Human

Narrator walks on from stage right. Single Spotlight.

Narrator:
Many women and girls today have tragically adopted a negative body image due to media and others
around them. Standards of feminine beauty are presented in almost all forms of popular media, barraging
women with images that portray what is considered to be the "ideal body. Numerous studies have
verified that one's subjective evaluation of their own appearance can have a powerful impact on a person's
development and psychosocial experiences. In survey taken around Montgomery Blair high school most
students rated their own body image as a 6 or 7 out of 10, but some students replied with much lower
numbers such as 3 to negative 5. This displays how the average high schooler doesn't always think well of
themselves.
Narrator exits stage left. Lights Blackout.

Angela walks on from stage left into a cosmetics shop. She sees a bottle of skin whitening cream, walks
purposefully towards it, picks it up, and turns the label with a model on it towards her. She stares at it for
second, then seems to make up her mind and buys the bottle. She walks stage right to go home and put it
on. She sighs, and doubtfully begins to apply the face cream. She reads the label and precautionary health
warnings.
Angela:
Wait, I should probably read whatevers written here. Why is the print always so small? Possible traces
of steroids, hydroquinone, and mercury; could possibly lead to health concerns such as permanent
pigmentation, skin cancer, mercury poisoning and others? Oh my god.
Angela freezes on the bed.
Flashback: (Video playing behind characters on stage) Fade in to Angela watching an ad for skin
whitening cream on her phone, move in to phone, then play ad on promethean. Fade to scene of Angela
and Joanne reading magazine.
Joanne: Her skin is so flawless and clear and light!
Asha looks up, hurt and surprised.
Joanne: Oh my god, Im so sorry!
Angela: Oh, its fine
She smiles half-heartedly. Camera close up on her face, room reverberates with So pretty...and light!
And light! And light!
Angela unfreezes, and hesitantly, in despair, begins to apply the cream. Lights Blackout.

Chloe in ballet class.
Ballet Teacher:
Hello, class, Im Ms. Abby. I would like to welcome you all to the ALDC, and share with you one of my
firm beliefs that I will expect all of you to honor throughout your years here. I believe that the most
important thing in dance is your body. Your body is your instrument, and I expect you all to take good
care of yours. This means making sure to maintain a healthy weight at all times, and for some of you I can
already see that might mean a little bit of extra work.
Ok class, on a brighter note, its time to begin. Can I have a volunteer to demonstrate any kind of turn?
No answer.
Ballet Teacher:
How about...you?
Chloe slowly gets in position and attempts to turn. She falls on her third fouette, and her classmates laugh.
Ballet Teacher:
Lets move on. Class, practice turns. Ill be back in a minute.
While class practices turns, Teacher draws Chloe to the other side of the room.
Ballet Teacher:
Chloe, dear, I couldnt help but notice, well, your weight.
Chloe (confused):
My weight?
Ballet Teacher:
Yes dear, you see, weight is a very important part of a dancers world, and, well, to be frank, I think you
might need to pay a little more attention to yours. Do you know how much you weigh?
Chloe:
Um, i guess around 95 pounds
Ballet Teacher:
See dear, theres your first mistake. For a girl of your height, to be able to successfully perform those
turns and other essential choreography, you need to lose, I would say, ten to twenty pounds at least. And
make sure to monitor it with a scale. If you need any tips on weight loss, I can recommend some good
exercises to do daily and low-calorie foods you can eat. Remember Im always here to help. Once you
lose about 40 pounds, you will be so much more graceful, and turns and leaps will become much easier
without all that extra fat slowing you down. (She gestures towards Chloes midsection) Youll be able to
wear better costumes and leotards made for skinnier girls which will definitely help you a lot when
competition season starts next week! Also, try recording the amount of calories you eat and burn every
single day, itll help you keep track of your progress. Make sure you show it to me next class.
Dance Teacher walks back to the rest of the class.
Dance Teacher:
Ok class, were done for today.
Class exits. Chloe, still in the corner, freezes.
Flashback: (Video plays in the background) Flashes of Chloes dance teacher saying fat over and over
again are interspersed with tweets and posts about her from other students in the class, gossiping and
implying that she is too bad and fat to ever become like one of the dancers on tv.
Back to Chloe, who gets up slowly and begins to dance to Nobody's Home by Avril L. After minutes 0:0
to 1:11, she stumbles again and sinks to the floor and gives up while the music is still playing. It slowly
fades out as she sits there with her head in her hands, and looks down at her stomach.
Chloe freezes and Lights Blackout.

Kat, the newest model is sitting alone in front of a mirror getting ready for a shoot. Two other models
enter the room laughing and talking. Kat looks at them and then at herself in the mirror. She puts on more
makeup. Girls walk out laughing to themselves. Kat looks up.
Kat:
Maybe they were right. Maybe I cant be a model. What was I thinking, makeup cant hide my face. My
hair cant cover my giant ears, concealer cant smooth my rough skin, tweezers cant fix the length of my
eyebrows. Look at the other models, all together, theyre the embodiment of perfection. Happy, laughing,
beautiful girls, right? Thats what were all supposed to be. I never realized how fake it all would be, how
much airbrushing is needed on a computer until I am flawless enough to be shown to children so that they
grow up and want to buy the clothes that Im wearing. Everyone says if you are human, you are bound to
have imperfections. That must mean if you are a model, you cant be human. But Im nothing more than
human, and now I cant be a model. I hate my small eyes and big ears, I hate my unplucked eyebrows and
my patchy skin, I hate my non-existent figure. I hate myself, and I hate myself for hating myself, and I
hate myself for not being happy, and I hate the goddamn world for making me unhappy. I hate the other
models for being perfect. I hate myself-I hate myself for being human.
Kat looks into the mirror and freezes.
Flashback- Kat saying how she wants to be a model to her friends.
Friend 1:
No offense, but
Friend two shakes her head at friend one.
Kat:
But...what?
Friend 2:
Nothing, its nothing.
Friend 2 smiles and leads Kat away.
Later Kat at home tells her mom she wants to be a model.
Mom:
Ok honey.
Mom laughs.
Kat:
No, Im serious!
Mom:
Ok! So am I! Ive always said to follow your dreams havent I?
Chloe leaves the room, rolling her eyes. Mom chuckles again.
Model.
Mom shakes her head.
Back to Kat staring into the mirror. Suddenly angry at everything, she hurls her hair brush at the mirror,
and a single crack appears down the center. She puts her head in her hands and freezes. Lights Blackout.

Narrator Enters. Single Spotlight.
Narrarator:
Images in the media today project an unrealistic and even dangerous standard of feminine beauty that
has a strong influence on the way women view themselves today. The media sends powerful messages to
girls and women about the acceptability (or unacceptability) of their bodies. Young girls are taught to
compare themselves to women portrayed as successful in the media, assessing how closely they match up
to the "ideal body. But in reality, does this ideal body exist? The stereotypical idea of perfection or an
ideal body is simply a figment of imagination.. Perfection means not perfect actions in a perfect world,
but appropriate actions in a realistic world. Body confidence doesn't come from trying to achieve the
"perfect" body, it comes from embracing the body one already has.
Narrator Exits. Blackout.

Slowly a three spotlights focus on the three main characters. Each of the three main characters look up
and stand up from wherever they have frozen.
End with all three girls doing different things: Dance, sing, paint, write, etc.
Wait 5 seconds, join hands and then bow.
Marianne and Joanne now join the girls on stage, the all join hands, and then bow again.


THE END