ABSTRACT
As children we accept that “the fairest” is the same sort of measure as the fastest, the tallest or the richest. Later, in the growing sophistication of adulthood, we determine that the most beautiful is more like the bravest, the most popular or the most powerful. Adults thus continue to pose the question “who is the fairest” as though it were meaningful, even when the category of “them all” includes women of diverse races and nationalities. It is “Charlie’s Angels” who appear to have a good time in the world, not women who are fat or small or dark-skinned. A “consumer-driven” view of marketing means focusing on that segment of any society likely to purchase a given product. While women certainly are at the forefront of many forms of resistance including the cultural, “tradition” may not be the only element women will choose to draw on in creating a culture that speaks of and to their lives.
