Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

          People are extremely influenced by society and their environment when it comes to defining beauty.  When we see someone wearing skimpy clothes or someone covered in tattoos or someone dressed in a suit, we as a culture automatically make judgements about that person.  In the same way, we make judgements about what is beautiful and what is not based on our influences.  The media as a whole determines today's standards of beauty and attractiveness. 
          The media, like television, commercials, articles, newspapers, and movies, is always around us.  Sometimes without us even knowing, it shapes our perspectives and opinions.  It is much easier to just agree with other opinions than to come up with something all your own.  We are so bombarded by media in the world today that we hardly have a choice about what to believe unless we stop, block out the media, and think for ourselves.
          Fashion is one example of how people are influenced.  Fashion changes all the time and new styles are popping up constantly.  Kids today are wearing totally different clothes than their parents did when they were young, and probably even totally different clothes than their parents are wearing now.  Who decides these changes and what is "cool" or "hip" right now?  The media  influences us because whatever people are wearing on TV, and whatever the stores are selling that week is what people want to buy.
          The majority of the population does not look like the representations of women in magazines and commercials that we see in the media but we still buy into the fact that this is right and this image or particular vision of beauty is what we should strive for.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the "beholder" in this case is the media, pushing to tell us what our culture finds beautiful and not.