Key Passage Response

Key Passage Response

Quote:

“I started shaving me legs and underarms. I plucked my eyebrows. The dress code at my school forbade cosmetics. But on weekends I got to experiment, within limits, Retina and I painted our faces in her bedroom, passing a hand mirror back and forth. I was particularly given to dramatic eyeliner. My model here was Maria Callas, or possibly Barbra Streisand In Funny Girl. The triumphant, long-nosed girl”(311).

At this point, Callie has gone to Sophie Sassoon’s Salon to get her facial hair done. Now, she started to shave her legs, underarms and putting up make-up. The images of Callie putting up cosmetics makeup and doing experiment with Retina shows that she start to care about her looks and is in transition to womanhood. Callie “was particularly given to dramatic eyeliner” because trying on beauty products are the only way to make her feel like she is female. By painting her face and “passing a hand mirror back and forth” makes her feel like she is going to puberty. The word “triumphant” represent that Callie is happy about her change because she is starting to look like a model. She says that, “my model here was Maria Callas…Barbra Streisand” shows that she want to be as beautiful as a model because it is every girl’s dream to become a model and be pretty. She is self-satisfy about her changes because this is only way that she can be in control of her puberty by trying beauty products. She is also hopeful because she can finally look like a female and be treat like an adult by shaving her legs and underarms. She feel like an adult because only adult goes to the salon and wax their hair. Callie is happy about her changes because she is doing for herself and she don’t want to be an outsider. She want to fit into the society’s expectation of what a female should look like. The passage develop the themes of transition into womanhood and adulthood because Callie has transform from a short, undeveloped beautiful girl into a adult who are shaving her unwanted hair and putting on cosmetics make-ups.