Define beautiful.  Does the generic definition, delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration, accurately describe all that encompasses this word?  Or is beautiful an unattainable standard that the media has developed?  Women are exposed to thousands of advertisements every day encouraging them to be society’s distorted perception of beautiful. 

                Five percent of the population of women accurately portray this nearly impossible body type;  a big bust with a size double zero waist and long legs.  Although, each of these features would be nice to have as a woman, combining them on one body begins to create health disorders and psychological issues.  Women are willing to risk their health and state of mind in order to perfect this idea of beauty. 

                This should come as no surprise.  The infamous doll women played with as children named, Barbie, has body proportions that would be impossible for a healthy woman to obtain.  If Barbie was real, her back would be too weak to support her bust and her stomach would be too narrow to contain half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel.  What about this image is beautiful? 

                To the media, everything about their developed perception of beauty is beautiful.  The media has mastered the ability to make women believe they must buy the newest dietary supplement, wear the best make up to conceal their blemishes, and purchase hair products so they will have bounce, volume, and shine.  Beauty has become a money-making marketplace.

                A price tag should not define beautiful.  It seems society has forgotten that beauty often times comes from within.  Looks tend to fade, but personality and a kind heart always remains.  So why is it that we allow the media to shape our image?  It all seems silly when you take a step back and consider the message that is being sent to society, yet a majority of us attempt to follow it.  Fear of taking a stand and going against the desired norm consumes us. 

                We find it acceptable for women to be portrayed as vulnerable objects.  Many women find it necessary to have a breast “enhancement” because the breasts they were born with are either too small, too pointy, too jiggly, too lop-sided, too far apart, or too close together.  They find surgery necessary to make them more attractive and pleasing.  Many fail to realize that after surgery they lose sensation and feeling in their breasts, so who are they really trying to please? 

                Men now have the expectation for women to resemble the photo-shopped and edited versions of women they are surrounded by every day in advertisements.  When women do not meet this expectation they feel pressured to fulfill the standard men are searching for.  In an attempt, they begin to binge and purge or starve themselves and as a result risk their lives and become depressed.

                Is it really worth fulfilling this distorted perception of beauty to fit in with the social norms that the media has developed for society?  Women should feel beautiful in their own skin, whether it be white, black, yellow, purple, pink, or blue.  Women should be comfortable with their body, whether it be skinny, curvy, flat, or voluptuous.  Each individual whether male or female obtains beauty.  I pray for the day each individual realizes he or she is beautiful whether the media thinks so or not.  It is not left in the media’s hands to decide if you are beautiful, it is left in your hands to discover that you are.