The
American women of today can never be too thin or too pretty. In most
cases thin equates beauty, so the present ideal is a thin, fit,
radiantly healthy, young woman. In magazines stuffed with models and
advertisements, billboards on the highway, and actresses on TV, the
message of what women should look like is everywhere. The inescapable
presence of these images in effect shapes the image of women today.
It
is very unfortunate that the media influences American society to the
point that it defines the "ideal woman." According to Naomi
Wolf, author of the best-selling book, "The Beauty Myth: How
Images of Beauty are Used Against Women" , one reason media is
so influential is "advertising is a 130 billion dollar a year
industry. The average American watches 30 hours of TV a week and
spends 110 hours a year reading magazines. That adds up to exposure
to 1500 ads daily" (45). Advertising is a powerful educational
force in our culture due to the simple fact of exposure. Economics is
also a significant factor in the development of the ideal image.
There is a wealth of businesses that depend upon the American desire
for thinness to survive. Exercise and diet companies are an example.
In order to create a market for their product, they attempt to make
women feel inadequate about their own bodies through advertisement.
According to Wolf, "the diet industry has tripled its income in
the past 10 years from a $10 billion industry to a $33.3 billion
industry" (47).
Other
companies that cater to the current "large" population sell
beauty, tactfully. As William Lutz points out in his article, "With
these Words I can Sell You Anything," girdles are called body
shapers or control garments (158), and in Diane White's article,
"Euphemisms for the Fat of the Land," extra-extra large is
changed to queen size (176). Either way, it is their diet, exercise,
or control product that will get women on the way to the thinner, and
better,