Mini Summary

So basically all of our research on this project illustrated the way body image is affected and portrayed in popular culture.  It was demonstrated that the media heavily influences the way its audiences, with girls being more susceptible, sees their own body. They compare themselves to the ideal bodies presented by the media to be beautiful. Even despite the fact that many men prefer women who are healthier looking, the effects of advertisements, shows, and celebrities overtake the notion that women desire to look a certain way in order to attract men. It is through different media outlets that this is being done. As seen with the gorgeous timeline, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder seeing as how the definition of beauty itself has changed so drastically over the years, with one thing remaining the same. In every decade, beauty's ideal resided in the same place: the cover of magazines. Another source of media influence is through that of its most celebrated entertainers. From Elvis Presley to Lady Gaga, famous musicians and frontmen have always been sex symbols, representing the ideal body and popular behavior of their respective times. All in all, as society changed so has our standards for beauty.  As women became more liberated they also had more freedom in expressing themselves which began to go from timid and conservative to more sensual and sexual. This shift created a means to both empower and exploit women. Also, the focus on perfection created an unrealistic expectation of what the human body should look like with no body fat or excess curves. Youth has always been a sign of beauty and now combined with the constant advertisement of  rail-thin women, beauty is portrayed in child-like, pre-puberty models who do all they can to be underwieght and then after air-brushing they can be the envy of American girls who will never attain that body.  Beauty standards are consistent over time in that they reflect the values of the society.  These values are constantly changing and thus beauty standards are too.

(Jenna & Melissa)