A Story About the Body

This story makes me angry. It reminds me of how shallow and selfish some men can be. Not all men are like this, but a lot of them most definitely have these characteristics. How can this young composer be so shallow? First of all, his only attractions to her are physical and he does not say much about the type of person she is. The only thing other than her physical traits he mentions is how he valued her art work, but he relates that to her body, so that doesn’t count. At first, his physical descriptions did not bother me because it is typical for a man to talk about that. What really put me over the edge was when he said he could not be with her after she told him that she has had a double mastectomy. What a tool for saying that. Having your breast removed is a big deal; I know I would feel like part of my womenhood was taken away from me if that happened. She more than likely has insecurity issues and probably has a hard time having someone love her despite her deformities. Why couldn’t he just look past the issue and try and get to know her more? Maybe after he got to know her more, he would be able to look past her deformities. The reality of this story is what is disturbs me because it happens on a daily basis. Sadly, I sometimes catch myself falling into it. I have many guys friends that will not even talk to some girls because they do not look a certain way.
I wonder if it is like this in other cultures that aren’t exposed to as much media as we are. The media sends this message that men and women have to look a certain way and dress a certain way in order to be desired. Apparently the young composer is influenced by the media.
The bowl that was left for the man is a perfect representation of the kind of person he is. The roses on top represent that he appears to be a sweet genuine guy, and the dead bees underneath represent how shallow he is.