The American woman of today can never be too thin or too pretty. In most cases thin equals beauty, so the present ideal is a thin, fit, radiantly healthy, young woman. In magazines filled with models, on billboards, and television, the message of what women should look like is everywhere. The presence of these images in effect shapes the image of women today.
             Advertising is a powerful educational force in our culture due to the simple fact of exposure. Economics is also a significant factor in the development of the ideal image. Many businesses depend upon the desire for thinness to survive. Exercise and diet companies are an example. In order to create a market for their product, they attempt to make women feel inadequate about their own bodies through advertisement.
             Advertisers manipulate women into thinking their value is dependent on their physical appearance. They appeal to that basic human desire to be wanted, accepted, and sexually attractive.
             One reason this ideal has manipulated the American society is that it appeals to some basic values. This country accepts things like individuality, self-help, hard work, success, and self-control. Women are given the message that if they just work hard enough at dieting and exercise, they can be thin, beautiful and happy. Women, especially, are told that their efforts in perfecting their bodies will be rewarded by success in both their professional and personal lives. If they fail at achieving the ideal, they are told to try harder. A fat person is seen as lazy or greedy or without self-control.
             This manipulation of perception on what is "ideal" leads to concern in relation to the teenagers of this country. The television set has become one of the most influential technologies of all time, replacing real role models and teachers. The media teaches them what is attractive, feminine, cool, sexy, or romantic. Just by sheer exposure, the television ha
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