by Brit Herz

Created on: February 19, 2009

When I read the topic for this debate I got a sick feeling in my stomach because I wanted to choose the right answer which would be "Real beauty is on the inside", but then I remember the world I live in and no that isn't true. As Jim Carey once said to his fake son on Liar Liar, Son: "My teacher says real beauty is on the inside", Jim: "That's just something ugly people say". Unfortunately I think this stigma stands. I mean now you can't turn on the TV without seeing that little roll Jessica Simpson has in those skin tight pants. Every channel is airing the same picture, over and over again, breaking this girl down piece by piece by her appearance.

One overwhelming piece of evidence is the Hilton/Kardashian/Richie that really have no talent other then being famous and they are all, in a sense, beautiful. Would anyone care what Paris is wearing if she didn't have long toned legs? Probably not. Would anyone follow her around the clubs and bars if she didn't have a cute little face to pose drunkenly for the cameras? I doubt it. It's so apparent now that being beautiful on the outside is of great importance that these people are famous just for that reason.

Just walk through the grocery store and there's three to four aisle dedicated to make up. Skin care is one of the biggest expenditures women have today. When I worked for Estee Lauder you could convince a woman that this cream or that one could take off years and make you look vibrant and young again, I had an eighty dollar sale. This eyeliner will give you the smoky eye look, and I would show them how to do it, unfortunately I wasn't going home with these women so I didn't tell them they may not be able to do it them selves, another thirty dollar sale. Magazines and the internet throw beauty secrets and tricks of the trade and how to lose ten pounds in a week in your face constantly so its hard not to believe that outside beauty is so important in today's society.

I do not mistake them for Super models however. I realize that modeling is hard work, but again, this profession really reiterates the need to focus on outside beauty. With such an obsession on skinny, tall, thick haired, big eyed, beautiful women, a lot of women, and men, would be out of a job, or worse they would unknown. Even some actresses and actors you know can't act worth a damn, but they're pretty. Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra come to mind at first. While they are both beautiful girls and have been in several movies, they are usually cast as the dumb slutty girl that makes sexual innuendoes and has a montage of strip teases. Does anyone care if they want to save the bees from disappearing? Not at first. Do you care about their stance on the economy? Hardly.

I am happy that in this day and age some things are starting to look up. Some actresses that are curvy are making headlines and getting people reevaluating what's beautiful. Kate Winslet for one, has recently stared in "The Reader", and she is always one critiques talk about when they are going over trends and current "beautiful women". Also the Dove company started a campaign that really gives me hope that the stereotypes of America may change. They have the real beauty for real women advertisements that feature women of all shapes and sizes using Dove. That's not the part that so great though, it's the fact that these ads are so successful. People are getting to washed over with this how to beautiful magazines crammed down there throat.

Pretty soon, there may be a back lash on the "beautiful people", but right now they rule our culture.

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