Audrey Hepburn and Wonder Woman

When Cofer lived in Puerto Rico, she was considered attractive. When she moved to the United States, she was introduced to a new culture and a new idea of beauty. In the States, she was considered dirty and unattractive. She was ridiculed for her skinniness and her short height, although in her native Puerto Rico, she was thought to be unusually tall. After Cofer is scarred by a bout of chicken pox, she begins to latch onto images of beautiful, strong women. She admires Wonder Woman and daydreams about leaping over buildings, and she practically lusts over a pretty blond doll. She begs her mother to buy her Wate-on so she’ll gain weight and finally look like the heroes she sees in her comic books. Throughout “Story of My Body,” Cofer struggles with her poor self-esteem and the impossible beauty standard that exists in the United States. When she goes off to college, her Puerto Rican heritage is deemed exotic and desirable, and she reaches a weak sort of happiness. Cofer will never be confident, however, if she continues to rely on the opinions of others and the media to validate her beauty and her worth.