true story written by a teen. When you get to a question, stop and write your response. Be sure to use full sentences.

The Color of Beauty By Melissa Sahadeo

“How yuh skin so white?”

“I wish my skin was as light as yours.”

I’m used to hearing comments like these from family and friends. This is due to the common yet degrading belief in the Indo-Guyanese community that beauty is synonymous with lighter skin.

Most Indian girls in Guyana, where my parents are from, have brown or dark skin, a long, thin nose, dark hair, and a dark “peach fuzz” above dark lips. Although my hair is dark, my skin is light brown and I have pink lips and a petite nose. It didn’t occur to me how different I looked

Glossary Melissa represents her family members’ accent by spelling certain words phonetically (how they sound). When you come across these spellings, say them how they are spelled. If that doesn’t help, use this glossary. ah a matta’ matter an’ and nah don’t This is a true story written dah that ova over by a teen in Youth deh there unda-stan’ understand Communication’s writing dem they/them wan want to program. To read more di the wha what stories, visit ycteen.org. To guh going to wit with find out more about YC, gyal girl yuh you/your visit youthcomm.org heh here

15 until one day when I was visiting my grandmother in Guyana. I was 9 years old. Locate Guyana on a map. On what continent is Guyana?

“Mommy, look, she look like ah white gyal!” I heard someone say in Caribbean-accented Guyanese Creole.

I turned my head toward my grandma’s front yard and saw a girl my age pointing at me. She was holding hands with a tall woman; both had dark skin. The girl stared at me. The awe and confusion on her face as she stared at me will be forever stained in my memory.

When the mother noticed me, she widened her eyes and said to me, “Darling, stay out di sun! Skin like yours must be protected, go sit in di shade.”

The woman and the girl walked away. I remained in the front yard until I heard my mom shout, “Melissa! Come back in heh right now! Yuh skin guh burn and turn black!”

“But I want to stay outside,” I said.

“Yuh have beautiful, fair skin and yuh nah unda-stan’ how special it is! If yuh get darker, yuh guh lose yuh beauty. No more runnin’ outside, hide yuh skin!”

My mother’s complexion was light brown, like mine. She tried to stay pale by wearing long-sleeved shirts outdoors, even when the weather was above 80 degrees.

When my grandma heard my mom tell me to come inside, she found me in my room and said, “Get up an’ come wit me!”

16 My grandma’s smile stretched from ear to ear. Her eyes were dark- cinnamon swirls framed by gray lashes and surrounded by tiny wrinkles.

Grandma took me to a neighborhood park. After about ten minutes, my grandmother saw three young girls hanging out under a shady tree.

“Look at all dem gyal ova deh, wha yuh notice ‘bout dem?”

Two of the girls were brown-skinned, and the other was dark-skinned. The brown-skinned girls wore straw hats and kept their heads tilted slightly downwards, even though the sun was setting.

The dark-skinned girl wore nothing to shield her from the sun. With her arms extended upwards, she laughed and twirled in circles.

“The girl is dancing under the sun, but her friends aren’t joining her, how come?” I asked.

“See how sad dem look? Dem wan dance wit di friend, but dem too afraid to show dem skin! Dem mama must have teach dem dat dark skin is nah nice, but dah nah true. No matta’ wha skin color yuh have, yuh will always be beautiful.”

I agreed with my grandma, but I knew my mother and others in our community didn’t. Why do you think Melissa’s grandmother and mother have such different views of dark skin?

17 To fade their melanin, many dark-skinned Indo-Guyanese women use a skin-lightening cream called Fair and Lovely. When I was about 13, I watched an ad for this product to learn more about it. The commercial shows two sisters reuniting after some time apart. One has lighter skin than the other. The darker woman looks stunned to see her fair sister, but compliments her “lovely” appearance. The fair sister then explains that she has been using this new cream for two months and even bought one for her sister to use. Excited, the darker sister rushes to her mirror and begins rubbing the cream on her face. What is melanin? (If you don’t know, do a quick internet search.)

