Introduction
In “Why the Beach Is a Bummer” Roxanne Gay illustrates that even though many people wait to get there, they get to spend time on the beach, but the experience is not as promised. The author achieves this by presenting her childhood experiences near a beach which were not as pleasing as one could imagine. There is a stereotypical perception of the beach as a place full of laughter, pristine sand, cocktails served with umbrellas, and perfect bodies. However, Gay is critical of this perception and shows that the condition of beaches in the US is far from perfect and provides several arguments against the idea of going to the beach. In her expository-style essay, the author takes the idea that everyone loves beaches and turns it on its head, pointing out what is wrong with going to the beach. The main argument is that there is a mismatch between the expectations of going to the beach and the actual experience.
“Why the Beach Is a Bummer” by Roxane Gay
Gay suggests that the summer allows people to visit a beach to portray their bodies, reads, drinks, and fruits, but the experience is not as great as the media make it appear. These are the various things people think they will enjoy when visiting, but it does not always turn out to be like that. The author illustrates this by sharing her childhood experience when her parents took her to Haiti. She suggests that because Haitians live very close to the beach, they do not have the same admiration for it as Americans. For the latter, however, visiting a beach is a coveted experience because 61% of the US population lives away from beaches (Gay). Thus, the sense of value that people find in beaches may as well be linked to whether or not they are regularly exposed to them. This means that some may overlook the negatives of going to the beach because the experience is somewhat rare, which encourages a false perception.
Because the beach experience is associated with a degree of scarcity in time one can spend there, it is often falsely advertised and glamorized, especially in the media. Most people develop their perceptions from commercials and television shows, which might be misleading about what a person will experience in real life. The author is trying to suggest that portrayals of the beach mislead people, which can result in unfulfilled expectations. While her opinion is personal, the problem of over-exaggerating and glamorizing something for merely aesthetic or marketing purposes affects many people. When a person has never been to the beach and has only seen it through the ‘pink glasses,’ they may end up not enjoying the real experience at all. Gay’s opinion has been shaped by the fact that she has had numerous experiences visiting different beaches; hence it is not something new to her.
The author suggests that the beach is not for everyone because some end up enjoying the experience while others, such as her, detest it. She does not support the unspoken rules one must follow to enjoy themselves on the beach (Gay). She states that beach bodies cannot be achieved by everyone; therefore, some people may feel low self-esteem when looking at others. Besides, the author suggests that the type of clothing specified for the beach does not allow her privacy since it leaves her exposed and uncomfortable. The argument regarding body positivity is lacking in this case because today, more people should promote being themselves on the beach, choosing either to undress and wear their bathing suits or stay covered.
The quality of water near beaches is quite bad, which further deteriorates the experience of visiting them. The author is dissatisfied with the quality of water found on beaches and compares it to the one in swimming pools. The water on beaches is likely to be contaminated by people, water plans, as well as fish, unlike in swimming pools that have chlorine (Gay). Moreover, there is no guarantee that a person may enjoy sitting on the sandy beach because of weather conditions and other environmental influences. Therefore, there is a mismatch between the expectations of going to the beach and reality.
Conclusion
To conclude, in her opinion piece “Why the Beach Is a Bummer,” Roxane Gay suggests that the experience of going to the beach often does not meet one’s expectations. Because beaches are not accessible to everyone, the experience is often coveted, with people who have not been exposed to sand and water having a glamorized perception. Besides, the media has contributed to the over-exaggeration of beaches by creating a perfect image, which, in reality, does not always come true. Besides the low quality of water and other environmental factors, beaches are a bad experience in Gay’s opinion, especially when it comes to the ‘beach body’ phenomenon. The author’s grievances are understandable because life is full of unfilled expectations and people have to learn how to deal with them. The expository tone of the opinion piece gives room for self-reflection, thus allowing readers to think about whether they agree.
Work Cited
Gay, Roxane. “Why the Beach Is a Bummer.” The New York Times, 2022, Web.