Makeover by Ivan

Written assignment 2

        In the short story “makeover” by Ivan the story demonstrates very easily the idea of bravery. That is why courage is one of the characteristics that can set a person apart from others. The idea bravery or courage is present in the story but we can also make parallels with the author who is transgender. The main character is brave because he/she is not afraid to show who he/she is. For example; dying his/her hair or like showing more his/her side of feminist, but I explain more in detail about this through the text. Ivan often grapples with the complex and intensely personal issues of gender identity, as well as topics such as family, class, social justice and queer liberation, but always with a generous heart.

        To begin, the first act of courage in this short story is when the girlfriend of the main character wants to dye their hair. It’s not an easy thing to do. Not too long after the main character caves in and says  “I want blue hair. The colour of a propane flame. Give me really blue hair.” This quote shows the courage the main character has, it is not easy to make a change, yet it is not simply the idea of dying your hair but of being different from others. The fact that he wants it blue makes him/her bold, strong but mainly confident. A parallel we can make with the author is that the author knows what its like to not be like others, him/her went through many changes in life and being different from others, the author like the main character is courageous because being a transgender is one of the hardest yet bravest things to go through in life. This parallel demonstrates the theme of my text because having courage makes you different from others not just anyone has the courage to show people who they truly are.  

        To continue, another act of courage in this short story is when the main character spent seventy dollars on facial cream, then suddenly see one of his/her guy friends. The main character seems to have struggle a little bit with telling his/her friend what he/her just bought although the main character does say,  “it’s rehydrating cream okay?” This quote shows that the main character has courage to admit to his/her friend that he/she just purchases a somewhat girly thing. Not everyone in my opinion would have done this especially if it was this kind of situation where it could affect how masculine he/she actually is. The main character stick with it tells his/her friend what he has but finishes by changing the subject. We can also make a parallel with the author in this situation, being that the author is transgender the author must face daily tasks like this. Having the courage to admit to people who he/she actually is and even more simply like using the girl’s bathroom. The author did a ted talk on how societies need gender-neutral bathroom, knowing the author has courage in his/her daily life to push through and be who you are makes it easier to see the courage he/she demonstrates through the short stories, and mainly this short story “makeover”. This short story show different kinds of courage a person can have in different situation, and it is easy to see the parallel with author known a little about Ivan. This story shows that courage is one of the characteristics that can set a person apart from others.