I felt conflicted after seeing the ad. I wondered if the cream could help some women gain confidence in a community that praises light skin. But I also thought it was degrading and cruel. This brand encourages the belief that there’s something wrong with dark complexions, then promises a quick and easy way to “fix” your skin by lightening it. The slogan “Fair and Lovely” was the exact the opposite of what my Grandma had taught me: All shades are beautiful.

One summer afternoon when I was 13, I was sitting on the steps in my front yard wearing shorts. When my knees were bent, they blended with my natural skin tone due to the stretching of the skin. However, when I stood up, my darker kneecaps caught the attention of my uncle, who always had something to say.

“How yuh knees so black? It look bad!” he said.

“It doesn’t look bad, my knees are just naturally dark!” I responded

18 defensively.

My uncle proceeded to tell me my knees should be the same color as the rest of my skin—light—and since they weren’t, they looked “shameful.” Ironically, this came from someone with brown skin and dark knees himself, who never felt pressured to bleach his skin. I think this is because colorism is linked with misogyny. Why does Melissa put the word shameful in quotes? How is it similar or different to how Yousef put health in quotes in the previous story?

In my culture, men favor women with lighter complexions. Dark- skinned women are told, “Pretty clear-skinned girls can find any man they want, but if you’re dark, it’s going to be difficult for you.” But boys are never ordered to stay out of the sun because women don’t want a dark-skinned husband.

I didn’t think much about what my uncle said until I realized that other girls at school with the same skin tone as me all had light-colored knees. Suddenly I felt insecure. I started to avoid wearing shorts, dresses, and skirts. For the first time, I was drawn to the idea of using skin- lightening cream. I thought it might fix the problem with my knees.

But I decided to leave my skin color the way it is. I didn’t want to use a cream that was recommended for women who hate their skin. And I realized there’s nothing wrong with my knees. The joints on your body are naturally darker than the rest of your skin. My knuckles are browner than my hands, and my elbows are darker than my arms. This is normal.

19 My younger sister Anmarie is 10 years old. Her skin is darker than mine. Family members often question how two siblings could have such different complexions.

As my sister grew up, I knew she would start hearing negative comments about her skin tone. I didn’t talk to her about it, for fear that it would make her aware of colorism and change the way she felt about herself. I hoped she didn’t feel like something was wrong with her brown skin, or that she should’ve been born with the same light skin as me. But thankfully Anmarie is unbothered when others point out that I’m lighter than her. She wears shorts and tank tops in the summer, and she doesn’t care about having dark knees like I did.

Now, I confront colorism when I see it. For instance, where I’m from, dark-skinned people are often called “midnight” or compared to a shadow by their friends, as a joke. I used to let these comments go, but now I speak up and let others know that they’re offensive and senseless.

I feel that light-skinned women like me have a responsibility to educate those who enforce colorism. We should reject compliments that simultaneously put down dark-skinned women. Now, when people compliment me for having light skin, I say: “Thanks, your skin color is lovely as well!”

What do you think of Melissa’s approach to colorism? Is her approach closer to Angelina’s in the first story or Yousef’s in the second?

20 Academic Writing Task

Directions: Using all three texts from this packet, you will write a source- based argument on the topic below.

Topic: Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

Your Task: Using evidence from both texts, write a well-developed argument regarding beauty. Clearly establish your claim, distinguish your claim from alternate or opposing claims, and use specific, relevant, and sufficient evidence from both texts to develop your argument. Do not simply summarize each text.

Guidelines: Be sure to: • Establish your claim regarding beauty • Distinguish your claim from alternate or opposing claims • Use specific, relevant, and sufficient evidence from all three of the texts to develop your argument • Identify each source that you reference by title and author • Organize your ideas in a cohesive and coherent manner • Maintain a formal style of writing • Follow the conventions of standard written English

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