ABSTRACT
Provides the reader with a general discussion of beauty standards as they are purveyed cross-culturally. It also examines differential models of attractiveness for males and females in our culture as these are transmitted through institutions and groups such as the media, family, peers, schools, and workplace. Research on race, class, gender, and sexuality is included in this discussion and the variations that exist. In this chapter, I also address how those messages influence individual actors’ conceptions of beauty and shape their personal attitudes toward their own body image, especially the pervasive level of dissatisfaction among many females. The paradox of rising rates of obesity in what is commonly referred to as a “Culture of Thinness” is also included in this chapter, along with explanations for the phenomena.
