Introduction

Beauty sells. Beautiful people get what they want. Beauty is something everybody wishes for, but few people receive.

A lot has been written about beauty. We have tried to define it, analyze it, and capture it by trying to figure out what qualities make one person beautiful, and another not as beautiful. Beauty has inspired countless poets, writers, painters, and pop musicians. But how important is it really to be beautiful? How does society's emphasis on physical appearance effect how we feel about ourselves in an everyday context?
This website is an attempt to explore these questions. Here you will find lots of information concerning the portrayal of beauty in the media. Not only do idealized images in the media contribute to prejudice against women and minorities, they might also play an important role in the development of certain mental health disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, and body dysmorphic disorder. This is not to say the media is the root cause of these problems. The damage occurs not because the media forces these images down our throats, but because most people lack the 'behind the scenes' knowledge of the beauty industry which is responsible for the idealistic images we are presented with every day. Most people are readily duped into believing that images of perfection presented by the media are attainable ideals, rather than the products of a huge marketing machine. For the countless of people whose self-esteem suffers from viewing images presented by the media, an understanding of the motives behind the industry as well as questioning the importance of beauty in everyday life, can result in a more positive sense of self.