Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy Essay -- The Search for Unatta

In her narration, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy tells the story of how the deformities caused by her cancer forced her into a life of isolation, cruel insults, and unhappiness. Grealy clearly demonstrates how a society that excessively emphasizes female lulu can negatively affect a boylike girl, especially mavin with a deformity. Most interpret this story as a way for Grealy to express the pain that she endured because she did not measure up to societys rendering of female beauty, a standard that forces girls into unhealthy habits, plastic surgery, and serious depression. In the afterword of the memoir, Grealys friend, Ann Patchett, tries to change this interpretation by saying that Grealy never meant for it to be a story of the hardships she faced as a young girl with a deformity she simply wished it to be viewed as a piece of literature. (232). However, this short flight takes away from the important message that Grealy expresses in her memoir that the unat tainable standards of female beauty in society can destroy the joy and pull throughlihood of young girls. Grealy understandably denied this as her reason for writing because, to her, admitting that the story of her life was dominated by her deformity would be like admitting that she had never lived. She frequently explains in her memoir that she longed for physical beauty so that she could finally live without isolation and dejection. To label her memoir a story of loneliness and sorrow would be admitting that she never reached this star of beauty she so strongly desired. Despite Ann Patchetts interpretation of the memoir, it should still be seen as a story demonstrating how societys unreachable standards of beauty can deprecate the lives of young girls, as ... ...t of sexes becomes more equal, young men may begin to develop the habits of young women who try so hard to live up to a perfect standard of beauty. This issue should not and cannot be ignored, and correct acknowledgeme nt of stories like Grealys will tighten opportunities for young women to deal and cherish what really makes them beautiful.Works CitedA Conversation With Lucy Grealy. Charlie Rose. Web. 5 Mar 2010.Graydon, Shari. How the Media Keeps Us Hung Up on Body Image. Herizons 22.1 (2008) n. pag. Web. 5 Mar 2010.Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face. New York Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Print.Kruger, Paula. 1 in 5 Girls Display Eating Disorder Behaviour. ABC News . 20 Jul 2007. ABC, Web. 5 Mar 2010. Sweeney, Camille. Seeking Self-Esteem by means of Surgery. New York Times 14 Jan 2009 n. pag. Web. 5 Mar 2010.