Dr. Suess’ The Sneetches And The Five Social Determinants Of Health Creative Writing

At first glance, Dr. Suess’ story The Sneetches seems to be a metaphor about race, and the changing social narrative about race in America. For example, the Star-Belly Sneetches could be a stand-in for white people, while the Plain-Belly Sneetches are analogous to black people. The Sneetches’ flip-flopping between wanting to be star-bellied and wanting to be plain-bellied could be analogous to the way black and white people have wanted to exchange races, based on whichever race is seen as “better” or “cooler” per its portrayal in popular culture. In the end, the Sneetches realize that neither being star-bellied nor plain-bellied is better; all Sneetches are equally worthy.
The first of the 5 social determinants of health, biology and genetics, would be the Sneetches’ “race,” in this case represented by their Star-Belly or Plain-Belly status. In the beginning of the story, the Plain-Belly Sneetches are victims of discrimination by the Star-Belly Sneetches. Being a Plain-Belly Sneetch in a Star-Belly’s world is a negative health indicator. The second determinant, individual behavior, may be said to be individual Sneetches’ racist behavior, such as their discrimination against other kinds of Sneetches, or their altering of personal physical appearance to change from being Star-Belly to Plain-Belly and vice-versa. (In real life, this could be analogous to skin-bleaching.) The third determinant, the social environment, would be the atmosphere of bigotry and intolerance in which all Sneetches live, and the alternating social norms that such an environment harbors. The fourth determinant, the physical environment, is “the beaches” where all Sneetches live. The fifth determinant, health services, would appear to be the “Star-Off” and “Star-On” Machines, which profiteering Mr. Bean charges the Sneetches to use.