Blog #2 I Once Was Miss America

Reading Roxane Gay's text I Once Was Miss America left me thinking about how I have been influenced by literature and culture and how I have tried to cope with it. The concept of trying to fit in and trying to match the stereotypical ideal body image is something that is present in nearly all communities, especially in the United States. Growing up in a very superficial city (Miami), there were plenty of social stigmas about attraction, appearance and popularity that were very difficult for the average person to obtain. It was stressful and degrading to go to school every day and compare myself to everyone around me, trying to fit in and be what was considered socially ideal. I definitely noticed many of my friends going through the same sort of thing. In the text, I found it interesting how Gay decided to cope with these issues by reading books that actually exacerbate those same stigmas. If it were me, those books would have just made me feel worse. Reading about people who I would consider more popular and more attractive would make me want to change myself, while Roxane Gay seemed to take the books and use them to create her own fantasy where she felt like she was at the top of the social ladder. I personally would cope with the pressures of high school and society’s standards by taking long drives at night to random places (a very different method than delving into a fantasy world through literature). Overall, I feel like media, literature and other forms of communication can both help and hurt a person’s self-image. While the drama and gossip may get more sales, teaching self-acceptance should ideally be the top priority in young adult novels.