Pursuit of Beauty

"The mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but it is stunningly successful in tellng us what to think about."

Nine years into the 21st century, and more people are running to slimming sanctuaries and hospitals, asking beauticians and doctors for help in their quests of beauty, hoping to see major changes in their physical appearances within a short period of time. Statistics have also shown an increase in the number of cases of anorexia and bulimia.

Of course, it wasn't at all like this once upon a time.

As noted by humorist Dave Barry in his article Build Yourself a Killer Bod with Killer Bees, "In those days, a man could be portly and still be considered attractive. The standards were also more lenient for women: Marilyn Monroe, whom nobody ever called skinny, was a major sex goddess.

"By today's beauty standards,of course, Marilyn Monroe was an oil tanker. Today's beauty ideal, strictly enforced by the media, is a person with the same level of body fat as a paper clip. Turn on your TV, and all you see are men and women who would rather have both eyeballs removed via corkscrew than eat a slice of pizza. These are genetic mutants: You see their muscles, veins and neck bones almost bursting through their fat-free skin. I don't know who decided that the see-through look was attractive; I, personally, have never heard anybody express lust for anybody else's internal organs. But we normal humans are constantly exposed to the zero-fat mutants in the media, and we naturally assume that we're supposed to look like them. This is of course impoosible, but we try. We diet constantly, especially young women, many of whom now start dieting while still in the womb."

Indeed, the influence of the media is overwhelmingly far-reaching and dangerous.

We flip through the papers and magazines and there are various advertisements on slimming sanctuaries, slimming tea and surgeries like Botox, all promising "monster figures and angelic faces". We turn on the telly and at least once every 15 minutes there would be commercials with fat-free ambassadors of slimming sanctuaries telling the world in major shout-outs how much weight those centres helped them to lose in how many days.

Yes, the constant bombardment of such advertisments has cultivated a certain mindset in many of us today - that being fat-free is the new beautiful. In a sense, the cultivation theory applies to some extent here. The advertisments have indeed created synthethic reality (a way of looking at the world) that eventually becomes the commonly held value. Almost everyone now thinks that it is essential to be stick-thin in order to come under the "beautiful" category. I will not try to deny that I am one of these people. You hear some people exclaim at how fat they are when they are but barely bones. The wondrous effect of mass media indeed.

However, not all behave this way. There are some who still find comfort in being in their own skin, who do not care two hoots about the advertisements. Hence, the mass media today can be said to follow the moderate effects theory. Even though the ability of the media to influence its audiences remains, there's media selectivity - the audiences are free to make their own decisions.

Yet in the extreme cases of those who do feel the need to fit in via physical appearance, some turn to unhealthy ways of slimming down, such as depending on slimming pills, going on diets, visiting sliming sanctuaries and going for surgeries. These methods though may show more apparent and instant results, tend to cause undesirable side effects, and thus prove to be ineffective in the long run. While instant results boost the self-confidence of many as they get their desired figures and features, the methods are not guaranteed to be safe. Slimming pills may cause liver inflammation, which in the severe case of Andrea De Cruz needed liver transplant. Diets can result in malnutrition and anemia, an illness whereby one faints easily due to low sugar content in the blood. In addition, every operation entails a certain risk. In this case, plastic surgery is not an exception. Complications may occur during the operation, causing one to be disfigured.

Furthermore, there are negative effects on the mental health of pursuers of beauty. Anorexic and bulimic patients constantly have the mindset that they are very obese no matter how stick-thin they are. They go to the extent of forcing their fingers down their throats in an attempt to throw up whatever food that went down their gullet. Also, they go on numerous diets. These cases if severe require hospitalisation. These patients appear wan and skinny, and very lethargic. Instead of gaining beauty in their quests, what they gain is an older and uglier reflection of what they really are.

All in all, the pursuit of beauty seems to bring more pain than joy. I think we all have to understand that external beauty, although much desired, loses itself in the race with time. It is only the inner beauty that can really withstand the challenge of time.