Excluded

Dear nieces,

America is made up of a menagerie of people. A multitude of nationalities and races of people. People with many colors, shapes and sizes, but the image of beauty that is perpetuated through out our society is the stereotypical blonde haired, blue eyed person of European descent. Our perception of beauty is directly influenced by what we see. If what we see are airbrushed images of people who match a particular race and body type, then that is what will foster our paradigm of beauty. Only a very small percentage of the population can identify with the media’s standard of beauty. The absence of real people in the media, may impact our self-worth and lead to adverse effects on the American society as a whole. When we don’t see people who look like us being portrayed in the media as beautiful and successful we may suffer from an identity crisis. My idea of beauty is appreciating what God has given us. Beauty is in the uniqueness of individualism. Beauty is being confident and proud of who you are, regardless of what flaws you have. Therefore, media’s idealized image of beauty needs to be more inclusive of the American population.

We are bombarded with advertisements of paper thin models. Everyday, all day long the media reaches out to remind us that we still have work to do in our pursuit of the perfect body. As a result America has seen an influx in eating disorders. Anorexia is an eating disorder that afflicts people who have an extreme fear of becoming fat. These people are literally starving themselves to death. According to Media Awareness, Americans are spending billions a year on diet products alone. These statistics demonstrate the excessive emphasis being put on being thin. I want you to know that it is o.k. to be shaped like a pear instead of an hourglass. It’s o.k. to look like you eat more than just carrots and celery for dinner.

Media’s elusive standards of beauty are constructed by the dominating white male. They own the magazines, the television networks and advertising agencies. The images produced by these companies are researched and analyzed with the sole purpose of making a profit. The unsuspecting American public is making these companies filthy rich in their pursuit of artificial happiness.

Women’s self-esteem, the health of American women. Fueling the trend toward a certain look are large-scale market interests that exploit our insecurities about our looks. American food, weight loss, and cosmetic industries thrive on the purchases made to obtain the unobtainable goal of physical perfection. The … flawless model is an icon created by capitalism for the sake of profit. Millions… pay it homage. (Sharlene Hesse- Biber, Am I thin Enough Yet?, 4)

Although, media’s image of beauty may be shallow, self serving, superficial and unrealistic, it is an idea of beauty that many find attractive. But the media has a social responsibility to include a variety in their standards of beauty. To understand that they not only influence what American’s purchase, but also how they feel about themselves.

Advertising performs much the same function in industrial society as myth performed in ancient…societies. It is both a creator and perpetuator of the dominant attitudes, values, and ideology of the culture, the social norms and myths by which most people govern their behavior. At the very least, advertising helps to create a climate in which certain attitudes and values flourish and others are not reflected at all.” (Jean Kilbourne, 67)Although building self-esteem is not the goal of advertisers, lasting repercussion of the effects of excluding whole populations from their images of beauty should be taken into consideration.

The American media needs to incorporate a more diverse image of people. Fat, short, bald, red ,yellow and blue. Everybody needs to see beautiful people that they can identify with. Inclusion makes for a more cohesive society. What the media is doing today is excluding the majority of the population. Only a small percentage of the American public fit into the image portrayed in the media. This leaves the majority of the public to try and identify with the standards set by advertisers, which leads to a false sense of self. It also creates a dissatisfied, selfish society.

Although, including diverse physical characteristics in the media, may not be popular with advertisers, we need to insist on a revised concept of beauty, one that is more inclusive of our population.

Dear nieces, when I look at you I see beauty. You may not reflect the media’s image of what is beautiful, but your beautiful just the same. Morgan your beautiful because you’re a little midget standing at 4’10” at 17 years old. Your beautiful because of your amazing talent of Hip-Hop dance. Your gorgeous bright eyes and chocolate complexion are just the tip of what makes you beautiful and unique. Madison with your skin scared by eczema- your still beautiful. So mature for a 7 year old. Your awesome talent to make art out of what ever you can get your hands on is so inspiring. The dictionaries definition of beauty is “the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.” I find intense pleasure and deep satisfaction when I see my beautiful loved ones. However, you are my family and I may be a bit biased in my opinion.