In "The beauty of a woman: demeaning or source of power", Susan Sontag describes how a woman's beauty was degraded when she was described as beautiful. and how this constructs their true identity as it appears to represent innocence and honesty while hiding the ugliness of the truth. Over the years, women have been categorized as the gentler sex and considered the fairer gender. Sontag uses narrative structure to express the conventional attitude that defines beauty as a concept applied today only to women and their outward appearance. She achieves this by using the technique of contrast to distinguish beauty between men and women and establishing variation in her essay, using effective language. Sontag introduces her essay to the audience by establishing a central point around the fact that women seen today are derived from the religious perspective of how women were viewed in history. In ancient times, Greeks and Christians practiced their own methods of analyzing and criticizing women and their beauty. The Greeks believed that the lack of “inner” beauty could be compensated for by “outer” beauty. They distinguished the two beauties in a way that suggested they were both interconnected within an individual. Preference and priority was given to “outer” beauty, while “inner” beauty was kept at bay. Christianity, on the other hand, gave moral significance to beauty; in the definition of beauty, or words of a physical nature to be associated with woman and the feminine. Little by little, Sontag introduces distinct beauty between men and women. She does this by summarizing how, in a Christian religion, a woman's body was divided into several sections to be judged and scrutinized, while men were visua...... middle of paper ..... ., women were trying to make it themselves. beautiful to attract the best possible opportunities. Susan Sontag not only emphasizes the disproportionate catastrophe of woman and her external beauty, but also tries to convince her audience that there is more to a woman than just her appearance; there is another individual just below the ugliness. Works Cited “The Beauty of a Woman.” -WriteWork. Np, and Web. November 26, 2013. “AP Language and Composition.” : The beauty of a woman: soaps and dials denigrated or fueled. Np, and Web. November 26, 2013. “Unit Seven.” Unit seven. Np, and Web. November 26, 2013." "Digital e-wallet. Np, and Web. November 26. 2013. .