"Teenage Girl Blossoming Into Beautiful Object"
So-Youn Park
Rough Draft 1.1
The Onion once again brings out their signature writing in "Teenage Girl
Blossoming into Beautiful Object". This text is dripping in humor and satire as the Onion
uses satirical elements to mock the shallow and artificial nature of American culture
today. This article talks about the maturing of a young lady and how she has become an
object of beauty. This represents the humorous commentary that is employed: the
transformation of Ashley into nothing more than a pleasant object. The underlying and
more serious message that this article is trying to convey is that in American culture
today, we objectify women, and nobody looks beneath the surface. This message is
clearly expressed with the clever use of ethos, non-verbal and verbal rhetoric, and
emotional appeals.
The Onion is a very well known newspaper that is characteristic for its satirical
writing. Everything they cover is satirical, and therefore they establish credibility through
just presenting their name. With the logo of the Onion at the very beginning and the end
of the article, it is clear to the reader that what is written is satirical and should not be
taken literally. This reminder serves an additional purpose, and that is to project an
impression to the reader that this article is worth reading, or in other words, establishing
authority on the subject of the article. Since the Onion is well known and well-versed in
the writing of satire, they are confirming that this article is worthy of consideration. The
Onion appeals to ethos by proving their reputation as it exists independently from the
message, and showing their expertise in the field with support by their previous writings.
In addition to this, the author promotes the ethos of The Onion by adopting the writing
style of journalists. For instance, the serious and apathetic tone of professional writers,
and the use of quotations imitate the features that are portrayed in news articles. The
author quotes many citizens that personally know Ashley such as her uncle Keith Hayes,
a boy from her school Kevin Turner, and a teacher called Edmund Powell. These quotes
are used to feign credibility to the Onion article, just like all other authentic news articles.
Using non-verbal rhetoric, the Onion is able to form a satirical piece with an
underlying true argument that can be discerned from the humorous context. For example,
the format that this article is written impersonates a real newspaper story, with its
emphasized title, picture, and even quotes from the various people they supposedly
interviewed. Of course everything is fake, but this set up is what makes it look real. The
Onion imitates real newspapers since they want to show that the underlying message that
they are trying to convey is real too. Of course this article is written in much exaggeration,
but the Onion is stating that part of this is truth, that people really do objectify beauty and
women, and that a news paper article could have really written a story like this. A story
that is less exaggerated, less blunt, but with the same underlying themes. The quotes and
the picture contribute to this purpose, since they allow the message to be related to the
real world. The quotes represent the thoughts of the American society as a whole, and
portray how shallow people are today. Parker’s uncle states that “Ashley has really
developed into quite a striking assemblage of physical attributes that are found to be
sexually attractive in our culture”, and it is these quotes that criticize how people view
what is attractive. Beauty is only based on looks, only based on the outside appearance.
The author puts great emphasis on diction and selects words carefully to
exaggerate the context and thus to distinguish this piece as satirical. Diction plays a
crucial role in making this satirical text. The theme of objectivity is constant throughout
the article, as words such as "object", "commodity", "lovely vessel", and "lovely piece of
meat" are used to describe Ashley. The author only uses Ashley’s name when he talks
about the past, when she was just a “sentient human being”. When the author or family
and friends that are interviewed praise Ashley, they never address her with her name, but
rather through condescending terms. Put simply, they are degrading this girl into the
status of a mere object. They are communicating that they do not see Ashley as a human
being, just as a body for each individual’s pleasure. This careful selection of words is
important since it allows the writer to manifest an exaggerated tone, yet still allows him
to maintain the reality of the message underneath.
The Onion relies on an emotional appeal to criticize current social conditions,
trying to incite anger. He directs this to everyone, to criticize the current social conditions
that are set, and stir frustration in the audience. The writer appeals to emotions simply
through the context of the article and by the examples he presents. For instance, he uses
sexual terms to display women as simply existing for the pleasure of men. The writer
calls Ashley "a lovely vessel for displaced sexual frustration and voyeuristic lust, just like
her mother", and quoting a high school friend that said "I can think of a lot of things I'd
like to do with that". First of all, they are talking about Ashley as if she was just an object,
by calling her a "vessel" and simply referring to her as "that". But what is really meant to
anger the readers is how casually the implications of and promotion of youth sex and
even rape is mentioned in this article. The writer quotes Turner in a positive light, as if it
is normal for a teenage guy to talk about a girl like this, even if he is obviously implying
inappropriate things. The writer presents Ashley as if she was just an object that can be
used to satisfy the sexual desires in men, like a prize. By presenting this context, the
Onion is trying to show that in American society today, we tend to simply look at people
at surface level, evaluating their appearance. The writer explicitly conveys this message
when he calls Ashley a "ravishing thing devoid of intellect and personality". He points
out the problem with our obsession with lust and beauty, which causes us to be blind to
the other qualities such as intelligence and unique personalities of each individual. The
author also criticizes some of the stereotypes of women, such as the image that women
are obsessed with money and that they are manipulative. This is portrayed by Ashley’s
mother, as she tells Ashley “not to get her hopes up about finding the perfect money bags
right away”. Although this article is very exaggerated and satirical, it also holds truth, and
the criticisms the author makes are valid.
Through "Teenage Girl Blossoming into Beautiful Object", the Onion highlights
the problems in society through exaggeration, creating a humorous commentary while
still maintaining an underlying true argument. With this argument, the Onion is not trying
to move the audience enough to convince them to fix the problem, but rather to simply
point it out and assert awareness. Using ethos, rhetoric, and pathos, the author satirizes
the shallow nature of society and our obsession with physical beauty.