"Braveheart, Babe, and the Contemporary Body".
This essay revolves around a general thesis of confrontation forms of essays. The thesis is a two-sided argument in each of its three forms in this essay. The first idea she brings into the forefront is the Braveheart macho men rule idea, followed by the dissection of the Nike "Just Do It" campaign. Just when you think this whole essay is over the "Babe" factor, it is brought into effect. I will be summarizing these topics in the short-lived paragraphs to come. .
Susan's portrayal of the Braveheart theme is one that glorifies men and their male oriented abilities, but leaves out the fact that girls are just as good as guys. Susan uses the Kerri Strug performance as an example of how women can make it in a male centered world and pull in lucrative contracts. After this example, the author strolls to griping over-romanticized success stories of athletes. The Nike "Just Do It" campaign relishes toward the common good population and in this it helps the products by the use of the products. All together we are at the mercy of advertisers. Because of the advertising, the products, lifestyles and convictions they will provide, Susan believes we are slaves in the end. After a few paragraphs on what plastic surgery brings to women the topic turns to Babe. .
Babe as stated by Susan "is a success story, a tale of individual empowerment and person triumph against enormous odds, of questing, self-transformation, and, you might even say, transcendence of the body." She states Babe as a"fable about the power of difference, of no assimilation". The topic follows a theme that success doesn't need to be obtained through aggression and prowess of what is expected, Babe achieves his success through, "alternative values". What makes Babe so remarkable is that he performs this cattle herding without an assurance that he will be happy at the end. Humans on the other hand seem as though they need this assurance to complete a task, but Susan says, "you've worked hard enough.