by John Sturgeon

Created on: February 19, 2010

Remember Marilyn Monroe? Who could forget her!? Marilyn Monroe is known worldwide for her timeless beauty, she is referred to as a “body icon” by people all across the globe. The reason I used Marilyn Monroe as an example, is because she was a curvaceous size 16. The media adore Marilyn Monroe, yet their perception of beauty is the exact opposite of what Marilyn Monroe was.

The press referred to Jessica Simpson, a beautiful blonde voluptuous woman, as “hefty” and “overweight”. Jessica Simpson was much slimmer than Marilyn Monroe.  Victoria Beckham is rumoured to be a size 0 – less than half of Marilyn Monroe’s size, and is a style icon throughout the United Kingdom and the United States.

So what exactly is beautiful? Beauty is within us all, we all are beautiful, yet we all aspire to be something other than who we are.

I think the media changes our perception of beauty. On the front of every magazine or tabloid there are pictures of celebrities. Some state that they are “anorexic” and some state that they are “fat” and need to attend bootcamp, which is more acceptable? Neither. The media pick at any flaw they can find and expose it to the world, in turn making us all feel like we are not good enough. We all end up trying to loose weight, or put weight on to feel acceptable, because in the media’s eyes we can never be perfect, they will always find a flaw to expose. There is too much money in these headlines to not expose them.

Cosmetic Surgery is at an all time high. People are trying to change the shape of their nose, ears, chins. Many want enhancements, because cosmetic surgery has become acceptable in the media. People like Heidi Montag, who recently underwent 10 cosmetic procedures in one day, are seen as iconic, and are many people’s role models. In turn, people find it acceptable to ruin their natural beauty and go through surgery to “better” themselves.

So we have this never ending rollercoaster. The media control everything that we see on television, what we read in magazines, who we see modelling in catalogues and catwalks. When the media refer to someone as beautiful, we leech onto it, we want to copy that celebrity look, so that we too, can be beautiful.

I started this article by stating that everyone is beautiful in their own right. The media changes our perception of beauty because they want to line their pockets with lots of money, but we will always follow the media for style and beauty, perhaps its time the media followed us, because in reality, beauty is naturally, within us all, even beneath all the cosmetic surgery and Botox.

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