4. What does Sontag mean by “And beauty has continued to lose prestige”?(para.3) ---It by the Pope, the bishop of Rome. Roman Catholics down from overall excellence to superficial enchantment. And it further lost prestige when the superficial enchantment it referred to became associated with the fair sex only. 5. Paraphrase: Associating beauty with women has put beauty even further on the defensive, morally.
8. What does Sontag refer to by “stereotypes” in the last sentence of para.5? And what have they to do with the “mixed reputation” beauty enjoys? ---Fixed notions of the two sexes; what people generally think a man or a woman should be like. ---The association of beauty with nice looks but dependence and inability, and disassociation with intellect and success give it a mixed reputation.
2. In what sense is the word “beauty” used in the sentence “we are more wary of the enchantments of beauty”(para.2) And how do you interpret the sentence? In the overall sense of the word, i.e., overall excellence. We are more aware (than the ancient Greeks) of the aspects “beauty” has, which we think distinguishable and should be distinguished.
2)We not only split off—with the greatest facility —the “inside”(character,intellect) from the “outside”(looks); but we are actually surprised when someone who is beautiful is also intelligent, talented, good. (ll.11-14,para.2) ---We tend to resist the idea that inside beauty (character, intellect) can coexist with outside beauty(looks)in one single person,and are taken aback to meet one who is beautiful both inside and outside.
9. Can you think of any concrete example of what Sontag calls “a flattering idealization of their sex”?(para.6) What effect does such idealization have on women? *Winners of a beauty contest, Miss America, sex symbols, Marylyn Monroe, some fashion models. *Women are encouraged to look as attractive as possible, given the models of what they should and could possibly look like.
7. Paraphrase: It does not take someone in the throes of advanced feminist awareness to perceive that…(para5) --One does not have to be a feminist who is painfully aware of the many social biases women have to put up with to perceive that.. In other words, virtually anyone can perceive that…(the author just tried to show the obviousness of the phenomenon)
III. Pagan A pagan is one of a people or community professing a polytheistic religion, I.e., a religion based on the belief in more than one god. Ancient Romans and Greeks were pagans. A pagan is different from a Roman Catholic and Protestant in that the latter believe in only one god.
compels one to follow a certain course of action
13. Fretful: irritable; complaining 14. Pass muster: be accepted as satisfactory 15. Depreciation: a disparaging or a belittling act or instance 16. Censure: an expression of blame or disapproval 17. Preen: adorn or trim (oneself) carefully 18. Interminable: endless
II. Roman Catholicism and Protestantism Roman Catholic Church is Christian church headed may be simply defined as Christians in communion with the Pope. Roman Catholicism holds that the Pope and the Bishops have in varying degrees the spiritual authority Christ assigned to his apostles. The voice of the Pope is regarded as infallible when speaking on matters of faith and morals.
Protestantism is a special development within Christianity. It is distinct from Roman Catholicism in that it breaks from papal obedience. Protestantism is widely practiced in most northwestern European countries except southern Germany, Ireland, France, and Belgium.
---Beauty, when considered in relation to a female, involves a judgment of not only looks but also character and intellect, making itself a much more controversial issue. 6.Why does Sontag think that regarding women as the beautiful sex is detriment to both the notion of beauty and that of women?(para.4) It depreciates the notion of beauty itself, and implies a sexually unfair judgment of women.
3.Paraphrase: 1) One of Socrates’ main pedagogical acts was to be ugly —and teach those innocent, no doubt splendidlooking disciples of his how full of paradoxes life really was.(ll.7-9 ,para.1) ---The contrast between Socrates’ outward ugliness and his inner strengths served to draw the attention of his naive and handsome followers to the fact that there were many such strange contrasts in the world.