How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I do not like to be pretty. Pretty means you cannot play in your nice clothes and Uhmma grabs your hair with a wet comb until your eyes are pulled shut and then she ties it all up with a bow and says, You look very pretty. Uhmma says that sometimes I have to look pretty so everyone will see what a nice girl I can be. (5.8)
We feel Young Ju's pain—literally. Why does being feminine need to be all about prettiness and physical pain? And what does being a "nice girl" have to do with being pretty? Why even be "nice"? We see a budding feminist in Young Ju…
Quote #2
An ahjimma will curl your hair so you will look just like a real Mi Gook girl. (5.16)
Uh yeah… you have us on this one. We're not sure why Americans are so often associated with curly hair, American girls especially. Maybe it's the whole image of a little blond, curly-haired Shirley Temple that Uhmma's trying to force on poor Young Ju.
Quote #3
Outside the important place that will make me pretty, Uhmma fixes the bow in my hair. She tucks my hair behind my ears. Good, she says and then opens the door. We step inside. My nose wrinkles iee! This cannot be the special place. There are ugly smells inside. Worse than Halmoni boiling clothes in soapy water. Uhmma sees my nose and gives me the squinty eye. I push my nose back down. (5.34)
What's the point here? The process of becoming "pretty" is—ironically—really ugly, complete with bad-smelling, toxic fumes. Nothing organic going on here.