# Our global issue was, “To what extend can text show one’s imagination and affect their identity in the reality?”
Our three main points in context of our global issue were:
- the only way to be a women is to be like the one in the magazine
- Roy’s imagination creates a person within himself and that person is Norma who he thinks is his lost sister. Roy doesn’t know how it looks to be like women or how a women should be and look like so, he always look into the woman’s magazines and try to be like one of them as he thinks that all the women are like the ones in the magazine. On page 6 first short paragraph, he mentions that becoming a women is not a disability but a challenge to be met with by careful preparation and planning. Therefore even though he is a boy, he plans and prepares himself by dressing up femininely and putting on lots of makeups like the ones in the magazines so that he can become a woman. One of the examples could be; on page 6, the picture of the lipstick shows feminine style and shows how much Norma gives importance to cosmetics. However, the shape of the lipstick also shows the symbol of man’s phallic element and this again gives the readers idea about Roy (male-shape of the lipsticks) trying to become (female-Norma) by using female cosmetics. Thus when he becomes a women, he thinks of himself as Norma.
- women who don’t fall in the stereotype finds it difficult to accept themselves
- Most of the women who take examples from the magazines find it hard to accept their true self. They see women on the magazines having perfect eyelashes, fair skin but when they put it on themselves it doesn’t look good, they see women on the magazine wearing suitable red lipsticks but when they put it on themselves, it doesn’t match them and thats when they see stereotype and find it hard to accept themselves. With this, if we look into the context of Roy and Norma, although Roy is not a girl, he still tries to become one by getting ideas from the magazine. Roy/Norma’s interest in the magazines; Roy tries so hard to go through all the magazines so that he knows how every women looks like and what type of creams and cosmetics they use to look pretty since thats how he perceive women as through magazines. He mentions on page 6 how important mascara is for women to get fair splendour of the look in their eyes. To become a woman; putting mascara and eye shadows on eyes, clothes, cosmetics used on faces, and lipsticks make a huge difference because if we put those things heavily and properly then even a boy can look like a girl like how Roy does that to become Norma.
- As the result of the stereotype, men have a very improvised vision of women
- Because of the stereotype created by the magazine that all women look beautiful and should always look tip top with fully dressed up and with fixed makeup on it, men thinks that every women is like that. Therefore, men have improvised vision of women that every women should look pretty like the ones in the magazine. Even Roy who doesn’t have much idea about women thinks that all women are like the ones in the magazine since he is influenced by it and now he is trying to look and act like one of them. Norma thinks that every women should look like the ones in the magazine and should always be well dressed. She is also very particular and picky when it comes to dressing up and putting on makeups because she considers herself to look like the perfect women in the magazine. Actually in reality as well, most of the women try to look their best everyday and its their nature and thats how men perceive about women as well but when we come back to Norma and Roy, the situation is similar but little different. Here man is trying to become woman by knowing what a woman is. Norma follows new trends like Fashion WIGS (page 6 and 7) which were available in different hair styles, colour and always ready to wear. (giving evidences that Norma is no one but Roy himself) It also shows His/her interests in the latest fashions.