The Pressure To Be Perfect Essay, Research Paper

The Pressure to be Perfect

In today’s competitive society, a person strives for perfection, due to the fact

that so much emphasis is placed on one’s outer appearance. No matter who we are

or where we live, society puts this pressure upon us. We are typically faced

with this pressure by models on television and in magazines. Companies seem to

have targeted women more so than men. They usually use women with good looks and

nice figures to advertise and market their product. When companies use these

women in advertisements, it is setting a standard that other women feel that

they need to follow.

What has happened to internal beauty? Society puts so much importance on

external beauty that people have forgotten about an individual having beauty

within. The sayings ?beauty is in the eye of the beholder? and ?beauty is only

skin deep? come to mind when I think about just how much emphasis is placed on

outer appearance.

A major factor that has increased the percentage of overweight people in society

is technology. This includes items such as elevators, escalators, garage-door

openers, drive-in windows, and the remote control. It use to be that you would

at least burn some calories by having to get up and turn the channel on the

television, but thanks to technology it is now a push of a button. Just think,

things have the possibility to grow increasingly worse because of the

‘information super highway’. There is no need to get out and walk the malls in

search of a particular item or gift. With the use of the ’super highway’ you

just need a credit card and the item is delivered to your doorstep. Can

technology be causing more harm than good?

One of the most disheartening facts is that there are people and companies that

are benefiting from those who continue to struggle with weight loss. Magazine

publishers boost sales by promoting articles on how do lose weight. Book

publishers and self-improvement Gurus profit from the diet books and weight loss

programs that they sell. Where as, manufactures capitalize from the selling of

home-based exercise equipment. Weight loss franchises and the purchasing of diet

products such as liquid diets and pre-packaged frozen meals are the main

contributors to the ones who benefit from the weight loss struggle. These are

just some of the beneficiaries of over 50 billion dollars spent every year on

weight loss products that promise results.

The images that I chose to represent my topic of “The Pressure to be Perfect”

are ones that show just how perfect society wants us to become. They are all of

women because that is the focal point of society. On a whole, most women will

never be able to look the way that these models do. The models have devoted

themselves to looking flawless in order for their careers to survive. They have

the time to make their body into the perfect form that it is in. However, tell

me what woman in today’s society has time to devote to just to her body. Women

live in a fast paced, rat race of a life and seldomly have time to give to just

their bodies.

Advertisers kind of send out a false message. Sure it is more appealing to look

at a women with a slender physique, but it is the product that you should be

concerned with. I am sorry to say, but by wearing a particular article of

clothing or consuming some product it will not make you look like that model. If

you turn on a talk show today, you are likely to see an overweight person

sharing the hurt and outright prejudice that they have suffered from society.

The audience smugly tells them to diet and show some will power. Overweight and

obese people wish it were that simple.

Fitting into the perfect image that society places on individuals is almost a

delusion. Rather than dieting, changes in food selections, an exercise plan, and

an attitude adjustment can help you lose the weight and keep it off. There is no

way that we can possibly please everyone, but being okay with yourself is the

most important thing and if that involves changing your outer appearance; be

sure that you are doing it to please yourself and not society.