Everywhere a person looks models are displayed, who have been photo-shopped to an unrealistic image that many find beautiful. Guys typically see this as the only way a woman should look; this leaves women with the desire to become like these women in order to get the attention of men. Today's media influences how the outward appearance of a woman should look, and this is causing her physical and mental damage. In the world today, women are not typically viewed based on their inward beauty but rather the outer appearance they display, causing them to take drastic measures to reach the unattainable beauty. .
The media comes in many different forms; the oldest form would be in magazines. Amy L. Beck's story "Struggling for Perfection" displayed the stress put on women to look a certain way because of how the media portrays women. Everyday millions of girls and women pass by shelves stacked full of magazines with women that have been photo-shopped to an unrealistically attainable image. In addition, magazines show provocative pictures of women, making men think that the women in their lives should be like that. "Pornographic magazines and lewd posters reduce women to a commodity that can be purchased and owned, divorcing the physical manifestation from the person within" (Amy L. Beck 809). Beck is saying that these images in which men choose to view cause men to look at the outward appearance and pay no attention to the woman she is within; they see these women as sexual objects and not as a real human being. .
In today's times, girls have social media like Facebook and Instagram, where they compare themselves to others. They post pictures hoping to get likes and comments, but they never get as many as those pretty girls that look perfect. This can cause girls to want to change their appearance in order to try and get attention like them. Feelings like this can come from "feelings of worthlessness and extremely low self-esteem" (Beck 808).