Beauty
Summary-This article/story was about beauty and how the opinions people have about how it is used and perceived in society. The article talks about this new procedure called “calli.” This changes the way people see the features one has. Calli doesn’t allow people to judge based on looks, to see beauty you have to look deeper and find the beauty in a smile, personality, etc.
The article goes back and forth between arguments, people for the initiation of Calli at Pembleton College and people against it. Students, professors, scientists, news broadcasters, and a girl Tamera Lyons all put their say in on what they think about Calli.
Tamera Lyons grew up with Calli and once she turned 18 she had it shut off. She was curious to see what the world was like once she could see a different kind of beauty. Once Tamera had Calli shut off she was against the initiation. Tamera believed that it isn’t bad to acknowledge physical beauty.
After voting it was decided that Calli would not be initiated. There was some speculation with how the anti-calli gained so many votes last minute. Eventually there is hope to have “spex” that gives the effect of Calli when desired by a person.
Evaluation/Analysis-
I thought this article was very interesting. It was very easy for me to get into all the different opinions people had about Calli. Throughout reading I changed my mind a few times since the arguments were very convincing, but I am on the anti-calli side in the end.
To me, the idea of calli just doesn’t seem fun! As a girl, I LOVE to go shopping, get my hair done, buy make-up, etc. I believe that getting dressed up for an event or taking a little extra time to get ready in the morning can give a person a little extra confidence. I think having pride in what you look like is important in life. The people for calli make a good point that what you get in life shouldn’t be based on looks but in a way it should. Say you have an important job as head of a big company; you are expected to look “put together” and I like that.
Another thing I though was interesting in this article is when they talked about relationships. Tamera and Garret dated and when Tamera got off calli people told her Garret wasn’t cute or that he wasn’t in her league. People would argue that without calli Tamera would have never been with Garret but I disagree. I have had two major relationships in my life and neither of my boyfriends would be considered the hottest guy on Earth. I think no matter what you look like there will be that one person you are meant to be with that will fall in love with you physically and emotionally. Even though most relationships are based on attraction, they do turn into more than that if you are compatible.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I totally agree that it was really easy to get into the different opinions that the characters had. I also changed my mind a few times while reading it and ended up being “anti-calli”. I also agree that even though a relationship may be based on immediate physical attraction, they probably wouldn’t be together if there was nothing more to the relationship.
September 11th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
I agree with your opinion on making yourself look good, it makes you feel better. I too, as a girl, love to get dressed up and with calli there would be no point. Getting dressed up raises your self esteem and gives you confidence. That is an important part in life too. I also like how you brought up the “spex”. I too am anti-calli but the option of spex interested me, what if it certain situations you needed to be non bias on looks? Like say if you were judging a line of clothing, some people look better in outfits than others, would that have an effect? Or on a more serious side what if there was a debate between people of different ethnicity, if you couldn’t judge them based on appearance wouldn’t you be more open to listening to their side of the argument?
September 11th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
You mentioned that beauty is important for people in certain positions of power. Specifically, “Say you have an important job as head of a big company; you are expected to look ‘put together’ and I like that.” Do you think there is a difference between the type of beauty calli affects the recognition of and the sort of beauty that looking “put together” exhibits? That is, according to the story, can a person with calli tell the difference between someone who put time and effort into their looks and someone who did not?
September 12th, 2011 at 2:42 am
Good job on the summary. It was really clear and concise. I agree with you 100% on your analysis. I believe being a girly girl is really fun and if you do spend a little more time getting ready in the morning it does give you extra confidence. This article also kept me very interested in it as I read it page by page.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:52 am
I had the same shift in opinion throughout the story. As each side gave their arguments, I could kind of see where they were coming from. I agree that it’s not fair that someone be judged right away based on their looks, but it’s something we’re all guilty of doing. If everyone was on a level playing field when it came to relationships, there would be too many people to try and make a connection with. By narrowing this field of attraction down to a smaller amount, we’re able to really find one person that we’re attracted to and want to get to know better.