Physical Appearances in America (Research Paper Sample)

Physical Appearances in America
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Physical appearances entail the outward look of a person mainly consisting of weight, acme, and skin tone. Statistics in America show that out of the $150 to $250 billion dollars purchasing power enjoyed by the youth annually, so called generation y, a third of this amount goes to improving physical appearances. This paper explores and takes a stand on the fact that the American society surely does place too much emphasis on physical appearances.
Physical appearances are a vital part of a person’s personality. Although this is true, in recent years Americans have become an obsessed people with the way they look. Consequently, large sums of money are splashed on superficial items such as cosmetics, weight loss programs and unique designer wear. This can be partly blamed on the rigorous advertising undertaken by various companies, to entice customers. This has led a large number of innocent Americans to fall victim to the pressures of fashionability, thinness, beauty and handsomeness, (Zack, 1995, p.54).
Roughly, 300 advertisements were run in 2001, on digital media, on weight loss in America alone. Since the year 2000, over $35 billion has since been used on weight loss programs annually, which include books, videos, drugs, and diet foods. This just shows how much the society disregards the fact that beauty emanates from a person’s inner vitality and depth and not the outward look. The fact that the young Americans are the most preyed on a group by companies aggravates the issue more, (Waters, 1990, p.98).
Fashion companies such as Gucci, Sean John and Phat Farm have in recent years raked in astronomical and superficial profits. This is as a consequence of too much emphasis on physique in America. Everyone in America from generation y to x wants to look their best in modern day America. As a result, this has rendered the inner person useless. Therefore, each person has to take upon him or herself an initiative to ensure balance between physique and personality. In order to understand the much emphasis put on physical appearances by Americans and the pros and cons be...