Fashion for Ideal People and How They are Defined
The ideal person in contemporary American society is generally definedas thin, fashionable, sexy and wealthy. This includes a myriad of peoplecapitalized on by the media, from Julia Roberts to Donald Trump. InAmerican society, celebrities are the ideal people, whether televisionstars, sport pros or corporate moguls. To be an ideal person in American society means a status second onlyto royalty. He or she is literally known by everyone from the janitor at arural school to the President of the United States. And the perks thatcome with this status are infinite. Everything from free designer clothes,shoes, and accessories to complementary hotel suites and tables at thetrendiest clubs and restaurants. Moreover, the media is forever watching,ready to capture an exclusive picture and story for their latest edition ofthe evening news or supermarket tabloids. And fortunately orunfortunately, ideal people become role models for Americans, whetherhousewives, sales clerks, businessmen-women, construction workers, doctors,lawyers, children or teenagers. Ideal people become a part of Americanlives and culture. The public welcomes them into their homes viatelevision, videos, radio, CDs, maga
In his book "The Wish forKings," Lewis Lapham writes, "The wish for kings is an old and familiarwish. Manycritics believe that most of these minority patients want to change theirlooks because of a persistent belief in our society that white beauty thebest kind (Kahn Pp). According to a 2003 USA Today - CNN poll, the most admiredmen were President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Pope John PaulII. The 1960's saw Audrey Hepburn and CaryGrant. They need to have a someone to measure against. However, most of thesevehicles are way out of reach for the average consumer, such as the$370,000 Mercedes Benz just purchased by Maurice Taylor (Jones Pp). This procedure has become so popular that itgrew by 40 percent in 2002 to a total of 80,000 procedures, and to over120,000 procedures in 2003, and is expected only to rise annually (NavaPp). Americans are obsessed with 'top ten' lists. In 1990, a nationwide survey oftwenty high schools showed that 11 percent of the students had eatingdisorders, and at least nine out of ten were females (Hansen 1994). In fact, cosmetic alterations are "becoming an American way of life"as more Americans try to obtain the ideal image (Miille Pp). When Puffydebuted the $85,000 SUV, featuring things like 20" chrome rims, three DVDplayers and vibrating front seats, sales went up (Jones Pp). "Accordingto the National Institute of Health, obese is classified as any person witha body mass index score above 30," which means the average 5 foot 7inchperson is considered obese at more than 191 pounds (Nava Pp). According to Lapham, information is coming to Americans now with incrediblespeed due to the Internet and cable television, thus, there is far too muchinformation about celebrities these days, their love affairs, their privateconversations on cellular phones, the color of their underwear, and howmany nose jobs and face lifts they have had (Neimark Pp). Ten years ago, a number of consumer researchers voiced concern regardingthe question of how and to what degree advertising involving thin andattractive endorsers was linked with chronic dieting, body dissatisfaction,and eating disorders in American females (Hansen 1994).
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