Research Paper on:
'Recipe' by Janice Mirikitani

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which daily presents women with images of models and actresses who are judged to be the most beautiful in the world. These images inundate the average woman as she sees  the models who are chosen to advertise everything from clothing to automobiles. These models are almost always Caucasian, typically blond, at least fifteen pounds underweight (sometimes more), with high  cheek bones, large eyes, a normal bust line, and no hips. While this standard for physical appearance is close to impossible for the vast majority of white women to obtain,  for minority women this standard is simply impossible. The whole standard of beauty is predicated on the physical features of another race. In her poem "Recipe," Japanese-American poet Janice Mirikitani  addresses the pain that this situation causes for many Asian women. First of all the "recipe" lists the ingredients required: "scissors, Scotch magic transparent tape, eyeliner--water based, black (and)  Optional: false eyelashes" (Mirikitani, 1995, p. 106). The next lines of the poem read like the "directions" section of a typical recipe, with clipped sentences. The woman is told to  wash her face thoroughly, and, for best results, power the entire face (lighter shades work best) (Mirikitani, 1995). The poet then describes how to tape the eyelid so that  the eye takes looses its Asian fold and looks more Western. Then Mirikitani tells how to use eyeliner and false eyelashes to hide the tape (1995). The last instruction refers  to the emotional toil that this processes has on the woman. It says simply "Do not cry" (Mirikitani, 1995, p. 107). Crying, of course, would be the natural urge  for any woman who feels that she has to reject her natural look so thoroughly. Of course, a woman would cry to think that something so basic to her identity