“Ideal beauty is a fugitive which is never found,” is the direct quote of a successful and talented actress, writer, and director, Joan Rivers. Another quote from the work of Thomas Love Peacock, the Nightmare Abbey, spoken by the character Mr. Hilary, in Chapter XI, about the ideal beauty is:
. . . . Ideal beauty is not the mind's creation: it is real beauty, refined and purified in the mind's alembic, from the alloy which always more or less accompanies it in our mixed and imperfect nature. But still the gold exists in a very ample degree. To expect too much is a disease in the expectant, for which human nature is not responsible; and, in the common name of humanity, I protest against these false and mischievous ravings. To rail against humanity for not being abstract perfection, and against human love for not realising all the splendid visions of the poets of chivalry, is to rail at the summer for not being all sunshine, and at the rose for not being always in bloom." . . . . But to make ideal beauty the shadow in the water, and, like the dog in the fable, to throw away the substance in catching at the shadow, is scarcely the characteristic of wisdom, whatever it may be of genius.
Both of these quotes, although from very different people have one idea in common. In either context “ideal beauty” is used, it is portrayed as a negative term. In America, as chosen by the media, it seems beautiful is thin. It influences pop culture into thinking that beautiful is one dimensional. It puts pressure on people, specifically teenage girls, to feel that if they do not fit into the narrow criteria of the “ideal beauty,” that they are not beautiful. As a result, they judge themselves negatively, lowering their self esteem. The “ideal beauty” is far from being ideal and is realistically unattainable.
The portrayal of this “thin ideal” throughout the media is a problem in society today. It directly influences how teenage girls view themselves, showing and displaying an ideal form of beauty that they all strive to achieve. This results in the unhealthy habits of eating and dieting. The media has been filled with advertisements for products using very thin women or, the “ideal beauty”, and are sending the wrong message to teenagers. These televised images of attractiveness lead to increased body dissatisfaction: viewing the body negatively. This hypothesis has been proven time and time again as a prevelent issue among teens in today's society.
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